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is cardio really necessary

is cardio really necessary

  • yes

    Votes: 70 76.9%

  • no

    Votes: 21 23.1%
  • Total voters
    91
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S

smr91481

New member
is it really that important to do cardio to lose weight? assuming that you're eating a really clean diet and working your ass of in the gym. what's the difference between burning off those calories with a little cardio or just not eating them in the first place?
 
It depends on what kind of shape you are trying to get in. The difference between doing the cardio and not eating the calories, is that the cardio removes calories that are stored on your body already, as opposed to not putting new calories in. I think it is necessary to get super lean, but you can come down to 10% without it. THe dieting just sucks ass though. My $0.02
 
TAURIUS said:
It depends on what kind of shape you are trying to get in. The difference between doing the cardio and not eating the calories, is that the cardio removes calories that are stored on your body already, as opposed to not putting new calories in. I think it is necessary to get super lean, but you can come down to 10% without it. THe dieting just sucks ass though. My $0.02
Click to expand...

well i have a high bf%. if i could get down to around 10% i'd be in HEAVEN!!! so i could do it with intense lifting, awesome diet, and alot of patience right.
 
Cardio will work wonders until you've depleted your glycogen stores. What happens after that, makes all the difference in the world.

If you continue cardio with a depleted glycogen level, with a sufficient daily intake of calories (food specific), cardio will slowly emulsify bodyfat. However.... If you continue cardio with a depleted glycogen level with a insufficient daily intake of calories, then your body will go into the catabolic state causing metabolism to decrease and fat emulsification to cease. As you can see, the most important factor is calories.

The bottom line: If your not taking in enough calories to support the cardio (or strength training sessions) your headed down a path of failure.
 
YES, cardio is great for conditioning and getting your body tight and losing the fat, ALONG with a good heavy weight training program and clean diet.
 
and if you're serious about being a bodybuilder, don't just go for looks. go for fitness.

i dont know about you, but some of the things i like about this lifestyle is general fitness (muscular and cardiovascular) not simply being huge.

take it as you wish
peace
 
Yes!!!! You've got to include cardio... Granted I know people who manage without it, but for the best results, you've got to round out your routine with at least 30 mins of cardio...

Especially if you've got a high bf%. Imagine what burning another 300-600 calories a day will do to how quickly you'll reach your goal. Combine this with your increased metabolism post cardio (If done in the morning, on an empty stomach) and you'll shed bf.
 
I beleive in cardio. I started working out 3 weeks ago, 7 days a week and this is my schedule:

Mon
Weds
Fri
I do 30 minutes of treadmill then my usual machine routine for approx 45 min.

Tues
Thurs
Sat
Sun

1hr 15mins of Treadmill.

Results so far.

17lbs loss in 3 weeks.

Cardio is good to reduce bodyfat, of course along with eating correctlly.

FatGuy soon to be InShapeGuy
 
I guess I'm a little like FatGuy. I guess I should be SeriouslyOverweightExJockDeskJockeyGuy. I'm doing the cardio, lifting, and ECA and it's working OK. Did the ECA for a while alone, not nearly as good.

Big difference for me is the TYPE of cardio. I was doing recumbent bike (20-25 minutes) and working up a sweat and feeling pretty good. I switched to the Procor Elliptical Gliders and what a difference. Less pain in joints, and after 30 minutes I burn almost 600 calories. Doing cardio 5 days a week, lifting for about 45 minutes 3 days a week.

Got the 6 meals (3 are protein drinks or bars) thing going. Eating pretty good, but not religious about it.

Lost 15 lbs in first 6 weeks (got a lot stronger though) but lost 10 more in the last 3 weeks, and every week I'm putting more weights on the stacks. Example: Benching 225x8 (started at 140x6), Tricep pull downs are 140x12 (started at 80x6).

Got to start tracking body fat. I know I'm getting in shape, pants are baggy, people commenting, but the lbs. aren't dropping much.

