Do I Need Cardio If I Lift Weights?

Strong Isn’t Enough: Why Lifters Still Need Cardio

Quick Answer: Yes. Lifting builds muscle, but only cardio strengthens your heart and lungs. Without it, endurance, recovery, and energy all fade.

Most lifters skip cardio — not because they don’t care, but because most cardio feels like punishment. The truth is, strength and cardio train two different systems. Weights build power. Cardio builds endurance, recovery, and longevity. The real gains come when both work together.

That’s where HupSix fits in — a fast, music-driven cardio system that hits the zones that matter, trains coordination, and doesn’t eat into your lifting time.


Can You Skip Cardio and Just Lift?

You can, but you’ll lose more than you think. Without cardio, your heart and lungs don’t keep pace with your muscles. You fatigue faster, recover slower, and your stamina tanks when life or training gets intense.

Strength alone can’t keep your energy system conditioned. For that, you need consistent moderate-to-vigorous cardio — the kind that challenges your breathing and keeps your heart in the training zone.

The Science: Why Strength Alone Doesn’t Cut It

Decades ago, Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper proved that cardiorespiratory fitness — not muscle size — predicts long-term health, recovery, and performance. Later, Dr. Benjamin Levine’s research showed that structured vigorous training can remodel an aging heart toward younger mechanics. Moderate intensity maintains your fitness. Vigorous work changes it.

Moderate maintains. Vigorous improves. That’s why the American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous cardio per week. Vigorous minutes count double because they drive adaptation.

What Happens When You Skip Cardio

  • Your endurance and oxygen use decline.
  • Recovery slows between lifting days.
  • Sleep quality and focus drop.
  • Your heart loses elasticity — the opposite of an “athletic heart.”

Lifting keeps muscles strong, but only cardio keeps your engine young.

The Smarter Cardio Option for Lifters

HupSix was built for people who hate boring cardio. It’s compact gear plus guided 30-minute workouts that deliver ≈ 40–50 minutes of weekly cardio credit when tracked with a chest-strap heart-rate monitor.

Each class follows six quick rounds — learn, practice with timing clicks, then go full-out to original rock music. The cues keep you reacting instead of zoning out. The handles connect upper and lower body, training endurance and coordination — something treadmills and bikes can’t do.

Efficiency + fun = consistency. That’s why people stick with it.

Why It Works

  • Music-paced tempo keeps intensity honest — you can’t coast.
  • Patented gear adds resistance without pounding your joints.
  • Full-body movement builds agility and reaction time.
  • Compact setup (about a yoga mat) means you’ll actually use it.

For Lifters, This Is the Missing Piece

Already lifting three or four days a week? Use HupSix on off-days for conditioning or pair it with lighter training days. It complements your strength routine instead of competing with it.

And since vigorous minutes count double, every 30-minute session pushes you closer to the weekly target proven to build endurance and a biologically younger heart.

Skeptical?

We get it. It’s simple gear — but the way your body engages with it is complex. Try it. If you don’t think it’s one of the most fun and effective cardio workouts you’ve ever done, send it back.

30-day refund, 12-month prorated return, lifetime gear guarantee.

Get the Gear ➜


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