No cardio
- Thread starter D15BT
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Here's the hierarchy:
1) nutrition
2) muscular strength training ("lifting weights")
3) muscular endurance training ("cardio")
If you have 1 down, you will shed fat or gain lean mass.
If you have 1 and 2 down, you may even do both (gain lean mass and shed fat mass, simultaneously), and will certainly look and feel better doing it, not to mention actually being able to do "things" should the need arise. As well as increasing the proportions of fat lost: muscle lost and muscle gained: fat gained in your favor, of course.
Beyond that, 3 has some purported health benefits, but is generally unnecessary for the average meathead.
However, having said that, I think it's pretty pathetic - a big, lean "fit" dude who couldn't run a mile or swim a lake to save his life. I guess what I'm saying is, it's up to you whether you want to look fit, or you want to be fit.
If you only want to look fit, you can safely skip the "cardio".
1) nutrition
2) muscular strength training ("lifting weights")
3) muscular endurance training ("cardio")
If you have 1 down, you will shed fat or gain lean mass.
If you have 1 and 2 down, you may even do both (gain lean mass and shed fat mass, simultaneously), and will certainly look and feel better doing it, not to mention actually being able to do "things" should the need arise. As well as increasing the proportions of fat lost: muscle lost and muscle gained: fat gained in your favor, of course.
Beyond that, 3 has some purported health benefits, but is generally unnecessary for the average meathead.
However, having said that, I think it's pretty pathetic - a big, lean "fit" dude who couldn't run a mile or swim a lake to save his life. I guess what I'm saying is, it's up to you whether you want to look fit, or you want to be fit.
If you only want to look fit, you can safely skip the "cardio".Where/how did you get your reading from? Online calculator?
- Cardio is not "a must". If you do a FBW three times a week on Mon, Wed and Fri; cardio on Tue and Thu is an option because it allows you to increase your activity level without doing those 5 or 6 consecutive weight training days some people do.
- You can lift heavy while on a deficit diet (preferably carb cycling).
- You can reduce your bodyfat by deficit dieting alone but this will take a long time. However with deficit dieting without resistance training, what reason is your body going to have to hold on to muscle?
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However, having said that, I think it's pretty pathetic - a big, lean "fit" dude who couldn't run a mile or swim a lake to save his life. I guess what I'm saying is, it's up to you whether you want to look fit, or you want to be fit.
+1 & agreed!!!
Last Thursday I went mountain bike riding with my trainer. Roz is 41 and probably one of the most fit & healthy-looking woman you've ever met, she looks like an IronWoman. She's cut, firm, muscular and can execute just about any exercise movement flawlessly.
We started-out and she insisted that I ride my routine and she'll just keep up. After fiddling with a left shoe that didn't want to clip-in I finally gave-in to her demand that I just "do my thing"...so I said "okay, it goes a little something like this......" and I proceeded to get into my rhythm.
No, I did not try to blow her away....I just brought my heart-rate up to a cruising 150 and spun for about 8 minutes figuring she was on my heels.
When I stopped to look back, she was nowhere in sight...so I pulled-off to the side of the road and waited in the shade. Minutes later I began to wonder if something had gone bad (flat-tire, fallen, etc)....so I started cruising down the road...and down, and down and down! I finally saw her on the side of the road looking spent & exhausted. I asked what happened and she said her heart-rate monitor peaked at 193 and she just had to stop!
193?!!!!! No way.....I just paid for another 20 sessions and there's no way she's gonna pull some mortality/death thing to weasel-out on me!
We finally got her going again and I kept her in the lower gears, but even at a super-slow rate she was running HR 155-165....and what troubled me the most was that when we stopped to rest, her heart-rate wouldn't go down much below 145. Not good. My heart-rate during this time was about 116 AND my Garmin Edge 705 continually went into Auto-Pause mode because it thought we weren't moving! In all my riding, I've never ridden with such a weak person! I was shocked. Even some jogger going by commented to Roz "well at least you look really super-fit & healthy!".....
I mean, this woman looks like a stunning triathlete capable of kicking everyone's ass....and all she could repeatedly say is "looks can be deceiving" and "I do ZERO cardio!"...and ya know what, this is something I hear from soooooo many trainers! Many say they don't want to risk burning muscle so they avoid cardio...but it's an excuse and when pressed they generally admit it and then continue to admit they just don't like cardio. (I'm speaking of trainers I've met....).
I agree with G8 that it's sad as heck when you have these uber-fit looking people who can't run, bike or do any cardio much to speak of. I'm sure there are those who will argue, but you just don't get the circulatory, respiratory and other benefits (that come from cardio) as you do from weight-lifting. I've even had doctors say "if you enjoy weight-lifiting, fine....but the most beneficial benefits are derived from cardiovascular exercise"......
