Cardio Machine, Body Memory

Sheisinlove109

I've been told that your body adapts to your cardio routine and begins to not burn as much. Is this true?

How much different are the calories lost between new routine and been doing awhile?

Azdak

No, it's not really true. Over time (a long time) your body can become more mechanically efficient at doing a movement, but the effect is tiny--less than 5%.

But, here's the thing--if you DO become "more efficient" that will allow you to WORK AT A HIGHER WORKLOAD and burn as many, if not more calories.

This false idea started when a lot of people started wearing heart monitors that featured calorie estimates. They noticed that their heart rate would decrease over time doing a cardio machine and the watch would show a lower calorie burn. However, that number reduction was due to shortcomings in HRM technology, not an actual lowered burn.

This idea has become so pervasive that even many self-appointed "fitness experts" still believe it, but it's not true.

And, again, there is no law--either from government or nature--that says you cannot ever increase your workload.

heybales

Well, then again there's the huge drop in calorie burn from the energy required to beat 150 BPM down to 140 as you became fit and intensity stayed the same!

Let's see, at rest heart burns a figured avg 440 cal/day at rest, or 18 per hour.
Let's say double that for during exercise - 36 / hr.
So then the lowering of heart rate would be - oh never mind...

Sheisinlove109

More thoughts?

Azdak

Asked and answered.

cwolfman13

sunsweet77 wrote: »

More thoughts?

@Azdak hit the nail on the head...

Ever see an elite athlete "mixing things up"...they all seem to be pretty fit and lean and do the same thing because that's how you become elite in your sport. Cycling has been my primary form of exercise for years and I'm fine...

sijomial

sunsweet77 wrote: »

More thoughts?

Why?
You have a great answer already. Azdak is a very wise dog!

The main adaptation to repeatedly doing an exercise is that you get fitter. That actually means you have the opportunity to go harder and burn more calories.

Rusty740

It doesn't make any sense physically speaking. To move your body around doing the same thing, while staying the same weight and having the same amount of muscle, will burn the same amount of calories.

What makes more sense is this. You do cardio, then you lose weight, now when you do cardio, you weight less so your body doesn't need to burn as many calories to do the same cardio. Case closed.

heybales

I'll add something more then - if your "cardio routine" is some type of aerobics class with a bunch of complicated movements, like Zumba perhaps, then the improvement in efficiency causing less burn may be a few % points more than minor improvement, and some moves needing no constant muscle tension, and only moving so fast to a beat of music - when you lose weight with those workouts and already efficient with movement and not "pushing" it anymore - very hard to increase intensity to compensate for less calorie burn.

Unless they start adding hand weights.

But the heart as a muscle could easily reach a maintenance level workout, where it's not being pushed anymore, especially with less weight.