“I need to do more cardio to lose weight?”
“Do I need to do cardio to lose fat/ weight and tone up?””
A few questions I’ve had recently so wanted to give you a summary ..
But if you prefer a video?
I covered it here
Firstly, consider that to lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit. Whether you do that just through food and some resistance exercise or no exercise, does not really matter when it comes to weight loss….
However…
1- What is cardio?
This is the first question. Cardio could mean steps to one person and a run to another.
The difference?
Both will have cardiovascular benefits on your heart, you would perhaps get more with higher intensity running
2- Does cardio make you more hungry?
I’ve started doing a few 5k runs recently and really enjoying it. For my heart heart, fitness and mind.
However, my hunger does increase when I run compared to when I walk.
That’s just me.
The key part?
Have I had enough protein? Fibre? Could I increase it?
One of the ladies talked about this too (see image)
After all, if you run to “burn” calories but the. Just end up eating more?
The main benefits will be heart health rather than weight related
Compare this to when I walk?
Sure I burn fewer calories but
If anything I actually find it lowers my hunger.
The takehome?
Trial it and know what works for you.
3-Do I need to do cardio to help increase my strength?
Too much cardio in the same session as your resistance work / strength work could actually blunt / decrease the effectiveness of your strength work as your energy may be lower (chase two rabbits get none).
In an ideal world?
If your main goal was strength,
You’d probably do strength work separate.
Not possible ? Eg time.
Then perhaps try to do your strength work first.
But know this..
Doing higher rep resistance exercise could still be increasing your strength relative to you
Whilst also increasing endurance due to the number of times you are doing it.
And this is why I love resistance exercise.
It’s so versatile.
You can get heart health benefits (of course, not perhaps as much as running etc)
And still focus on changing your body shape and focussing on what you can do
Without putting too much pressure on joints / potential old running injuries .
Anyway,
Hope that helps
Matt