If you want to lose body fat, doing umpteen hours of cardio each day actually isn't that effective. While cardio does burn calories, it doesn't build muscle and can actually make you lose muscle. Having more muscle mass actually increases your metabolism, and it also reshapes your body, which can make you look leaner.
Marci Nevin, a fitness and lifestyle coach said on Instagram, "My physique did start looking better when I focused more on lifting and stopped the obsessive cardio. In fact, I was at my leanest when I was eating around maintenance calories, lifting 4x per week, and hitting at least 10k steps on the daily."
She's not saying you should ditch cardio completely. "When done in moderation it's definitely beneficial for your health, and if you're someone who genuinely enjoys it, then go ahead and do what makes you happy." What she's saying is that it's not 100 percent necessary for losing fat and getting lean. Marci posted this on her Instagram account to show you the six ways to get lean without doing cardio.