Oh, and the Hydroxycut (4), then 30 minutes glider before breakfast. I feel great! Some people I hear feel nauseous - I feel pumped and energetic!

SeriouslyOverweightExJockDeskJockeyGuy soon to be MASSIVE and RIPPED (ok, maybe not soon :cool: )
 
It is for me! Not just for the calorie burning, it feels great! I like doing intervals the best, especially sprint intervals. Then I feel great all day. I feel less energetic on non cardio days. The heart is a muscle too, and it needs exercise like all the others.
 
weights- not good for heart (not particularly anyhow)

cardio- good

so i do cardio
 
Cardio is necessary on many fronts-especially weight loss- and if you want to lose weight but not do cardio then you are not really serious about losing weight. If you're a hippo, then just passing on the pudding pops and potato/gravy will help lose weight, but if your figure is more normal and you're trying to lose 10-20 lbs. you really must do cardio. In addition to everything else, it helps oxygenate your blood which in turn enhances the helath of your internal structures and immune system.
 
Doing cardio increases your metabolism which will make losing fat that much easier, also doing cardio also helps to increase the blood flow through the body, dieting byit self works well & when you combine this with cardio you get even beeter results.
Hope this helps

Guy
 
Think about it like this, Blood Drinker:

Say at 180 lbs you decided to drop all the cardio you're doing and ONLY focus on the weights to get your bodyweight up to, say, 240. Even though you've got this big 240 lb body, you're STILL going to have the heart of a 180 lb man. The extra size can put a lot of stress on your heart, raise your blood pressure, and make you a greater candidate for heart disease. I know the numbers I used are a little extreme, but I think you get the point.

At the same time, I'm not saying go all-out on the cardio when you're trying to bulk, but at least do enough to keep your heart healthy.
 
yes!

well i think its very important for your heart and for fat loss....a while ago lost some weight and was doing great with the diet and training w/ no cardio. lost like 40 pounds in 2 months...but my heart rate was still at 100 resting heart rate. i started do some light swimimg in the morning and bam!!! my RHR was 60-70...so yes cardio at least i think is very important.

ohh, and i guess u can say it helps in fat loss cause a. it burns calories, and sence my RHR was lower , in the gym i was getting lifts in things like squats that my heart was stopping me from doing before....
 
QuickGrow said:
Think about it like this, Blood Drinker:

Say at 180 lbs you decided to drop all the cardio you're doing and ONLY focus on the weights to get your bodyweight up to, say, 240. Even though you've got this big 240 lb body, you're STILL going to have the heart of a 180 lb man. The extra size can put a lot of stress on your heart, raise your blood pressure, and make you a greater candidate for heart disease. I know the numbers I used are a little extreme, but I think you get the point.

At the same time, I'm not saying go all-out on the cardio when you're trying to bulk, but at least do enough to keep your heart healthy.
Click to expand...

yup....just a small extra (and maybe pointless) point...

weights are a static exercise. it raises blood pressure (duh). it can mess around with your heart a little on the very heavy lifts as your blood pressure can be high.this aint beneficial to your heart. cardio is dynamic and lowers b.p.- this is good for your heart.
 
Say at 180 lbs you decided to drop all the cardio you're doing and ONLY focus on the weights to get your bodyweight up to, say, 240. Even though you've got this big 240 lb body, you're STILL going to have the heart of a 180 lb man
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Your making an assumption all strength training is an-aerobic - it's not. By limiting the duration of the rest period between sets, the exercise itself can become aerobic in nature by taxing the cardiovascular system - never allowing the muscles to fully recover before the next set. Intensity is the key.

Personally speaking, I seldom do specific aerobics for fatloss. Certainly no more than twice a week, and only once I've obtained single-digit bodyfat or less. When I do step on a LifeCycle, or Treadmill, I opt for short bouts of Interval Training - 30 minutes max. By keeping my rest periods to 45 seconds between sets of strength training, my heart is ticking like a jack rabbit and further aerobics is counterproductive. Larger muscle groups like quadraceps (legs) require additional time for the removal of lactic acid, thus rest periods for a set of squats is increased to no more than 90 seconds.

