But I Like Cardio More

They do different things and neither is required for weight loss. The kitchen is for weight loss, not the gym.

Strength training will build strong muscles and improve bone density - these are good things, particularly if you start when you are young, but at any age, strong bones and muscles are awesome. If you don't like lifting then maybe look into body weight exercises or functional strength exercise like yoga or crossfit, things that may be better suited to you while still building muscles and bone density.

Cardio works your cardiovascular system - your heart/lungs/arteries - this is a good thing, and staying active is good for quality of life as you age.

I suggest both of these types of exercises add their own unique value to your life. Some flexibility/balance work is also a good idea, in my opinion.

Everyone is different, what works for me mentally may not work for you. But for me, one of the main benefits to lifting heavy is that it really doesn’t take long. There’s not a whole bunch of repetition and it’s in no way boring because it’s just too hard to be boring. I do basically four compound lifts per session, two upper body and two lower, five reps for three sets. It’s not sophisticated programming and I’m not gonna win any powerlifting competitions or become a fitness model but I did have a neighbor come up to me the other day and say, “Jesus you are getting muscular, have you seen yourself from the back?”

Since you’re a gamer, you may be able to do another thing I do, which is go to the gym at 3 am when no one else is there. Not even Judgy Cat. But if that’s not feasible, it doesn’t take much money to get started with a basic barbell and rack, which is what I have at home. Ask around and check ads for used equipment. If you can’t afford even that, body weight push-ups and squats can get you a long way.

No, you don’t have to do any of this. But for optimal health you really should. It doesn’t have to take over your life though. As for feeling like a weakling loser, that gets much better as you cease to be a weakling loser and become a badass.

Terytha wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Would you like martial arts? With weapons (saber, spear, staff)? Those are a little strength-y. Rowing, kayaking, canoeing? Biking, especially hilly biking? Rock climbing? Seriously diggy gardening? Etc.

I'm a samurai actually. Or, I was, until my anxiety and some social politics drove me into an indefinite hiatus from training. Off for two-ish years now.

Still got my katana and all my knowledge, but it weighs like 3-ish pounds and body mechanics means my core does 90% of the work, so it's not very arm-strengthy.

Also I do this boxing game that makes my arms hurt. Does that mean its cardio and strength? Can it be strength with no weight?

Fitness is confusing to me.

Staff/spear (and some more obscure weapons) are more flexible IMO in this regard (i.e. easier to simply increase weight of the practice weapon vs. bladed things). Since you evidently already know how to move a weapon from your center (which tends to be the hard/subtle part), you might consider either adapting some of your katana moves to a heavier item, or using MA YouTube videos (of staff/stick stuff from other MA) to make up a drill routine you enjoy, if that sounds fun.

Looked at from the perspective of the source MA, that's kinda appropriative/wannabe-ish, maybe even lame, but from the perspective of "fun activity that builds upper body strength/integration", it's fine. (Much Western practice of Eastern MA is appropriative/wannabe-ish, anyway, little as we practitioners want to think that. ).

In Winter, I used to do some long-staff practice with a short, heavy "body bar" (heavier than long staff, maybe 1/4 the length). It wasn't perfect, but I could make some progress indoors at home without smashing lamps.

While sore muscles are not the measure of a workout, I'd say that any workout that causes them is doing something for you muscularly**, be it better recruitment/more efficient utilization (neuromuscular adaptation), muscular endurance, or strength. The problem is not so much "is this giving me a little improvement now" as "how do I make this progressive (still challenging) as I improve at it" (without unacceptably increasing injury risk). For example, theoretically I suppose you could do boxing moves with hand weights, but at some point that becomes risky.

And yes, things can improve strength with no (external) weight. To your shoulders and back, your arms are a weight. Resistance (friction, isometric resistance, etc.) is a weight. And so forth.

With respect to fitness being confusing: It doesn't help that there's as much quasi-religious nonsense around fitness as around diet. Some things are more efficient than others, some things are more risky than others, there are individualized issues that matter . . . but IMO there's no "one true way" that's the exclusive route to anything. (For sure, some strategies are more efficient and can take us further than others . . . but if they make our limited time on Earth much less enjoyable, why bother? It's important to think about future (old age) quality of life as well as current, of course, and balance those. Reflex is to prioritize current life quality over future, but that's literally short-sighted.)

IMO, bottom line for fitness: Challenge yourself; persistently push current capabilities a manageable bit along any dimension (strength, endurance, flexibility, distance, intensity, CV performance, whatever); and you'll make progress along that dimension.

Only you are in a position to say whether doing a particular thing to achieve a particular goal is worthwhile to you, or not. (I hate to swim - uck to the icky! - but took swim lessons & lap-swim classes, and practiced, because rowers need to swim, for example.)

** To be clear, just because you aren't getting sore muscles, doesn't mean you aren't getting stronger. Progressivity of challenge is key. Consistently do a specific thing for a specific duration at a specific intensity, and your body adapts to it. That's progress. To keep making progress, you have to increase the challenge eventually.

Best wishes!