cardio

Your post comes off as you stating that cardio is inherently better that lifting w.r.t OP's goals.

If you want to improve your cardiovascular health, do some cardio 3-7 times per week for at least 30 minutes.

Different types of cardio workouts definitely exist, and most trainers will tell you that a well-rounded health regimen requires a mix of many different types, including weight lifting juxtaposed with more cardio-centric exercises.

Just machines, due to getting injured with free weights early, no cardio, no other exercise.

It's great for team building, a great cardio workout, and a chance to socialize a bit with other friends and significant others.

I'm also pretty competitive, so things like sprints at the track and basketball help with the cardio side.

I personally would not lift weights, preferring instead the other forms of cardio activity I mentioned...

I agree with most of what you've said, but I would recommend switching the priority to lifting rather than cardio.

That being said, don't disregard cardio: work it in on recovery days.

I work out for about 4.5 hours a week (3 ~1.5 hour sessions, 30m cardio and 1h lifting) and count calories.

Now I am 30% body fat and 35% muscle with a lot of cardio.

There are numerous health benefits to swimming in general in terms of the cardiovascular activity involved without the joint damage associated with other cardio workouts like running, biking, etc.

Of course, cardio is important for heart heath and overall respiratory fitness, but in terms of "getting in shape" it's hard to beat a good lifting regimen.

From your link, "The study doesn’t cover the many other ill effects of breathing somebody else’s cigarette smoke, of course, which include asthma and possibly cardio-pulmonary disease."

Before this I spent about 3 months cardio training with only minimal dietary intervention which resulted in huge muscle tone in my legs (had a work colleague once remark: "dude!

Two points: 1) From your link, "The study doesn’t cover the many other ill effects of breathing somebody else’s cigarette smoke, of course, which include asthma and possibly cardio-pulmonary disease." So not debunked exactly.

Cardio exercises are last resort at the end of the diet when your metabolism is really slow and you want to eat something.