After 40 minutes while others are just beginning to break a sweat, I've blasted two bodyparts to near maximum intensity, derived a awesome cardiovascular benefit in the process, and I'm headed for the showers. On a weekly basis, I'm getting stronger, more muscular and leaner, whereas people grinding away at their two hour workouts and 1 hour cardio sessions are getting smaller, flabbier and untimately discouraged. It's a shame.

In my opinion, and observations over the 18 years I have been training, there is no better way to emulsify fat than keeping rest periods short, thus making the workout aerobic in the process. For fatloss, short rest periods are the key.

I train an average of 3 clients a month at my gym. Aerobics is not introduced until after the first 8 weeks, and each of the clients I personally train is steadily losing fat at a average of 2 pounds a week.
 
Last edited:
CARDIO REALLY NECESSARY???

Well... no. But It REALLY speeds up the fat loss process. ANd allows you a bit more leeway in your diet.
I mean who wants eat a near flawless diet for 12 weeks?
 
True, it all depends on your goals. Slow cardio burns fat at the time your doing it, and the quick intense cardio, increases your metabolism, and burns fat after your done. I personally think a combination of both types will help. I always do 3 sessions of intense cardio a week, and when I'm after major fat loss in a short period of time, I add some long cardio sessions as well. But, I feel doing MORE cardio, will only help for short periods of time. Of course I always weight train, which is the best way to shape your body, but for me, adding more cardio, and different types of cardio, has helped. :p
 
I do a hour's worth of cardio, working at 20 miles per hour and I break a sweat at about 12 minutes. It surely works for me. Once in a while I break it up with intervals, but I can read during the long bout and the shorter ones get me too bored, even as I'm working. Fortunately, I'm not worried about impressing everyone else near me.
 
I do cardio for a few reasons:
Burn Calories / Fat
Family history of Heart Disease
I can't control my Diet as well as I would like.
All the honey's hanging out in that area..

If none of the above pertain to you, and you have great Will Power to always eat only boring stuff. You don't need cardio..
 
I've read that after 6 to 8 weeks your body adapts to cardio . I read this in an ironman article that had an interview with Charles Poliquin.... anyone else have any info on this issue?:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
yes u need carido to get u to the next level of fitness its like sculpturing u need it when u put on size so u don't look like a fat body builder to get the ripped and lean look;)
 
I did the Elliptical trainer for months and then someone introduced me to the Stairmaster. I could do 60 min hard on the Elliptical but almost died on my first 15 on the stairs. Your body can get adapted to the same machines... mix it up..
 
cardio is just as important as weightlifting for maintaining good health and a nice physique.

- it increases your metabolism which in effect burns more calories
- it improves circulation throughout the body allowing for nutrients and protiens to be delivered to the muscles more efficiently
- a strong cardiovascular system results in increased stamina and endurance, which allows for a longer, more intense lifting routine
- cardio is a proven stress reliever and each cardio session results in the release of endorphines -

i'm sure you all can add to this list, i used to just go to the gym to lift - but since i added cardio to my daily workout (at least 30min X 5 days a week) - i've seen my overall health improve tenfold. Along with a healthy diet, my muscles have become lean, long, and very defined. I have a full ripped six pack of abs and my facial features are more angular and attractice (i discovered i had cheekbones) -- also, the addition of cardio has allowed some flexibilty in my diet and relieved some of the guilt when i cheat and pig out on junkfood. I can't say enough about the importance of cardio.

the big three are "cardio - lifting - diet". If you can maintain a steady and consistent program in these three areas, you will be in the greatest shape ever.
 
I totally agree with you & EVERYONE ELSE WHOS AN ADVOCATE OF CARDIO omanaman, but I was really curious to know why a well known trainer would say that cardio isn't really necessary & you should put a lot of enfasis on diet & your workouts btw the trainer I'm referring to is Charles Poliquin:eek: :eek:
 
east coast muscle


Charles Poliquin is indeed correct when he says you should put a lot of emphasis on diet and strength training, as opposed to relying on Cardio to get you lean.