Now, before this spawns a huge battle-royal of arguement.....let me say this: I do both AND I know the best thing is to incorporate both weight-lifting AND cardio into your routine, but at no point is one a substitute for the other.
To the OP; you CAN lose weight w/o cardio, but don't sell-short the benefits of cardio...swimming in particular can really help develop upper-body and get you tone/cut very nicely too!
Just remember that you dont have to run long distance to do it. Swimming, biking, sports, anything can help.
It may come as a surprise to those who thought cardio only involves swimming, running, biking etc. Circuit training is also cardio. There is also Clean Cardio. nuff' said.:cool3:
Yes and no....
By theory you can "keep-moving" and keep your heart-rate elevated....but I find it's pretty impractical. When I do weights, I give it my all and move HEAVY....when I hit that last rep, I'm smashed and need a rest before jumping right into the next set. The idea of maintaining that pace is just impractical. Of course, if you just plan on going light with your weights and just plunging along then perhaps that'll work......
There's "Circuit training" where you hit machine after machine or do movement after movement....and then there's "Circuit training" where you're supposed to do all these things in a continuous progression such that you incorporate cardio. Great theory, but.....no.
I say, when you do your weights, do your weights proper. When you do cardio, do your cardio proper. Trying to combine them is nothing short of a compromise. If you can go from exercise to exercise to exercise, then you aren't pushing yourself hard enough on each exercise. Weight training is intense and borderline explosive...trying to maintain a cardio pace through each routine? please......great in theory, fun to write about, maybe even sell a book or two....but not in the real world.
Assuming do your weights proper means, "Lift heavy and explosively, aspiring to perfect control." And, "Do your cardio proper," means, "Train for endurance in every conceivable locomotive movement, aspiring to perfect control."
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Don't be a doubting Thomas. Loot at this circuit training article.
Speak to a qualified fitness expert or read up properly on complexes and circuits.
When the article says
circuit training said:
I guess the army, navy, sports teams do not qualify as "real world" in "BSL's world".
There's not A Right Way to lift.
Period.
An optimal weight training routine is entirely context dependent.
Period.
An optimal weight training routine is entirely context dependent.
Some of the truest words ever spoke. :cheeky2:
Oh, well I guess if it's written it HAS to be true.....let's see:
Is that the most generic & vague stuff you've ever read or what? Ya know, articles come out all the time with authors expressing all sorts of ill-stated and erroneous stuff. My nutritionist spends a lot of time de-bunking a lot of myths and generic crap just like this.
Yes, you should....
Gee, I guess not.
Circuit training is just another fad-terminology to come down the fitness turnpike. It's merely weight-training in a manner that you keep & maintain your heart-rate up such that you grab some cardio benefits along the ways. But dude...it's not like regular weight-training; the weights are done a much lower intensity in order for a person to sustain the continued rate. I hope you understand that.
I know your prime to want to counter-attack and all that stuff that is 'tribal by nature'...but just listen for second and don't attack your friend.
Circuit training is a compromise, but it's still effective. Depends what your purpose & intent is. If you really want to make gains in muscle then you need to push yourself at intense levels. When I get done doing a series of squats I sometimes almost feel like I'm going to pass-out...the last thing I want or can do is run over and do some bicep curls or some other intense routine. Point is, if your really pushing it and working at an intense level, you really can't jump one routine to another and get the cardio in as well.
Now...if you go light to medium on your weights, then yeah...you can jump routine to routine. Will you get benefits? Yep. What kind of benefits?....oh, the kind where you build a bit of muscle, tone mostly and burn some fat....just the kind of thing a sports team or perhaps a soldier would train for. And some gyms may want to market their new "circuit training" program as well.
When I want to gain muscle to get stronger and look bigger, I WEIGHT-TRAIN. When I want to burn fat, work the cardiovascular & respiratory system, I go for long bike rides, swim and run....it's cardio. Trying to combine the two is, by it's nature, a compromise.
It's like a car-boat....does drive like a car, doesn't quite move like a boat...but it does both in a compromised way.
You use a hammer when you need a hammer, you use a screw-driver when you need a screw-driver. Sure, there's some whacky multi-tool available that does both...and we call that circuit training.
If I had to choose ONLY ONE: weight-training, cardio or circuit-training....I'd choose circuit-training because it combines both weights & cardio, but fortunately I have the time & interest to separate them...and that's why I'm far stronger and bigger AND have much greater cardio endurance then a person who only circuit-trains.
You feel me or are ya gonna go tribal on us? :violent2:
That is my point in not as many words. One as an "expert" should not dismiss other training regimens based on a narrow conceptualized "aesthetic" way of thinking.
Look at the above pic of an old school type workout. Depending on the weight used and no of reps the end purpose is different.