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Loosing fat without cardio

JustinE22 Posts: 1,312 Joined: 2003/09/18	2004/12/19, 11:45 PM I know cardio is good for the heart and keeping in shape. I also know the key to loosing fat or weight is to consume less calories than you burn and that muscle burns fat constantly. So then you should be able to loose fat with just weight training and 1 cardio session a week as long as your calories are in check....right? So i don't really need to fit in a bunch of cardio during the week....
princesslodgey Posts: 1,748 Joined: 2004/02/21	2004/12/20, 09:32 AM The usual recommendation for cardiovascular health is a minimum of 20-30 minutes 3 times a week. I saw that gatormade argued recently that you don't need to do specific cardio if your resistance work is getting your heart rate up which makes sense. I suppose it depends on how high your heart rate gets, and for how long (remember about 75% of your max is what your aiming for), and also what your goals are - if you are not too bothered about CV health, then there is less point, but I always think it is a shame spending all that time in the gym and not reaping all the potential health rewards.
bb1fit Posts: 11,105 Joined: 2001/06/30	2004/12/20, 11:29 AM For my last competition I did virtually no cardio. If you increase your workout intensity, such as more frequency of bodyparts, adding supersets, drop sets, etc. you can do fine if your calories are right. You will have to adjust your diet as needed. But, note one thing, cardio is essential for cardiovascular health, no matter what anyone says. The heart muscle is smooth muscle, different from our lean tissue. Plus lung capacity, etc. is effected by it. -------------- If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.... bb1fit@freetrainers.com
JustinE22 Posts: 1,312 Joined: 2003/09/18	2004/12/20, 01:34 PM Is it bad to do supersets every trip to the gym if your not trying to gain muscle and just wanting to burn calories?
JustinE22 Posts: 1,312 Joined: 2003/09/18	2004/12/21, 03:38 PM bump
bb1fit Posts: 11,105 Joined: 2001/06/30	2004/12/21, 05:36 PM Nope, a good workout like that can rival a cardio workout for calorie burning. Vary things up, change your rest times, exercises you superset, etc. Throw in massive drop sets. -------------- If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.... bb1fit@freetrainers.com
JustinE22 Posts: 1,312 Joined: 2003/09/18	2004/12/21, 07:00 PM what exactly are drop sets?go heavy and then lighten up and lighten up till you burn out?
bb1fit Posts: 11,105 Joined: 2001/06/30	2004/12/21, 07:07 PM Basically yes, by the time you finish with the light weight, it will feel like the beginning heavy weight. Your muscles will not be able to ascertain the weight. For example, say you are doing curls. You can normally hit failure with 100 at 10 reps. Ok, first off put plates that are easy to strip down on, instead of say 35's and a 10, for instance put (3) 10's, and (2) 5's on each side(depending on your bar weight. When completing the first heavy set to failure(this is key), immediately strip off say the (2) 5's and with no rest rep out again to failure. Again, strip off say (2) 10's, I know this sounds light, but if you do this correctly, you will barely be able to do a couple reps with that. You can even go all the way down to the bar, and believe me, this can feel like your beginning weight and more by this time. You can drop as many times as you think you can handle it. Talk about a burn....but, start heavy, this will still provide the heavy weight your muscles need. You can use this tactic on almost anything, some help is great, save time, don't put collars on. The bench is great for this. -------------- If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.... bb1fit@freetrainers.com