What is the point of doing cardio....

[HeavyBlueDevil]

...when you could just eat less food. If weight loss is all about calories in vs calories out, if you meet your goal calories, why bother doing cardio at all?

[MuzzieChik786]

...when you could just eat less food. If weight loss is all about calories in vs calories out, if you meet your goal calories, why bother doing cardio at all?

You're right. Cardio isn't necessary.
But man, being able to run uphill and doing tricks like pushups and pullups is so much fun.

[Edman316]

Come talk to us after your first heart attack...........

Cardio builds a stronger heart - biking builds up quads too - added bonus.

[mavajo]

...when you could just eat less food. If weight loss is all about calories in vs calories out, if you meet your goal calories, why bother doing cardio at all?

For weight loss, none. In fact, it can even be counterproductive.

For general heath, however, the benefits of cardio are numerous.

[cgibsong002]

Come talk to us after your first heart attack...........

Cardio builds a stronger heart - biking builds up quads too - added bonus.

Right. It's seriously been bothering me how many people here tell heavily overweight guys that there's no point in doing cardio. I was about to start a thread, but his works. Just because this is a bodybuilding forum, doesn't mean you should give an overweight person bad advice just because it isn't essential to weight loss and muscle retention. Cardio is necessary, period. You might not notice any actual physical benefits from it, but your body needs it and it's a key to being all around healthy, not just strong and lean.

[Edman316]

Right. It's seriously been bothering me how many people here tell heavily overweight guys that there's no point in doing cardio. I was about to start a thread, but his works. Just because this is a bodybuilding forum, doesn't mean you should give an overweight person bad advice just because it isn't essential to weight loss and muscle retention. Cardio is necessary, period. You might not notice any actual physical benefits from it, but your body needs it and it's a key to being all around healthy, not just strong and lean.

I agree 100% and it becomes more important as you get older.

The cemetery is full of people that died early due to poor heart health.

As a side note, it also helps a ton while dieting because it creates huge daily calorie deficits.

[SkeletorWannaBe]

I use cardio to create massive deficit.

Some people find it difficult to create deficit only by diet, so they add activity.

Additionally cardio brings some health benefits and help in recovery...

[HeavyBlueDevil]

Okay if cardio is important for cardiovasular reason how much is enough, how much time should I dedicate for it?

[Riffo]

Okay if cardio is important for cardiovasular reason how much is enough, how much time should I dedicate for it?

That all depends on your goals... the heart gets sufficient stimulation from proper strength training and is much more dependant on your diet than on any exercise. If you want to be an endurance athlete, you can never do enough "cardio". If you want to be strong, then little to none "cardio" at all is your best bet.

[AncientYouth]

Okay if cardio is important for cardiovasular reason how much is enough, how much time should I dedicate for it?

depends on your goals and how you train

high volume high rep weights can be very cardio intensive

LISS such as power walking is good for calorie burn and health and has minimal impact on recovery

I personally dont think that very heavy people should run , esp on concrete too much impact damage

[HeavyBlueDevil]

My goal is to get lean, I varry my lifting i.e.....4x6, 5x5, 3x10-30 every week, my main goal right now is to simply lose fat. My current cardio vascular health is 116/72 64 (no meds), and I do zero cardio now, but lift every day. Nutrition is my week link. I think my bp/hr pressure is good because I lift heavy enough all the time. I do walk 5000-10000 steps in a day not really cardio as it is at a slow causual pace. I guess I am stating this because I do not run or use a treadmill, stair stepper ect...ever. Sometime I wounder if we are just being lied to in regards to cardio, to sell gym memberships with this type of equipment, if calories in vs out is controlled by us we shouldn't really need cardio unless are goal is to run for races or endorphin (pleasure). Having read what I just posted what is all your opinions on cardio...if my pressures are good are there any other benefits of cardio?

[Edman316]

Okay if cardio is important for cardiovasular reason how much is enough, how much time should I dedicate for it?

I do 30-45 minutes, 6 days per week.

I do it before or after my split workouts - depends on how crowded the gym is and or how I feel. Some days I feel like training first.

Been at it for it for 8 weeks. Dropped 23 pounds.

I believe the "experts" recommend a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio - 3 days per week. Walking counts.

[94jettameowpsst]

My bp pre January was 140/83


Currently it's 110/65 and my resting hr is 48-49

Cardio works lol

[Edman316]

My bp pre January was 140/83


Currently it's 110/65 and my resting hr is 48-49

Cardio works lol

Congrats man! Nice job.

I'm hoping to have similar results from cardio.

[Obscene]

Cardio means more food. Good enough for me, I like to eat!

[PrinceDaddy]

Heart Health. True! If you wear a fitbit, one thing you might pick up is how active you are.
The one thing I learned on mine was that on weekends, I'm busy walking around doing stuff, no need for cardio then.

During the week, however, I'm mostly sedentary due to my desk job, imagine 30-40 min drive each way, plus 8 hours at work at a minimum.
Sure, I get my gym in early in the morning, but nothing but short walks to the break room and bathroom for the remainder of the day.
That inactivity hurts. With the cooling weather, I try to do simple cardio like walk the parking lot at lunch.

