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MyFitnessPal Community

Cardio?

Ajirvin

I’ve seen many people saying that cardio is vital to losing weight. I work out 6 days per week, but only about 20 minutes per day is cardio. I mostly do weights, yoga, and ab exercises. How much cardio should I be doing daily for weight loss? I’m losing weight very slowly, but I am losing inches more. Id just like to get the weight loss going as much as the inches are going. (I am eating 1200 calories per day)

Replies

TavistockToad

calorie deficit for weight loss, exercise for health

JennyRATL

I'll leave the other posters that have been here longer and are more knowledgeable to weigh in with more scientific and helpful information, but I have noticed a new trend in fitness is people (women mainly) dumping the cardio in favor of weights. *shrugs*

I personally try to do 3 days of weight/strength and 2cardio days where I run, cycle or spin class and 1 where I try to do a bit of both, like abs and a walk.

I follow Love, Sweat, Fitness trainer Katie Dunlop's Instagram and website and love her positivite demeanor. She has a good schedule you may want to take a look at. She mixes it up a lot, which I need to stay engaged and avoid boredom and burnout. She focuses more on weight/strength workouts and does a couple of HIIT and cardio days.

Plus she has a banging body that motivates the hell out of me! Of course I'm old enough to be her mom and won't ever look that toned again, but it sure motivates me!

Ajirvin

Thank you Jenny! I will check her out.

sardelsa

TavistockToad wrote: »

calorie deficit for weight loss, exercise for health

This. I have leaned out perfectly fine with and without any cardio.

While it can also help with your deficit, faster isn't always better.

Ajirvin

Yea, I have no problems eating right and working out, but I dread doing cardio.

TavistockToad

Ajirvin wrote: »

Yea, I have no problems eating right and working out, but I dread doing cardio.

Why?

sardelsa

Ajirvin wrote: »

Yea, I have no problems eating right and working out, but I dread doing cardio.

Well cardio is great for your health so I would recommend you do some (but point is, you can lose weight without so it doesn't change that fact). What you are doing (20min per day) is good.

NorthCascades

Ajirvin wrote: »

Yea, I have no problems eating right and working out, but I dread doing cardio.

Try doing it outside, and something fun.

Barrera1010

You might have gained some muscle. I believe you can gain muscle at a slight deficit. Keep at it! Weight is just a number. What matters is how you look in the mirror.

Thats my take on it. Good luck!

cs2thecox

Barrera1010 wrote: »

Weight is just a number. What matters is how you look in the mirror.

Agreed.
Particularly if you don't have much to lose, I genuinely believe it is SUPER important not to get hung up on usually-arbitrary weight number. It's really all about being healthy, liking yourself, and feeling good in your body.

If the inches are coming off, ask yourself *why* the weight also matters.

I had specific sport-related weight targets for years, and it took me to the bring of an eating disorder. It then took me 7 years to back away from that number, and learn to focus on the shape I wanted my body to be and what I wanted it to be able to do instead of staring at the scales. It was a tough journey, including a whole hot mess of nonsense, fads and draconian regimes along the way, but going through the process of working out why weight wasn't the be-all and end-all was the best thing I ever did for my mental health for sure.
(Note: I'm now focussing on maintenance/recomp and lifting!)

batorkin

TavistockToad wrote: »

calorie deficit for weight loss, exercise for health

This. 20 minutes of cardio 6 times/week is more than what most people do, and IMO it's plenty of cardio to stay healthy.

Don't look at exercise as a weight loss tool. It's really not, you'd need to do cardio for about an hour a day at 6MPH to lose 1 pound a week from exercise (-3500 calories). That's an absurd amount of time, at an absurd speed, and it's just not reasonable unless you are already super fit.

Diet for weight loss, exercise for health. Do both for best results.

NorthCascades

6 mph is really slow. That's more like a track stand contest than a ride.