What is the harm of only doing cardio workouts?

A recent discussion list I was reading asked this question, so I thought it was worth considering here.

Doing cardio workouts is great: the purpose of cardiovascular training is to condition your cardiovascular system to transport oxygen efficiently to working muscles. The machinery being worked is your heart and your lungs. In the process, you do burn calories. And there is a growing body of scientific evidence that suggests that aerobic fitness, or “cardio,” may be the single most important determinant of how long you live. In this context, aerobic fitness and cardio are considered to be the same thing. Those who are most aerobically fit are the least likely to die of any cause. All good stuff.

However, you do not build muscle or elevate your metabolism by doing cardio. You must overload the musculoskeletal as well as the cardiovascular systems in order to improve your fitness and performance. Only strength training builds muscle which means your lean body mass is higher which in turn leads you to burn more calories at rest, which is beneficial in maintaining or losing weight. Strength training has the added benefits of improving functional strength, mobility, power and agility, all of which are important to improving function and quality of life.

Weight training helps to improve so many other physical needs than just cardio alone. For instance, weight training improves bone density, mental focus and clarity, range of motion, fall prevention, stability and balance, lean muscle (which provides several physiological benefits), cardiovascular function, stress relief and the coordination of muscles working together.

Weightlifting has also been shown to greatly help our aging bodies stay in shape by keeping the brain active and the nervous system and body attuned to the coordination of movement. All of these benefits help to prevent sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass that is associated with aging. Weightlifting also helps to burn away visceral fat that builds up around the body’s organs, which has been associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
 

So to answer the question, “what is the harm of doing only cardio workouts?” There is no harm. How can there be harm in doing something beneficial? It is more a matter of what can be gained from also including resistance/strength training to your fitness regimen. As we can see, the benefits are many.

Fit Forever