SubscribeThe Cardio-Free Diet
Fitness 'expert' Jim Karas has written a diet book claiming that cardio is a complete waste of time. The Cardio-Free Diet advises us to ditch the cardio: "it kills your time, your energy, your joints, and your motivation"
"Cardiovascular exercise kills a weight-loss plan, your internal organs, your immune system, your time and your motivation. If your true goal is to lose weight, interval strength training is the only way to go," (from ABC News)
Call me cynical - but this reeks of sensationalism as a marketing tool.
Essentially - Karas figured out that he lost weight by doing strength and resistance training and minimal cardio. This is old news. However to say that cardiovascular exercise "kills" a weight-loss plan is simply a headline grabber.
Karas claims that the cardio leads to an increase in appetite so you eat more - thus preventing any fat loss benefits.
Has anyone looked at the physique of an endurance athlete? Not what I would call overfat.
I believe we are getting lost in semantics here. Any decent fat loss program should have exercises that get your heart-rate up -- whether it's 400m running intervals, or air squats done at speed with high repetition... or 45 minutes on the treadmill.
Cardio training (jogging, treadmill, stationary bike) may have been over-emphasized over the last decade, but that doesn't mean we need to can the cardio. It means we need to start emphasizing the benefits of strength training and bodyweight exercises.
You have to find what works for you
For me - this means variety in exercise using a large range of different exercises - some weight-bearing, some bodyweight, some fast, some slow. I get bored quickly, and find that dramatic variation is the key - and sometimes - this actually includes straight aerobic exercise.
I have not read this book, so I hesitate to agree or disagree with the author. What I can say through personal experience is that minimal cardio has worked better for my husband and me - while we were in an intense period of weight/strength training. Last year, for instance, we were riding our mountain bikes (in some cases) 7 days a week, sometimes for 2-4 hours each day on the weekends (just from sheer enjoyment). That was in addition to 4 days a week weight lifting. But we found, in hindsight, that too much cardio seemed to sap muscle growth and slow fat loss (especially with not scientifically correct nutrition). This year, we have significantly backed off on the cardio and are lifting HEAVY, making sure to get enough protein and complex carbs depending on our activity level for the day. Just in the last 4 weeks, we have seen an obvious increase in fat loss and muscle growth under this program.
Of course, one must keep a close eye on their diet when working out this hard, because you WILL be more hungry and, if not strictly disciplined, eat more (in some cases, a LOT more) to essentially cancel out all that exercise!
I'm sure result will vary depending on age, sex, body type, metabolism, etc, but I must say that I have observed all the strong, fit people are on the weight lifting side of our gym in the morning. The folks on the cardio equipment look unhappy and are generally not fit or slender. (Of course, that observation applies to the average person working out - professional athletes cannot be lumped into this category!) This is not to say that we do ZERO cardio - in fact, we bike 4-5 times a week; we just make sure to not overdue it on any particular ride and keep an eye on our protein intake. Balance, I suppose.
ReplyI saw that segment on ABC Good Morning America. I've done serious cardio for many years as part of a total lifestyle and it works well for me. The only people I know who have been sucessful at weight loss do cardio. I see many over weight people at my large fitness center doing a line of weight machines over and over and I do not observe weight loss. So since I'm not anticipating writing a 'diet book' in the future I'll just say I don't agree with Jim Karas.
ReplyI don't get it. Weight training also makes me starved afterwards. Why single out cardio for making someone more hungry?
Anyways, the book is way off. Most people can benefit from both cardio and weight training. I've avoided cardio before and focused just on weight training. Unsurprisingly I "bulked up" which increased both my strength and fat.
ReplyThis guy has to be kidding!
ReplyIt really is just a headline grabber. Maybe he can't find any benefits without comparing it to other activities. It clearly shows that he don't do cardio.
ReplyKaras is right. Cardio is a poor way to lose fat and resistance training is the way to go.
I lost 70lb of fat without any cardio. I used weights and dietary modification only.
A friend of mine is a runner. He busted himself up with years of marathon running and compulsive training. He still runs in spite of injuries and against his doctor’s advice, he’s fat and addicted to junk food. He is typical of the cardio-obsessed and indulges in guilt absolution the way most cardio trainees do. He thinks that running for an hour absolves him of the 1500 calories of chocolate he ate the night before. It doesn’t.
