How much cardio?

kmchugh_1

Hi All!

I was a varsity athlete, so I am no stranger to the gym. BUT...I am used to maintaining and gaining muscle. I am now trying to lose weight and tone. My arms and stomach are specifically stubborn. Right now I am doing the following:

Tuesday: Arms
Wednesday: cardio (30-45 mins interval training on elliptical typically) + abs
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Shoulders


All workouts start with 5 mins warm up, and 10 minutes cooldown on elliptical, bike, or treadmill.

Do I need to add more cardio to my routine? I ask because I HATE cardio but I understand that if it is needed I will suck it up. I am consuming about 1200 calories a day, lots of lean protein and produce, small amounts to carbs, and usually earlier in the day.

Any advice would be extremely helpful!

Thank you
Katie

janejellyroll

Losing weight will come from a calorie deficit.

The amount of cardio you do can help create that deficit, but you can lose weight with a little bit of cardio or a lot. You should choose how much cardio to do based on your preferences and health and fitness goals.

Where did you get the goal of 1,200?

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Honestly, you'll get more from lifting if you switch to a full body routine, 3 times a week. If those are the only days you can work out, I might do full body on Tuesday, then upper body on Thursday and Lower on Friday. It's best to hit each muscle group at least twice a week.

You don't NEED to do cardio at all. But it helps with the calorie deficit and it's good for you. I'd try to get 30 min 3 times a week but this doesn't mean just elliptical, you can go for a walk, or a bike ride, or something more enjoyable than an elliptical.

And yeah, your 1200 calorie goal is suspect. How much do you have to lose? I'm guessing not much. I'd enter a weekly goal of 0.5 to 1 pound a week into MFP and then eat what it tells you to.

Maxxitt

If it was me, I would add 15 minutes of intervals to Friday. I hate cardio too, but find intervals to be less tedious. When I am on my 3 day/week lifting routine, I put 15 min of intervals at the end each day, with dreadmill one day, sled push another depending on how my legs feel. My intervals are 60/90. What I found is that more frequent cardio, even of shorter duration, helps with my overall cardio fitness and it's not so taxing that it interferes with the lifting (full body following the Strong program. This is the winter routine. In the summer I am too busy with outdoors/life to get to the gym regularly.

cwolfman13

kmchugh_1 wrote: »

Hi All!

I was a varsity athlete, so I am no stranger to the gym. BUT...I am used to maintaining and gaining muscle. I am now trying to lose weight and tone. My arms and stomach are specifically stubborn. Right now I am doing the following:

Tuesday: Arms
Wednesday: cardio (30-45 mins interval training on elliptical typically) + abs
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Shoulders


All workouts start with 5 mins warm up, and 10 minutes cooldown on elliptical, bike, or treadmill.

Do I need to add more cardio to my routine? I ask because I HATE cardio but I understand that if it is needed I will suck it up. I am consuming about 1200 calories a day, lots of lean protein and produce, small amounts to carbs, and usually earlier in the day.

Any advice would be extremely helpful!

Thank you
Katie

You'd be way better off with a full body program 3x per week. Cardio isn't necessary to lose weight, but it does increase your energy expenditure which can make maintaining a deficit easier...I can't maintain a reasonable deficit without it.

I personally don't do indoor hamster cardio as I would be bored out of my mind...most of my cardio is out on the road on my bike 3-4 days per week and some hiking and rock climbing thrown in from time to time. I also walk my dog about 1 mile most mornings (she's old) and get in around 10K steps per day.

WholeFoods4Lyfe

First, are you doing any strength training for your abs, chest, and back? It's really important to strengthen your core muscles, plus, a lot of exercises for core muscles simultaneously work out your secondary muscles.

Second, you don't NEED to work out to lose weight. 80% of weight loss is in the kitchen. But that said, adding cardio can give you some extra calories to work with, so for me, it's worth it, especially those days when I'm feeling like a bottomless pit.

kmchugh_1

janejellyroll wrote: »

Losing weight will come from a calorie deficit.

The amount of cardio you do can help create that deficit, but you can lose weight with a little bit of cardio or a lot. You should choose how much cardio to do based on your preferences and health and fitness goals.

Where did you get the goal of 1,200?

CSARdiver

What is your TDEE? Why did you pick 1200 kcals/day? Did you enter in your data into MFP and what does it budget for?

What is your current weight? What is your goal weight?

You say you want to lose weight and tone.

Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, so Caloric Intake < Caloric Output = Weight loss. How you maintain this is up to you. You can focus on diet or exercise or a mix of both, but how you do this is up to you. There's nothing inherent to cardio that accelerates this process, so if you hate it, don't do it. There are several benefits from doing cardio, so it would be better to learn to love it...or at least enough to do 30 mins 3x/week.

kmchugh_1

I am trying to loose about 20lbs. The 1200 came from this app. I like the idea of full body workouts 3x a week. Thank you everyone!!

Also made a mistake I do chest and back on Friday’s!

janejellyroll

kmchugh_1 wrote: »

I am trying to loose about 20lbs. The 1200 came from this app. I like the idea of full body workouts 3x a week. Thank you everyone!!

Also made a mistake I do chest and back on Friday’s!

How much did you tell MFP you wanted to lose per week? It sounds like you may have entered a very aggressive goal like 2 pounds a week. With 20 pounds to lose, you'll want to choose a more reasonable goal. You'll get more to eat each day. Since you want to look toned when you're done losing weight, this will also help you avoid unnecessary muscle loss. If you lose too quickly, you'll lose too much muscle along with the fat. I think if you choose a more reasonable goal and retain more muscle, you'll be much happier with how you look at the end of your weight loss.

hesn92

You don’t need to do Any cardio but it helps a lot with staying in a deficit and it’s good for your general health. 1200 calories seems awfully low, unless you are very petite. Especially if you’re lifting weights, that seems like not nearly enough.

ahoy_m8

janejellyroll wrote: »

kmchugh_1 wrote: »

I am trying to loose about 20lbs. The 1200 came from this app. I like the idea of full body workouts 3x a week. Thank you everyone!!

Also made a mistake I do chest and back on Friday’s!

How much did you tell MFP you wanted to lose per week? It sounds like you may have entered a very aggressive goal like 2 pounds a week. With 20 pounds to lose, you'll want to choose a more reasonable goal. You'll get more to eat each day. Since you want to look toned when you're done losing weight, this will also help you avoid unnecessary muscle loss. If you lose too quickly, you'll lose too much muscle along with the fat. I think if you choose a more reasonable goal and retain more muscle, you'll be much happier with how you look at the end of your weight loss.

^^This. If you were a varsity athlete, you likely had good muscle/bone mass. Don't lose it! I seriously regret what I did to my body in my late teens-early 20's with aggressive yoyo dieting. Lost so much muscle and bone. Seriously.... if you want to keep your muscle, consider a 0.5lb rate of loss. Yes, it will take longer, but you will have better body composition (and look better) by the end.