Despite what you have previously thought, cardio by itself does very little to increase your metabolism. Also, cardio comes in second place behind strength training when it comes to lasting fat loss. Hint: more muscle = increased metabolism. Cardio has it's place, but by no means is it the ideal method for lasting fatloss. Far from it.

Millions of people are jumping on treadmills, steppers, and exercise bikes all over the Country; and unfortunately the majority of these people do very little to change their body composition, despite the many hours spent on these machines. The fact still remains that a sensible diet combined with strength training will do more for lasting fatloss than focusing on cardio to burn off the fat.

You will burn more bodyfat in the long run by putting on an additional 10 pounds of muscle, than performing cardio for 30minutes a day/4 times a week; thus people need on focusing on building muscle. The fat will come off.

Currently, I'm pretty lean. But when I want to shed a few pounds of bodyfat during the winter months, my mindset is focused on gaining muscle as opposed to losing bodyfat. People need to change their mindset from "how can I lose 10 pounds?" to "how can I gain 10 pounds of muscle?"

I rate the priority as follows:

1)Diet
2)Strength Training
3)Cardio
 
Last edited:
interesting....i already to weight training...but i know i still need to get my lazy ass up and do some cardio w/ it.
 
I would agree with Rudee34

my priority would be ordered as
1. lifting
2. diet ( a very close second if not tied for first )
3. cardio

but as for losing fat over the winter by gaining muscle -- this is simply NOT true. You may be lowering your body fat percentage, but not actually losing fat. In my experience, an EXCESS of calories is required to gain muscle, and a DEFICIT is required to lose fat. Unless you are on roids, this rule is pretty much set in stone. What is true is that the newly aquired muscle will allow you to shed those extra pounds a little more easily.
 
an EXCESS of calories is required to gain muscle, and a DEFICIT is required to lose fat.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, if it were that simple the Diet industry wouldn't be the multi-billion dollar empire it is today.

Millions of people each year go on diets following that exact same principle; thinking that if they just cut their calories they will drop bodyfat. You'd be hard pressed to find a success rate of better than 5% following this regimine. When I say success, I'm referring to lasting fat loss over a period of time greater than 1 year. In my opinon, if the fat never returns, then you can deem yourself "successful". How many days without cigarettes must you go without to be a "non-smoker"? How many days without alcohol must you go to be considered "sober"? Success can be measured in many ways.

Remember, the original trend going back to the 1970's was to reduce calories. This backfired because people didn't understand that the body will down-regulate metabolism to match. The result failure. Back to the drawing board. Then in the 80's-90's, the low fat revolution hit us. People were told to reduce their fat, and that they did. Unfortunately, the fatty snacks were replaced with sugar in the form of carbohydrate (energy bars, granola, low fat muffins, Diet drinks, etc) and the bodies natural insulin levels went up and down like a rollercoaster as fat inducing carbohydrates became the staple "diet". The result, Americans were now even fatter than ever. Failure once again. Now in the 20th century, the low carb diets are becoming popular again (they existed in the 60s'). People will ultimately fail on these diets as well if they don't improve their metabolism, and promote lasting fatloss by building additional muscle.

In my previous post I used the term "lasting" fat loss, this is important. In my opinion, anyone can lose weight, and yes, the simple mathematical formula will apply here, But......... The person who follows this type of diet for a significant period of time has a extremely high chance of lowering their metabolism, as their bodies setpoint becomes lower and lower as the body gets use to functioning with less calories. Muscle tissue is sacraficed and the result is drastically reduced metabolism. Once this person begins eating 'normally' again, the fat will come on much quicker and future fatloss will be even more difficult. This is known as "yo-yo" dieting.

