How much cardio am I suppose to do?

ms937babi

I currently do at least 30mins of cardio 6 days a week. Some days I do 30 mins of cardio in the morning and I also do 30 mins an hour or two before I eat dinner. I also lift weights 6 days a week different areas each day. So all together I spend between an 1hr - 2hrs in the gym. Am I over doing it? Because I don't notice a difference in my energy level. I'm beat from working out. So is 6 day a week cardio necessary in order to lose weight?

cwolfman13

It's not necessary to do any cardio to lose weight...cardio exercises your cardiovascular system and is necessary for general health and overall well being. A nice bi-product of cardiovascular exercise is that you increase energy expenditure, but unless you're "training", this energy expenditure is relatively small compared to the energy you expend merely existing and doing your daily.

If you're new to regular exercise, I'd advise to work your way up to that level of exercise rather than just jumping into the deep end. You need to take into account your current fitness level...fitness is something that is developed over time, not overnight.

Also, where lifting is concerned, you shouldn't be working the same muscles and groups of muscles on consecutive days...you're blunting progress by doing that.

ETA: many people also fail to recognize the importance of feeding your fitness...they underfeed and then do all kinds of exercise on top of basically crashing their diets, and then they wonder why they're fatigued.

quiksylver296

What @cwolfman13 said. Plus, are you exhausted because you aren't eating enough to fuel your workouts?

My cardio is walking on my breaks at work. That's it. My gym time is for lifting.

Ninkyou

To lose weight, you need a calorie deficit. That comes from the kitchen. Exercise is for fitness and cardiovascular health.