No, cardio is not necessary for weight loss. But discouraging someone from doing any type of cardio is like discouraging someone from eating a well rounded diet.

The truth is… we need some cardio in our programs to supplement our weight training. Cardiovascular health is important!! Aka heart health. Aka your heart. Aka you need that girly.

Let’s break it down:

Zone 1️⃣ Easy, light movement
– Recovery pace
– Activities like light walks, light cleaning or gardening, a leisurely bike ride
– What I would tell someone to do daily!

Zone 2️⃣ Easy/moderate effort
– Can be maintained for 60-90 minutes, can hold a conversation
– Activities like incline/faster walks, easy/mod hikes, bike rides, elliptical, stair master, a swim
– Something I’d recommend 2-7 days per week!

Zone 3️⃣ Moderate effort, challenging tempo
– Can be maintained for about 30 minutes
– Activities like a tempo run or bike ride, moderate effort on the stair master or elliptical, a tempo swim
– Something I’d recommend 1-3 times per week!

Zone 4️⃣ Fairly difficult
– Maintaining for only minutes of work
– Activities like long sprints, higher intensity bike rides, swims, or stairs
– Something I’d recommend 1-3 times per week!

Zone 5️⃣ All out effort
– Maintaining for seconds to minutes of work
– Activities like all out sprints/dashes, max reps, battle ropes
– Something I’d recommend 1-2 maybe 3 times per week!

Want to make fat loss suck less? Add in cardio!
Want to make sure you’re training your body optimally? Add in cardio!!