The key to lasting fatloss is metabolism. Quick weightloss diets often fail in the long term - we all know the statistics. The biggest reason that they fail is that the bodies metabolism has not been given any reason to increase. Rapid weight loss is the worst thing that can happen to a metabolsim. You just can't simply fool with millions of years of evolution as far as the human body is concerned. The body is much smarter than that.

Muscle is the most metabolically active tissue you have. It requires many extra calories to maintain. The more muscle you have, the more calories you are going to burn at rest and at play - even while you sleep. Even a single pound of muscle lost will lower metabolism. Conversely, a single pound of muscle increases metabolism. Bottom line: For lasting fat loss you must preserve the muscle you have if you are fairly muscular, or build additional muscle if you are not. The latter is obviously better.

As far as the number of calories it takes to build muscle, I can tell you it vary's from person to person. It depends on many factors including natural levels of anabolic hormones in the body. For example, I can take the typical teenager who has never touched a weight, and eats the typical fast food diet, or seldom eats at all. Now, according to logic, this person who eats infrequently, possibly only 1000 calories a day of junk food, shouldn't be able to put on much muscle - but what do you know, hormomes take over and additional muscle is built rather quickly, despite the fact that he's expending well over 1000 calories a day just in maintenance.

There are numerous factors involved in the muscle building process. Factors that are well beyond the scope of this discussion, thus I'll leave it at that. If it were simply a matter of working out and eating more calories than maintenance, we'd all all be looking like Arnold Scwartznegger - well, it just doesn't happen that way unfortunately :(. For the experienced weightlifter, muscle comes on very slowly - a few pounds a year tops. It doesn't take many additional calories to stimulate muscle growth, but calories - more importantly - protein, needs to be available, and the body needs to be in a anabolic state.

Now for the unfortunate truth: No matter what kind of diet you are on (low fat, low carb, ketogenic, cyclic ketogenic, etc) if you're metabolism remains slow and "out of whack" you will soon be right back to square one. Thus I highly recommend you reep the lasting rewards of an increased metabolism by building all the extra lean muscle you can. This added muscle will be your "insurance policy" so to speak. Don't fall into the trap like millions of dieters do each year, it will be such a waste if you do.

Damn, sorry about the long post, but in my 18 years of training and observation, I've learned many valuable things which I formerly didn't quite grasp the significance. Hope I make sense.
 
Last edited:
Geesh Rudee34, that deserves the biggest bump I've given in ages on this board. Do you mind if I copy some of what you've written for future pasting on some of the boards???
 
Unfortunately, if it were that simple the Diet industry wouldn't be the multi-billion dollar empire it is today.
Click to expand...

hey Rudee,

You sound very passionate about fitness and health - we share a common bond, but i never said it was that simple. I was just implying that as a basic fundamental to gaining muscle and losing weight.

I think everbody's biggest downfall is a lack of commitment. People like you and me can preach on all day about lifting, diet, and cardio, but if people aren't willing to adopt these concepts as a lifestyle, and with persistence and intensity, they're NOT going to get the results they desire (or any results for that matter).
 
thank you rudee...that's exactly what i've been wanting to hear

Rudee34 said:


Not necessarily. Your making an assumption all strength training is an-aerobic - it's not. By limiting the duration of the rest period between sets, the exercise itself can become aerobic in nature by taxing the cardiovascular system - never allowing the muscles to fully recover before the next set. Intensity is the key.

Personally speaking, I seldom do specific aerobics for fatloss. Certainly no more than twice a week, and only once I've obtained single-digit bodyfat or less. When I do step on a LifeCycle, or Treadmill, I opt for short bouts of Interval Training - 30 minutes max. By keeping my rest periods to 45 seconds between sets of strength training, my heart is ticking like a jack rabbit and further aerobics is counterproductive. Larger muscle groups like quadraceps (legs) require additional time for the removal of lactic acid, thus rest periods for a set of squats is increased to no more than 90 seconds.

