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Gym owner told me doing cardio is not as good as

A

alanwest09872

Golden Member
Ok the Gym owner. He told me to stop doing cardio. Im better off using machines and keep my heart rate up for at least 30 mins. Basically I pick two machines that work out different muscles of the body. Like one benching machine and another that works out arms and shoulders. I have to go till I hit my max. Like 115lbs I can do 12 times then I have to drop the weight. Then straight away go to the next machine. No resting inbetween. So I do the benching machine then arms and shoulders, back to benching machine then back to arms and shoulders then back to benching machine then arms and shoulders. Then I pick a different machine. One that works out legs. Then I switch back and forth like I did before. I do this none stop till I hit 30 mins. He said this works better then just running or walking because my body has to repair all my muscles by the end. He said that this works better because you will continue to burn calories because you muscles need to heal themselves after a workout like that. So you will continue to burn calories well after you go home and rest a bit.

So what do you guys think of this. He also said that pure cardio is boring or can be very boring and thats why people dont stick with it. This is better because its more interesting and more verity so I will have a better chance of sticking with it.
 
Ok so this is an actual thing people do. At least I know what its called depletion workout. How is this for burning fat and building muscles
 
alanwest09872 said:
How is this for burning fat and building muscles
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Cardio is good for your cardiovascular system and that's about all....

Other forms of exercise are much better 'fat burners'.

However, you need to understand you really can burn fat and build muscle at the same time. It's an effort in inefficiency called toning.

Bulk up and then cut down to where you want to be.
 
No... A depletion workout is part of a larger regimen where you basically eat very low carbs 5 days a week where on the 5th day you do high volume workouts that hit every muscle group in an attempt to deplete glycogen so that when you begin carbing up for the 24-36 hours afterwards, your body goes into a state of glycogen supercompensation. I've tried it, it's a miserable experience and I certainly dread it a lot more than cardio to say the least.
 
alkemyst said:
*sigh*...no.
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Meh, you're entitled to your opinion regardless of how wrong it is.

Running works a variety of leg muscles, core and abdominal muscles, provides essential 'exercise' of your joints, tendons, and ligaments, etc. Similar for cycling.

You can be in excellent health only doing a cardiovascular workout, the same cannot be said for weight lifting only.
 
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Bateluer said:
Meh, you're entitled to your opinion regardless of how wrong it is.

Running works a variety of leg muscles, core and abdominal muscles, provides essential 'exercise' of your joints, tendons, and ligaments, etc. Similar for cycling.

You can be in excellent health only doing a cardiovascular workout, the same cannot be said for weight lifting only.
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While I support your initial statement in this thread, I do not support the bolded part. Research has shown weightlifting to improve insulin sensitivity, body composition, and muscle mass and to reduce risk of things like cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, etc. That's regardless if it's weightlifting done in a powerlifting style (big lifts, lots of rest) or circuit (lots of reps, low rest).
 
Circuit training doesn't really replace cardio unless you are doing something like crossfit. Also keep in mind that more damage to your muscles isn't necessarily better. Your body can only repair and grow your muscles so fast. Once you've maxed that out more work is only going to result in longer recovery times and increased risk of injury.
 
There's room in life for both forms of exercise. I do 3 circuit workouts per week and run over 50 miles per week. I am toning my musculature whilst maximizing my cardio fitness by doing this. Seems to be going well so far.

Don't let some gym meathead talk you out of running/biking/swimming. This is an age-old controversy.
 
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alkemyst said:
Cardio is good for your cardiovascular system and that's about all....

Other forms of exercise are much better 'fat burners'.

However, you need to understand you really can burn fat and build muscle at the same time. It's an effort in inefficiency called toning.

Bulk up and then cut down to where you want to be.
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This seems to be fairly new advice, at least in my experience. I can't express how much I agree with it, though. It makes perfect sense to build muscle and strength to get where you want to be, and THEN think about losing excess fat since the added muscle will help get rid of the fat more easily and more quickly.
 
It sounds like the gym owner was doing his best to sell the benefits of having a gym membership. He talked down things you can do on your own and talked up the importance of having a bunch of expensive equipment.

Regarding cardio vs weight lifting, why choose? They each have their own benefits and a mix of both is almost always the ideal. You just have to figure out what the right balance is for your situation and goals.

It makes perfect sense to build muscle and strength to get where you want to be, and THEN think about losing excess fat since the added muscle will help get rid of the fat more easily and more quickly.
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Let me add that I think it's a good idea for people with serious weight issues to focus on cardiovascular health early in their program due to how many risk factors are reduced by cardio.
 
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Ghiedo27 said:
It sounds like the gym owner was doing his best to sell the benefits of having a gym membership. He talked down things you can do on your own and talked up the importance of having a bunch of expensive equipment.

Regarding cardio vs weight lifting, why choose? They each have their own benefits and a mix of both is almost always the ideal. You just have to figure out what the right balance is for your situation and goals.

Let me add that I think it's a good idea for people with serious weight issues to focus on cardiovascular health early in their program due to how many risk factors are reduced by cardio.
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I was already a member before he told me about this. He seen me doing cardio and took 30 mins out of his day to show me different machines and what I can do to loose the weight the quickest. Hes a real nice guy. Since he went out of his way to help me I signed up for an hour long training program so I can learn how to do all the machines the correct way. Its only 35 bucks a really good deal. I wanna say to he didnt even mention the training program I brang it up with him. He didnt push it on me at all. It was completely my idea. I got it from when I used to go to golds gym I paid for a training program
 
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Alan it really comes down to what your goals are and what you enjoy doing. For most people looking to be in a little better shape and a little more healthy, going to the gym and doing physical activity is a great thing pretty much regardless of what activity you do.

If your main goal is fat loss I would spend way more time focusing on figuring out what your maintenance cals are and attacking it via diet. Significant changes in diet (diet overhaul) will be much more successful than adding 30 minutes of cardio on gym days. Of course the two combined will have better results, focusing on diet and nailing that down will yield better results and get you on track to general future health.

The "bulk up and cut down" mentality is for people who are trying to gain muscle mass. The best way to gain muscle is to work out heavy and eat a lot, but you always get an associated fat gain which you then cut later by eating less and adding cardio. Doesn't sound like this is OPs main goal right now.
 
Weightlifting has cardiovascular benefits. To say that you can be in excellent health just by your exercise routine is overstating the case, though.
 
Do what you like for as long as you can keep your heart rate up. There are a million sideseat drivers when it comes to exercise programming. Just remember to change it up. If you do machines one day, then try to run or do elliptical the next...or work them into the same session if you like.
 
Powermoloch said:
I think the idea he's getting from, if i'm not mistaken, is High intensity interval training.
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Which can be done with Cardio too. Cardio can be a great fat butner, some of the best conditioned athletes in the world are sprinters, not an ounce of fat on them and they are usually prttet muscular.

The combination of the two is the best of both worlds, Weight lifting and on your off days hard cardio. What your trainer said about it be boring is true, however more than that HIIT in Cardio is also real tough and hard to stick with. I'm not talking about Power Walking or 3 miles in 30 minutes on the Elliptical, I mean at least 30 minutes of heart pounding cardio with little rests in between to catch your breath.
 
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