text: will a fat person be more cut if doing strength training and no cardio? will a fat person be more cut if doing strength training and no cardio? will he become more muscular without doing cardio, even though it will take longer? he would definately gain muscle.  cardio really isnt great for building muscle- especially if you are doing it for a long time (running distance, biking long ways, etc).  cardio is an equal opportunity burner of stored energy- which is both fat and muscle mass.  there are a couple of problems with fat guys doing only lifting.  the first is that you're a lot more likely to have a heart attack or annurism while lifting if you're real heavy.  the second is that you're not going to look cut when you're fat- the fat just sits on top of the muscle and hides it, so you still look fat, not cut.