[jubjubrsx]

do as much cardio as you think you need, everyone is different. So its hard to put a number on it saying that 45minutes is how much you should do.

if you dont want to do cardio dont, but there are so many good benefits to it for overall health.

[dmacdonal9]

Right. It's seriously been bothering me how many people here tell heavily overweight guys that there's no point in doing cardio. I was about to start a thread, but his works. Just because this is a bodybuilding forum, doesn't mean you should give an overweight person bad advice just because it isn't essential to weight loss and muscle retention. Cardio is necessary, period. You might not notice any actual physical benefits from it, but your body needs it and it's a key to being all around healthy, not just strong and lean.

Are you sure about that? I am not sure that an individual with good nutrition (macro and micro sufficiency), in energy balance or a deficit, that is already lifting, is going to see any incremental improvement in cardiovascular health by adding cardio.

I've posted this before, but I'll jam it in here anyway:

Cardio vs weights for heart health (if you had to pick just one)

The big four risk areas for cardiovascular health are:

- Fat loss: As we all know it's about calories. Resistance training is at least as effective in the short term, and given it's ability to change body composition as well, resistance training wins. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12439085

- Blood lipids: Low or moderadate cardio does pretty much nothing. Resistance training reduces bad cholesterol, high intensity cardio improves good cholesterol. No clear winner, both are beneficial. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18974201

- Blood pressure: Cardio generally has a bit of an edge here, but resistance training shows benefits as well. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15662209

- Glucose metabolism: Resistance training is a clear winner over cardio for glucose control (the single biggest factor IMO): http://care.diabetesjournals.org/con...9/11/2518.full

There's a nice summary of this in the Nov 2010 issue of the AARR.

[TheLongRun]

It just raises your TDEE, allowing you to get away with more food. I don't do any cardio, but I am active as I can be everyday (I walk a lot) for this reason.

[Neofolis]

They don't seem to use the heart rate formulae much anymore, but they used to use them extensively to determine whether you heart rate was in the fat burning, aerobic or anaerobic zones. Today people tend to just refer to cardio as either low to moderate intensity or high intensity. The aerobic zone was considered best for cardiovascular health and would have the long term benefit of allowing the heart to pump more blood per heartbeat, increasing VO2 max, reducing resting heart rate, etc. The information still seems widely acknowledged, but not used so much.

[AAOBob]

For the last three years, the first question people who see me who haven't seen me since I lost weight and started to work out is "do you run?"

Hell no, I lost all the weight and got 'in shape' with just weights and diet but.....

I knew I wasn't nearly as fit as I looked. Hence I'm focusing far more on the cardio now, and have been since about July this year.

For people who can't see a benefit, this helps in the bedroom too

Cardio to lose weight seems a waste of time to me still, but cardio for health is important too.

[dmacdonal9]

I knew I wasn't nearly as fit as I looked.

In what way?

[Edman316]

Heart Health. True! If you wear a fitbit, one thing you might pick up is how active you are.
The one thing I learned on mine was that on weekends, I'm busy walking around doing stuff, no need for cardio then.

During the week, however, I'm mostly sedentary due to my desk job, imagine 30-40 min drive each way, plus 8 hours at work at a minimum.
Sure, I get my gym in early in the morning, but nothing but short walks to the break room and bathroom for the remainder of the day.
That inactivity hurts. With the cooling weather, I try to do simple cardio like walk the parking lot at lunch.

I started wearing a Fitbit last week. It motivates me to keep moving.

[AAOBob]

In what way?

Well running a mile would make me want to die for starters.

[cakesandcream]

I really should start some Cardio as well. I just try and get it from sports. Running/walking is extremely boring for my liking.

[CarlsonGee]

...when you could just eat less food. If weight loss is all about calories in vs calories out, if you meet your goal calories, why bother doing cardio at all?

Think of it this way - Who is going to be bigger?

If you eat 8000 calories a day, and burn 8000 calories a day

If you eat 3000 calories a day, and burn 3000 calories a day

[imjustafella]

doesnt cardio help burn fat with the after burner effect? scooby made a video about it.

[AAOBob]

doesnt cardio help burn fat with the after burner effect? scooby made a video about it.

Scooby doesn't have a lot of fans on this board, but that is correct, to an extent. Especially true for the high intensity stuff, but if you are just looking to cut its still a crapload easier to just eat a little less.

[GravyVeins]

Well running a mile would make me want to die for starters.

This.

I'm in my fourth month of cutting and have done almost no cardio either, except for walking and skateboarding. However, I injured my wrist and can't do much in the gym so started jogging to stay active. First mile time was 10:55 and I stopped two or three times. Next jog the mile time dropped to like 9:40, and I didn't stop. I am going to try to keep up with this even after my wrist heals. I want to be lean and more muscular, but I also want to do 5ks and 10ks around town.

[Neofolis]

Maybe I'm doing my cardio wrong or just have poor cardiovascular health, but when I do cycling or treadmill at the gym, I'm far too fuked to think about whether or not it's boring. I just spend most of the time wanting it to end before I die. I realise that probably won't motivate many people to start, but it doesn't make me stop and I'm sure it's not so bad for people who are even vaguely healthy.