People typically underestimate the amount of calories they eat and overestimate the amount they burn with cardio.
I think many people are not ready for Karas’ message simply because they are not prepared to look at it with an open mind and because doctors and the exercise industry scare people into doing cardio.
Most of the studies that compare weight training with cardio that doctors love to quote actually have nothing to do with the type of weight training Karas is talking about. They used a mode of weight training that involves one set of an exercise followed by lots of rest before performing the next set. Karas is talking about minimal rest between sets to keep your heart rate elevated throughout the workout - big difference.
Ditch the cardio and lose the lard!
ReplyI'm waiting for Ryan to comment. ;-)
There are many people on bodybuilding sites who swear by minimal or no cardio - but these people are extremely muscular (and hence have elevated metabolisms) and watch their diets very closely. Their lifestyle and dedication is hardly comparable to the average person who will get sucked into buying this book.
Like Anushka, I have had better results by cutting back on cardio and lifting heavy, but in my experience and observation the amount of cardio people need is a highly individual thing.
To say that all cardio "kills your joints" is a joke. What about cycling, spinning, swimming, rowing or deep water running? Besides, the heart is a muscle and need to be worked too!
ReplyWhile I think he has a point and weight training only is superior to the people only walking on the treadmill like gerbils for 2h, but what is really superior is a combination of weight training and cardio, especially HIIT, both for weight loss and for general health.
I think the increased rest people who are not doing cardio get may be the trick here. After having the stomach flu for a week and not going to the gym, I was able to double the weights I was using for most exercises, and increase them by at least 1/4 for the others.
ReplyI think cardio is good.
ReplyWhile exercise is not necessary to lose weight, it does help.
There are 2 rules to remember when trying to lose weight:
1) You must eat to lose,
2) and the more you eat while losing weight, the more you'll be able to eat when you reach goal.
Aerobic/cardio exercise will help to burn more calories thus allowing you to eat more.
For me, exercise also helps psychologically: It helps me to de-emphasize the food. In other words, I don't obsess about eating an extra whatever occasionally because I exercise and burn off the extra calories. Plus, exercise elevates my mood. This is a HUGE benefit for me.
My appetite is not affected one way or the other by exercising.
ReplyPopular magazines and infomercials promote the idea that lots of cardio is healthy. It’s not.
Most so-called experts don’t realise that exercise doesn’t make you lose fat or gain muscle – your own body does! Exercise is only the stimulus for your body to change. Your body has finite resources available for adaptation to any stimulus and can be overwhelmed. Hence the injuries, viral infections, and fat-gain that’s common among the cardio-obsessed majority.
When you get frequent infections and/or injuries your body is telling you to stop.
Replyum...the blatant difference between you and your friend is that you watch what you eat and as you say, your friend eats junk food. cardio doesn't make people think they can overeat, it's the individual that decides to overeat because they're misinformed or have no self control. besides, as it is, it is probably a wise idea to eat more on the days that you do a cardio workout but this never meant over-eating. you can do resistance training and eat hordes of crap, way more than you really need, and you'll be unlikely to lose weight. you can watch your calorie intake and do cardio and you will lose weight. it's all a matter of burning more calories than you take in.
there is no need for any of this cavio vs. resistance training nonsense. imo, there should be a combination of cardio and resistance training, even if you do less cardio than the other. there is nothing wrong with cardio, it has many health benefits, in addition to helping someone lose weight - like someone has already said your heart also needs to be worked. i believe resistance training is good for increasing muscle mass which in turn helps burn calories faster. these two things in conjuction with watching your calorie intake and eating healthily will get the weight off and will leave you feeling happier.
ReplyI also believe that cardio is not a good plan for people just starting. it is not something that people stick with, and its something that people get discouraged with. It is great for athletes... but an absolute waste of time for a person starting out and who wants to see results!
It is great for an athlete and for a person who HAS THE TIME TO COMMIT 2 HOURS A DAY TO WORK OUT- one to cardio and one to strength training..... or for a celebrity who gets paid to look good and bases their career on their physique.
