bombay24 said:
Why not post your thoughts instead of just disagreeing with mine? If you want to get ultimately ripped, you need to do cardio. Plus, if you do it all with diet, you are probably going to eventually gain it all back. It has to be a proper balance of nutrition and exercise. Starving yourself in order to lose weight just isnt healthy. If you think I'm wrong, please post your thoughts instead of saying mine are just a bunch of crap. If you are going to criticize, you should open yourself to criticism as well. By the way, I'm sitting at 7% BF. What are you at?
You said if you want to shed excess fat, you "MUST do cardio." That statement is not true. Steady state cardio impedes muscle gains - aka the interference effect. As you probably know, increased muscle mass raises metabolism and the number of calories burned at rest throughout the day. Fat loss can absolutely be attained through resistance training only. I am not saying doing cardio will prohibit fat loss. I am saying that it is not a "MUST" in any sense to achieve fat loss at ANY bodyfat level.
If you are concerned about overall heart health, lower cholesterol, and increased maximal aerobic capacity, then aerobic training can be a plus - a big plus at that. But for fat loss - not necessary.
In fact, aerobic training - specifically steady state cardio - is never needed. A good resistance program combined with periodic high intensity interval training (HIIT) is ideal. I would agree that a concurrent program with "some" cardio (depending on your definition) combined with weights can lead to a solid program, but cardio is not a must.
>>> Starving yourself in order to lose weight just isnt healthy.
Umm, I never said it was. Usually a person greatly UNDEREATS when they attempt to lose weight. I'd suggest a minimum of 2000 calories for most people (men), but usually quite more than that should be taken in.
Again, steady state cardio is NEVER needed and can actually hurt your progress. HIIT is more efficient, more effective, and less prone to overuse injuries. I do cardio myself. I do mostly intervals, but I do some longer road work once a week. I believe in the health benefits and generally just like to do it. My only point was that your statement of cardio being a "MUST" is wrong. I know plenty of my clients have achieved fantastic results doing ONLY resistance training. If I dig further, I could find more "expert" studies and anecdotal evidence, but you can use a search as well as I can.
As for putting it out there, I would GUESS I am somewhere in the range of 25% fat and just today, a hair under 260 pounds. I am proud of it. Last year I was hovering at 40% fat and sitting above 340 pounds. I know a thing or two about fat loss. In fact, I enjoyed the journey so much I quit my job as an attorney and am pursuing personal training as a career. No one will listen to a fat trainer, so I am a work still in progress. As for MY credentials, I am now a personal trainer and have a CSCS, the gold standard of certifications.
I am currently setting up clinics and sports camps for kids and trying to work with afterschool programs to get kids moving at an earlier age. This has become my true love.
I didn't mean to come across as I did. As I know you'll agree, there is simply too much misinformation out there (and even in this thread) and it is hurting everyone (take the food pyramid for example).