What happens if you eliminate strength training from your workout plan and only run? Coach answers

Mikhail Zhvania

bodybuilding and fitness coach, founder and president of the Street Workout Federation of Georgia.

What will happen to your body if you give up strength training and do only cardio?

To reduce weight, improve figure, improve health and increase performance – these are the main reasons that motivate people to start exercising. The easiest way is cardio exercises. WHO recommendations, Wikipedia, online publications and bloggers say that. “For the most benefit, 150 minutes a week, 300 minutes a week, 8,000 steps, 10,000 steps, 12,000 steps” – and other advice that the internet is full of.

What happens if you don’t do strength training?

Overtraining and loss of control

First, if you leave only cardio, monotonous and monotonous, you can quickly overtrain. Under the influence of the first successes and endorphins (hormones of joy), we quickly stop soberly assessing their capabilities and listen to the sensations. We forget about the maximum allowable heart rate, shortness of breath, arrhythmia and other symptoms, the appearance of which requires an instant rethinking of the training plan. A plateau occurs, and changes in body composition may not be expected at all.

But in this case, electrolyte imbalance, arrhythmia and muscle dysfunction come very quickly. This means that when you overexert yourself during cardio workouts, you can harm your body and go beyond what is reasonable. To counteract this, it is important to start slow and small and then gradually increase the intensity of your workouts.

Loss of muscle mass

Secondly, some people can lose muscle mass due to overexertion. If you are only doing cardio, muscle loss is something to worry about. In this case, it is vital that you eat a proper diet and eat enough protein.

Cardio is not the most effective workout for burning fat. So you will have to take more and more steps, run more and more kilometers to see weight loss. If you don’t change your workout regimen, your body will start to adapt. You will have to keep stepping up your workouts to see any improvements.

If you do more cardio, the body will lose muscle mass and strength, leading to slower metabolism, calcium loss, brittle bones, and injuries.

Muscle will be gone and fat will remain

Cardio training often leads the body to a calorie deficit, and then the body’s fuel source will be muscle. The body will scream “hold on to every calorie!” and the most valuable calorie is fat. The body will store fat rather than burn it. Weight loss will come at the expense of muscle and water loss. To reduce the risk of losing muscle mass, combine cardio with strength training.

Joint Diseases

Third, avoiding strength exercises increases the load on the joints and leads to their chronic soreness. It develops gradually, so it’s easy to overlook. Pay attention to how you feel after a run. Do your knees hurt? Ankle? Hip? Be sure to take a rest day or go to a yoga class.

What are the benefits of strength training?

Strength training prepares the joints for work and strengthens the ligamentous apparatus. Exercises on the thigh muscles increase stability, coordination, symmetry of the load, and exercises on the muscles attached to the ribs will make breathing deep and effective, oxygen supply to the body – sufficient. Strengthening your hips and glutes is one of the best measures to prevent injuries in runners.

Strength training will help you run faster, walk more efficiently. You’ll get many other benefits too – higher metabolism, energy levels, increased bone density, stronger metabolism and reduced fat.

Moderate exercise is a good stressor for the body. It causes our muscles and bones to strengthen. However, if the body is too stressed, excessive cardio will deplete and exhaust us.

To see results from cardio, make sure your workout regimen is varied and suited to your body’s growing fitness. By doing so, you will avoid plateaus.