northernmusician's Journal, 01 December 2015

What are you doing for cardio these days? That's where the real weight loss & maintenance happens. 

Nice drop Bruce. 

I am back in the gym tomorrow ,, been off for a week . Looking forward to it . Nice drop ! 

Thanks, Snow. ;) Soon. What language is that? Cardi... what now? 

I don't agree with the concept of pure Cardio for weight loss, or weight management. You're on the right track with the weights. 

mahjohn. There's a lot of info out there now that debunks what came to be know as 'cardio'. Studies have shown there is little difference. Of course the 60/70s gurus all felt they'd found the fountain of youth. To me, whatever keeps you active works, though the single largest indicator of longevity is muscle retention. Nothing works like weights. 

Keep up with the weights. Limit cardio to HIIT to preserve muscle. Sorry no advice on the diet other than watching calories. It must be the season to put on weight. 

Never said give up the weights, guys -- I lift, too, but to define my muscles, not to lose pounds. Just wondering if you were torching any calories cycling or on the rowing machine (P.S. sustained elevated heart rate is good for the heart muscle). 

Cardio is short for cardiovascular. Cardio workouts are important...for cardiovascular health (arguably very, very important). However, for weight loss, you need to raise your metabolism. For that you need more lean muscle mass. Strength training increases the amount of calories burned at rest. Which is most of the hours of the day. 

No...no cardio other than weight-lifting. I well structured weight-lifting program should keep your heart running at about 75% of your age maximum for the duration of your workout. For me, that's around 130 beats per minute for an hour. So how do you know what is sufficient cardio? It's best to look at your Heart Rate Recovery (HRR), and not at your resting Heart Rate (HR). Your HRR tells you how healthy your heart is by measuring how quickly it returns to normal after being asked to do work. To calculate this, exercise to 75-85% of your Maximum Heart Rate...once there, stop. Wait two minutes and check your pulse. The difference between the two numbers is your HRR. If that number is =<12, you should see a Dr., as, after two minutes of rest after a short bout of exertion, your heart has not sufficiently recovered. 12-20, need a bit more cardio in your life. 20 and above, you are where you need to be for your age group. Now if you want to run 10K's and Marathon's, you'll need more cardio, so look for numbers closer to 40 or even a 50 beat per minute drop. As for calories....weight-lifting is the best exercise for burning calories....then comes HIIT followed lastly by steady state running. 

Agreed, mahjohn. What has come to be known as 'cardio' will make you lose weight, but the body will be shedding muscle as carrying the weight is working to make you more efficient for steady state 'aerobics'. Super setting, if it becomes necessary, is a way of keeping the heart rate up while letting target muscle groups rest. I row at the beginning of a session just to warm everything up, but it's only for 5 to 10 minutes.