After 40 minutes while others are just beginning to break a sweat, I've blasted two bodyparts to near maximum intensity, derived a awesome cardiovascular benefit in the process, and I'm headed for the showers. On a weekly basis, I'm getting stronger, more muscular and leaner, whereas people grinding away at their two hour workouts and 1 hour cardio sessions are getting smaller, flabbier and untimately discouraged. It's a shame.

In my opinion, and observations over the 18 years I have been training, there is no better way to emulsify fat than keeping rest periods short, thus making the workout aerobic in the process. For fatloss, short rest periods are the key.

I train an average of 3 clients a month at my gym. Aerobics is not introduced until after the first 8 weeks, and each of the clients I personally train is steadily losing fat at a average of 2 pounds a week.
Click to expand...
 
blood_drinker said:
and if you're serious about being a bodybuilder, don't just go for looks. go for fitness.

i dont know about you, but some of the things i like about this lifestyle is general fitness (muscular and cardiovascular) not simply being huge.

take it as you wish
peace
Click to expand...

Absolutely, if your going to live the life, live it to it's fullest !!!
 
Basic exercises... (squats, rows, presses, curls, dips, etc)
High Intensity, Low duration...
Minimum rest periods
Rest
 
The way i see it, if you're burning 500 or so calories a day from cardio or from weight training, then it's still a defacit either way. So if your daily bmr is 2500, and you want to lose wight, you have 3 choices... you can eat in a 500 calorie or so defacit per day, which means you have to eat less. Or, you can take option 2 and do enough cardio to burn off 500 calories. Or you can lift, and burn 500 calories. If you're eaiting in caloric defacit, you're not going to gain muscle from this, but, you will burn calories. ust pick your poison. If you burn 500 cals a day, or eat in defacit of 500 cals from your daily bmr, you WILL lose a pound of fat per week.
 
The problem is that people peform far too much exercise and restrict calories too drastically while dieting, thus instead of 500 calories below maintenance, they are 1000 or more calories below maintenance. This does nothing but slow metabolism.

Secondly, many people spend far too much time in the gym with too few calories. Your hormones change drastically as the workout becomes catabolic. This generally occurs after 45 minutes of intense exercise. You can either workout long or workout hard, but you can't do both. If you attempt to do both you will risk losing muscle tissue.

Short infrequent bouts of high intensity exercise are proven to be the best stimulus of of muscle growth, and natural anabolic hormones (growth hormone), while maintaining catabolic hormones (cortisol). Remember, cortisol is the enemy of anyone looking to add muscle, thus the quicker you can get in, get your job done, and go home and rest - the better!
 
Rudee34 said:
Cardio will work wonders until you've depleted your glycogen stores. What happens after that, makes all the difference in the world.

If you continue cardio with a depleted glycogen level, with a sufficient daily intake of calories (food specific), cardio will slowly emulsify bodyfat. However.... If you continue cardio with a depleted glycogen level with a insufficient daily intake of calories, then your body will go into the catabolic state causing metabolism to decrease and fat emulsification to cease. As you can see, the most important factor is calories.

The bottom line: If your not taking in enough calories to support the cardio (or strength training sessions) your headed down a path of failure.
Click to expand...

I think this whole point needs to be emphasized again..karma to you (even though its not much :p)

And on a side note..in your professional opinon (rudee) are the bmr calculators accurate? I wish there was some way to find exactly what my bmr is without spending massive amounts of $$ on the scientific tests or whatever the hell they are..
 
east coast muscle said:
I've read that after 6 to 8 weeks your body adapts to cardio . I read this in an ironman article that had an interview with Charles Poliquin.... anyone else have any info on this issue?:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

yes you must change either the intensity or duration, or both, to increase your cardio fitness level.
 
but cardio.. is like cardio. just gettin your heart in the target range for whover you are and whatever your target heart range is.

sooooo if you do some intense workin out and your heart pops up to your target heart range are you not also doin cardio.

so this guy can just do his weight lifting in a way to also raise his heart beat to a level where it is also considered cardio.

Super sets usually do it for me. but I dont know.
 
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