ReplyBut for a person with just one hour a day for a work out to look and feel their best, Karas is right, they are best vesting their time with some high intensity strength training and then general lifestyle adjustments and dietary adjustements.
I'm just trying to figure out why anyone considers this news!! The High Intensity Guys like Ellington Darden, and Fred Hahn have been professing this for years, and sold lots of books in the process. A few years back 60 minutes even did a piece on it.
ReplyI always understood that cardio was not just for weight loss, but also for training the heart and lungs. Like RedPanda said, the heart is a muscle and needs working. I had a kinesiologist explain it to patients by saying that if you don't exercise your heart, it doesn't matter if your biceps and quads are strong, you won't have the endurance to use them to do what you want to do. I agree that this "diet" sounds gimmicky, but hey, most of the "diets" that come out sound that way to me!
ReplyPS.... If Cardio is still a must in your mind... better be burning about 500 calories a session and doing something that serious challenges those muscles... try the stairmill.
ReplyI try to keep it mixed up. Some nights I will do 45 minutes of cardio and go home. Some nights I will do only 15-20 minutes cardio, but add in weights. I also mix the weight types. Sometimes that means 2x25 with light weight. Other times that means 2x8 with as much as I can do.
I've read so much crap, I have no idea what really works. In turn, I seem to try it all. I've dropped 16 pounds in the past two months, and I can actually see muscles in my arms.
But more than working out, I find that diet plays a bigger role in my weight loss. If I "feel" like I eat better (and I'm being honest with myself), those tend to be weeks that I lose a pound or two. On my "bad" weeks, surprise!, I don't lose any weight.
Even on weeks where I only go to the gym twice, when I am honest with myself and eat well that week, I'll still drop weight. I've also had weeks where I eat like crap and go to the gym 5 times. Guess what? No loss, or even a gain (yuck!), that week.
ReplyOn the surface this looks like the main difference but what's not obvious is that he is loosing muscle and I am gaining it. I am increasing my metabolism, he is lowering his.
He would burn more energy if he increased his muscle mass and to do that he would need to train with weights.
Yes, I watch what I eat becasue it is calories in v calories out, but the point is that it's easier not to eat a doughnut than it is to run for an hour on a treadmill.
Replythe people who get discouraged with cardio because they want to see results are probably the same people who buy into diet books promising miracle results in next to no time. wanting to see instant results is highly unrealistic and obviously if a dieter believes this is what they'll see by only doing cardio and eating right after one week or even one month then they are in for disapointment. like most things, losing weight takes time. these people will see results after being dedicated and sticking to a plan properly, not packing it in because they are too lazy/unmotivated etc to go through with it. even with weight training, you wont see any results straight away. no-one goes from only being able to do one push-up to 50 in one week, so i dont get why cardio is being made to seem like some impossible challenge.
cardio is great for athletes and for a "normal" person who wants to lose weight. like an athlete, they just need to be dedicated and stick to what it is that they are doing. no one needs to take out 2hrs a day to do exercise. 30 mins, 3-5 times a week, is the reccomended amount of time for cardio that i've seen time and time again. a 30 min run or jog is great physical exercise. a high intensity exercise will burn more calories and can be done for much less time than something like extra walking, an exercise like the former can easily be fit into someones day. do people really not have a 45 min window 3-5 times in their week where they can change into their workout clothes and go for a run or do something else? i find that very hard to believe and it seems like the "i have no time" excuse people come up with when they are not motivated enough to just DO SOMETHING! get up 30 mins earlier than you usually would an exercise before starting your day, exercise in the evening after work, get a good workout video and do something at home instead of watching tv, buy a stationary bike if you have the means to etc.
and i've never heard of anyone doing weight training or strength training for 1hr either. i've heard from numereous sources that 20 mins a day, on alternate days or 3 times a week is good enough.
ReplyThis misses the point entirely.
The idea of training to increase muscle is to increase metabolism. Exercise (and this includes weight training) burns relatively few calories. It's what happens AFTER the workout that counts.
ReplyCardio can only condition us for doing cardio - Just like lifting heavy weights causes the body to adapt structurally for supporting those stressors, and high reps causes greater muscular endurance.
