Cardio and Metabolism

Sheisinlove109

Today I was told that I do way too much cardio and can completely mess up my metabolism. Is this true? I'm loving what I'm doing.

MelanieCN77

Told by whom?

usmcmp

Seriously under eating while doing excessive cardio can impact hormones and will destroy lean mass. That means when you get to your goal weight your maintenance calories will be lower than they should be and you'll have a harder time keeping the weight off.

AnnPT77

Doesn't make much sense to me, on the surface of it, as long as you're eating enough to fuel it (i.e. not losing weight faster than about 1% of body weight weekly).

How much cardio, of what type, are you doing? If you're losing weight, how fast?

Sheisinlove109

Daily I do this:

60 min arc trainer and 20-25 elliptical and 20-25 treadmill
That's my routine of choice. I might mix it up a bit or do a little less. Usually totals about 1100-1500 calories per time.

I was told by a friend who is well recognized in the medical field.

I'm definitely losing weight, 2-4lbs a week...sometimes 1-2. I think I eat properly.

VeronicaA76

Um, no. Metabolism is the rate at which your body uses fuel (fat, muscle, added nutrients aka food) in order to be alive. Doing cardio increases blood flow and heart rate, which increases the rate at which you are using fuel, that's why it "burns calories". Using a lot of fuel without refueling (going way under your recommendation for daily calorie intake) can lead to your body no longer functioning well, and quite often malnutrition.

Do your cardio, eat well, which includes not only proper calories but nutritionally sound as well. Try not to go too low on a calorie deficit and you will be fine. You will lose fat and be healthier.

usmcmp

sunsweet77 wrote: »

Daily I do this:

60 min arc trainer and 20-25 elliptical and 20-25 treadmill
That's my routine of choice. I might mix it up a bit or do a little less. Usually totals about 1100-1500 calories per time.

I was told by a friend who is well recognized in the medical field.

I'm definitely losing weight, 2-4lbs a week...sometimes 1-2. I think I eat properly.

It's said that your body can use approximately 12 calories per day from every pound of body fat that you have. Meaning if you carry 50 pounds of body fat you'll get about 600 calories worth of energy from the fat when you are in a deficit. If your deficit is 1,000 calories below your maintenance needs your body needs to make up for the other 400 calories. Some of that may come from your body reducing your non-exercise energy needs (making you less active daily) and the rest will come from lean mass (your muscles and organs).

Why does this matter? Rather than losing mostly fat you're now losing fat and muscle. Meaning you'll get to your goal weight and still have more fat than you anticipated.

gamerbabe14

sunsweet77 wrote: »

Daily I do this:

60 min arc trainer and 20-25 elliptical and 20-25 treadmill
That's my routine of choice. I might mix it up a bit or do a little less. Usually totals about 1100-1500 calories per time.

I was told by a friend who is well recognized in the medical field.

I'm definitely losing weight, 2-4lbs a week...sometimes 1-2. I think I eat properly.

I don't know how much you weigh but losing more than 2lbs a week would be considered too quick.

VeronicaA76

sunsweet77 wrote: »

Daily I do this:

60 min arc trainer and 20-25 elliptical and 20-25 treadmill
That's my routine of choice. I might mix it up a bit or do a little less. Usually totals about 1100-1500 calories per time.

I was told by a friend who is well recognized in the medical field.

I'm definitely losing weight, 2-4lbs a week...sometimes 1-2. I think I eat properly.

Doing 90 minutes a day in cardio is not excessive. It's high, but nothing so outlandish as to be dangerous. Just make sure you eat back your calories. Don't go too far into deficit. 500cal/day is a good amount. That would be 1lb per week without risking muscle loss.

AnnPT77

sunsweet77 wrote: »

Daily I do this:

60 min arc trainer and 20-25 elliptical and 20-25 treadmill
That's my routine of choice. I might mix it up a bit or do a little less. Usually totals about 1100-1500 calories per time.

I was told by a friend who is well recognized in the medical field.

I'm definitely losing weight, 2-4lbs a week...sometimes 1-2. I think I eat properly.

If you average 2 pounds a week (let alone more), but weigh less than 200 pounds, that could be risky, and might be what your friend is getting at.

Losing more than about 1% if your body weight weekly is risky, and it should be even less than that as you get within roughly 50 pounds or less above goal weight. "Metabolic damage" isn't the term I'd use for that risk - though some would, as shorthand - but losing too fast can be unhealthful, and affect your longer-term strength and vitality negatively.

Azdak

Mo Farrah's metabolism must be the shitz then.

This is an example of overstating, overgeneralizing, overreacting--have I left anything out?

It's more cardio than you need and it's an unbalanced program, but "unhealthy" and "metabolism destroying" is a bit alarmist IMO.

If you are are doing that much cardio , I doubt that you are doing it at that high an intensity, and I doubt that it is a routine that you are going to follow for a very long time.

If you insist on maintaining a high deficit, I would strongly recommend that you make sure your protein intake is in the 1g per pound range. I would also spend some of that time strength training, if you aren't doing so already.

CSARdiver

sunsweet77 wrote: »

Daily I do this:

60 min arc trainer and 20-25 elliptical and 20-25 treadmill
That's my routine of choice. I might mix it up a bit or do a little less. Usually totals about 1100-1500 calories per time.

I was told by a friend who is well recognized in the medical field.

I'm definitely losing weight, 2-4lbs a week...sometimes 1-2. I think I eat properly.

What specialty is your friend in? This sounds more like popular woo than verifiable science.

Nothing wrong with your plan, just ensure you are properly fueling your workouts.

Our metabolisms are quite resilient and what they are likely referring to (and interpreting incorrectly) is short term adaptive thermogenesis. This is a phenomenon that occurs to temporarily raise or lower your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) to account for the amount of food ingested. Think of this in terms of adding wood to a fireplace - the more fuel over set time, the hotter the fire. The less fuel over the same amount of time - the cooler the fire.

What is your end goal? Is this for increased endurance/performance or more aesthetic? Have you looked into a progressive weight lifting program? Simply amazing what this can do for you and far more efficient use of time.

cwolfman13

Very low calories and excessive cardio is going to be a net negative...if you're properly fueling your workouts, it isn't an issue. I do more cardio than that when I'm training for a cycling event...but I also ramp up the food to adequately fuel that additional activity...

You would also highly benefit from working in some resistance training rather than just doing incessant cardio...