Did you know that cardio is great for many things, however not good at all for weight loss?

Question

I will start off by listing the things that make cardio very beneficial......

1. heart fitness (obviously)

2. better endurance and lung power

3. healthier skin

4. better digestion and elimination

5. much better sleep

6. antidepressive and anti-anxiety producer

7. probably more that i forgot to mention

BUT......cardio does not promote weight loss. nor does it change your physique.

Take a look in the gym the next time you go. Look at the people on the cardio machines. Obese folks who are not losing a pound of weight. Not one bloody pound of weight do they ever lose. They look miserable. Then go look at the people lifting the weights. They look happy and their bodies are for the most part, built very nicely.

Think about it. You do an hour of cardio, you get super hungry, and you eat 3 times the amount you would normally. You burned 600 calories and just consumed 1400 calories.

Answer 1

It actually is good for weight loss - the problem, as you pointed out, is that most people don't eat healthy enough/small enough portions to reap the benefits.

Also, cardio should be combined with weight training, or other muscle building activities to optimize the results.

Doing cardio alone (although beneficial) is not going to make you super skinny and have a six pack. Combining cardio with a weight training program, and good diet is what will give you more results. Likewise, lifting alone won't give you a great body - it will help, and it will make you stronger, but you'll have difficulty losing weight. Similarly, diet alone won't get you into great shape. Starve yourself all you want, but if you're not running and lifting along with it, you'll just be a "skinny fat guy" rather than a "fat guy." (and of course, once you start eating, youll gain the weight back).

Like so many things, balance is the key to a good weight loss program.

Personally, I run for about 20 minutes (2.5 - 3 miles) either before or after lifting and keep on a strict diet 4 days a week, and loosely control it the other 3 (eat what I want, but watch my portions). It gets the job done for me.

Although cardio isn't the one and done workout method, it definitely does help sculpt your body and promote weight loss. Your legs will get stronger, and as long as you keep a healthy diet, you will lose weight. However, the problem is that doing more than 15 - 25 minutes of cardio is pointless - you are just burning excess energy at that point. That is what causes people to fall into the overfatigued/overeating traps.

Answer 2

Wow! And to think all of these years my workout routine isn't resulting in my rockin' body..........Oh well, at least my skin is perfect and I can sleep well after thoroughly testing my endurance. ;)

Answer 3

No, if you are burning calories, and keeping your consumption low (low enough, not too low, of course) you will lose weight. Calories in, calories out. It's that simple. But yes, weight training should always be included with cardio in any fitness regime, since building muscle mass is crucial to reshaping the body.

Answer 4

You say that cardio is an anti depressive yet you say that all the people doing cardio at the gym look miserable.

I don't know if what you say it's true but I don't think I agree with it.

Answer 5

Cardio does burn calories at an accelerated rate, but weight training and circuit training are excellent for weight loss.

A simplified explanation is as follows:

Weight training ,circuit training and power lifting alter the lean to fat ratio, muscle requires more calories (fuel) to operate ,so the metabolism speeds up to supply the muscle with the needed fuel.

Too many people focus only on the tread mill, bike or elliptical ,when a well rounded ,varied work out will net 3 times the result and be way less boring.

Answer 6

Shouldn't this be in Diet and Fitness?

Answer 7

Ok here is the skinny, you DO lose weight when you do cardio in fact you lose more calories then weight training. However to have a full and great workout the last three links (and all the others I found) agree that you need BOTH to have a complete workout and be in the best of health.

http://exercise.about.com/cs/cardioworko...

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/c...

http://hubpages.com/hub/CardiovsStrength...

http://polaris.umuc.edu/~sfisher/cardio....

And as for your eating theory any one can choose to make good or bad food choices that is a personal choice and how dedicated they are to losing. So some will eat healthy choices and some will eat bad it can not factor into your "angst on cardio" unless you can prove that ALL will do that.

Answer 8

No I didn't know that.