Train with high-intensity cardio and develop the heart, lungs and legs of a sprinter. Train with long duration cardio and develop the endurance of a marathoner.
And it's the same with diet. Eating fats causes our body to become more profecient at digesting fats for fuel.
So, basically, do what you want to be.
ReplySo if I want look like a ballerina I should buy a pair of ballet shoes and some nylon tights, and dance around my house all day?
ReplyQuito, have THREE donuts and some ibuprofen :)
ReplySo, all of our experiences vary, but when I concentrated on weight lifting, I gained weight, bulked up, and injured myself three times.
Now, I run, bicycle, and do ashtanga yoga (which is load bearing - handstand pushups, headstands pulling legs up slowly, etc). I'm nursing one injury that I got from my weight training days (and my physician found another when doing an MRI).
I don't try to convert anyone - whatever works for you is what you should do. For me, running and yoga consumes two hours a day, and that works for me...
I swear, I think I'm going to write a book that argues for an all-fat diet combined with riding a unicycle is the answer to fitness.
ReplyYou can also just do 40m of strenght training one day, and 40m of cardio the next day and see great results. No need to commit 2h of time a day. Currently I do commit about 2h a day to exercise, but that is because I walk my massive dog and to and from the gym, but I did between 40-60m of exercise a day, 4-6x a week, when I lost 110lb, so I'm proof it is not necessary to do more - and I ate around 1,900 cals a day, and I'm a 5'2" woman with a family full of obese people, without a functional thyroid and with PCOS, so it is a quadruple whammy there - 2 fattening diseases, genetics, short stature. 1,900 cals of healthy food is a heck of a lot of food.
ReplyWhen I was a teen, my mom used to put me on 3 day "fat fasts" once in a while (Atkins people know what I'm talking about here). You eat nothing but pork rinds, macadamia nuts, and cream cheese, and water. So disgusting. I forgot to ride the unicycle though, so no wonder my fitness didn't improve. Darn.
ReplyAnd I'll make it worth the wait :-). So I've noticed that cardio can at least be quite overrated. It's currently the politically correct and "in vogue" way to lose weight. I don't actually think it's necessary for a lot of people though.
First of all, tune up the diet. Limit yourself to meat (preferably not very lean cuts) and eggs, eating a large carbohydrate meal only every 3-5 days when you are low on glycogen. I also recommend kelp and Universal's liver tablets, which contain choline and inositol.
Next, tune up your weight training. Limit your rest periods to 15-30 seconds between sets. Strive not only to increase weight, but decrease rest periods. Doing this will create huge oxygen debts, so you will want to hyperventilate between sets. My favorite rep scheme for this method is Gironda's 8x8. For each muscle group you want to work, pick an isolation exercise and do 8 sets of 8 reps.
Decreasing rest and increasing weight are both forms of progressive resistance, so this routine is anabolic. At the same time, because you are drawing in so much oxygen and placing such a strain on your cardiovascular system, it's also lipotropic.
Also, if you're not doing cardio, you better make the most out of your leg training. Use isolation squats like frog hack squats or Roman chair squats to really put the pressure on those quads. Really train your hamstrings as seriously as anything else. For calves, take off your shoes and really stretch at the bottom of each rep. The 15-25 rep range should be used for calves. By really pushing yourself on leg training, you will increase growth across the whole body and the number of calories you need.
If you, as an individual, can do all of this and not lose fat, then yes, you do need cardio.
ReplyThis is what Tom Venuto, fat loss guru and author of "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" says about "The Cardio Free Diet":
"IGNORE the fad diets, and the new-fangled contrarian theories, which deep in your own gut, you know are too good to be true. IGNORE the attempted "debunking" of things you already know, which only causes you to doubt your own personal experience.
It doesn't matter if "the new breakthrough" gets featured on national television... that means nothing... the wheels of the diet book publishing PR machine will keep turning and you can count on new diet fads to keep coming and coming and coming.
RESULTS are what count and results come from the fundamentals. Fundamentals never change, and hard work on the fundamentals will give you 80% of your results.
Pay attention to results, and model what works, by people who have been there, done that...
THAT is how you cut through the noise, clutter, confusion and continuous media barrage of "The next big thing" - model the success of others."
ReplyDoes anyone have a suggested list of exercises with sets and reps for a beginner? I just found out about the Cardio-Free Diet book today and thought I'd check out some reviews on it. I have tried doing cardio and some weight-lifting over the past several years, but the weight lifting just seems to have fallen off my exercise plan (and I've gained a few pounds that I'd like to lose). I currently walk on a treadmill for 45 minutes a day 3-5 days a week; it's fun, but it gets old after a while, and I'm not losing the fat I'd like to. When I did lift weights, I would do about 4 or 5 different exercises a day 2 days a week, 2 sets each exercise, and 10-30 per set depending on the weight. Any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated.
ReplyJeez, anything to get those looking for an easy weight loss solution to buy, huh?
I disagree so completely that I can't even put it in words.
And weight loss or not, cardio helps us get and stay healthy
Brian
ReplyTry the cardio-free program I detailed above; see if it's easy. Don't let "cardio is necessary" become the next "fat-free diets are the best". A few things come to mind. First off, if cardio is necessary for weight loss, why are sprinters so skinny? Second, Vince Gironda trained bodybuilders and was always frustrated when his students were "fat", meaning above about 10% or so body fat, but he didn't recommend cardio and even recommended against it, even for pre-competition. Somehow, he still got people down to low body fat levels. Obviously, we're missing something.
The semantic battle Jim mentioned is indeed an issue here though. What counts as cardio and what doesn't? Obviously, the author is going for some sensationalism, but it does help stand out in a sea of diet books, and I've definitely seen worse claims in the industry.
ReplyI agree that cardio and weight traininng is a good combination.
Karas' point about cardio is certainly his way of drawing attention. His personal experience doesn't prove it all.
ReplyMinimal cardio for me too. Usually tabata squats or burpees a couple of times a week, plus playing with the kids.
And do look at endurance runners, then look at sprinters. Which look better to you?
ReplyWeights are tools; it's how you use them that can injure you. Used in a deliberate and controlled manner, they can provide low force, high intensity exercise with very little risk of injury. Running, on the other hand, is a high force low intensity activity with a high risk of injury.
I can understand how you feel because the diet and fitness industries are swamped with ineffective and dangerous programs. So much so that it’s hard to know who to believe. But just because something has been around for a long time and is embraced by millions doesn’t necessarily make it the best or even the most effective tool for the job.
It is easier to believe a lie that one has heard a thousand times than to believe a fact that no one has heard before.
ReplyIs Karas claiming that it’s easy?
I think this is where the title of the book has led to confusion. What it’s really about is not performing traditional aerobics. Karas is promoting a resistance workout that improves cardio and boosts metabolism while reducing the risk of injury common to popular aerobic activities.
In the link to the news program he quotes the West Point study that used brief, intense resistance work and no running to improve the running times of army cadets.
BTW, the type of training used in that study is anything but easy. Compared to that type of high intensity resistance training, aerobics (or traditional cardio) work is a breeze.
ReplySorry, by "skinny" what I really mean is "lean". But yes, sprinters are built. Vince Gironda realized that short, intense work will both build muscle and keep you lean.
ReplyMy program - running and yoga - has over a period of years, lowered my resting pulse rate by 20%, increased my flexibility and posture so much that even my mother has noticed :), given me many pleasurable hours running watching the sun come up, and introduced me to the calming pleasures of meditation and breath exercises. It also brought my chloresterol levels back to normal and reduced my blood pressure to the point where I no longer need medication.
You're right, running is an injury prone activity, but it is also a tool. Bicycling is risky too - my only fractures are from bicycling - but the pleasure of being outside, pushing up a long climb or rolling over the tops of hills makes the risk worthwhile. The pleasures of the morning run and the weekend long ride keep me coming back.
I honestly believe that this makes no sense. The idea of "best" and "most effective" (with the implied phrase "for everyone") is meaningless. Whatever it takes to effect the change to a more active life - the camraderie of circuit training with a friend, the pleasant clatter of a weight room and the pleasure of the burn, or gossiping with friends on one's daily walk, or checking out the cuties doing laps with you in the pool - that's the most efective tool. The thing to proselytize is keep moving.
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