Concentrate on cardio only?

mazmataz

I can't think of any reason to spend that much time on an elliptical. Unless you are training for an elliptical race.

Just the other day my roommate and I met each other in the gym. We never train together as he is a skinny dude looking to get bigger and I am a chunky chick looking to get smaller! However for laughs, we thought we'd have an elliptical race - would you believe it!

The race was the first to get to 2km...he won (by seconds!!!) - but hey, there might be something in that

Leadfoot_Lewis

"Hours" of cardio is not "too much cardio" unless you haven't built your way up to it.

Cardio is a fantastic way to lose weight because, done properly, it creates a larger deficit from TDEE than pretty much anything else you can do.

There's better ways to get fit/lose weight besides endless hours of cardio. Eventually you'll hit a wall and stop losing-see it happen all the time just on this forum alone. Then guess what? They either 1)Give up & gain all the weight back or 2)They start lifting weights or God forbid start eating healthy, which, with an APPROPRIATE amount of cardio, is what they should have done to begin with!

The problem is people try to out-exercise a bad diet which is a bad idea. It's endless wheel spinning. "Oh, I ate X so I have to do X hours on the elliptical!" Bad way to approach weight lose IMO.

7L551

My goodness, there is a lot of bad advice being given in here.

HIIT does not produce the same physiological improvements as extended cardio, and therefore you cannot replace extended cardio with "30 minutes of HIIT three times a week". HIIT performed without first establishing a strong cardiovascular base results in much slower improvements to cardiovascular fitness than straight "cardio".

"Hours" of cardio is not "too much cardio" unless you haven't built your way up to it.

Cardio is a fantastic way to lose weight because, done properly, it creates a larger deficit from TDEE than pretty much anything else you can do.

So if you like doing it, keep doing it! Personally I would also through in a couple of sessions a week of Starting Strength or something similar, but ultimately, that's up to you.

THANK YOU!, that is exactly my thought about this.
just like you said I personally have already tried the HIIT system for 2 weeks straight (Before building a good cardiovascular base) and found out that the current system I am following is actually more effective because as you said I had to stop and take very long rests or otherwise I would actually throw up But with the current cardio that am doing in the gym I can actually go for longer periods of time and burn lots of calories.
As you said I like doing it and I feel as if it is in a way a competition so I keep going for it (Unless I feel really tired ofcourse)

There's better ways to get fit/lose weight besides endless hours of cardio. Eventually you'll hit a wall and stop losing-see it happen all the time just on this forum alone. Then guess what? They either 1)Give up & gain all the weight back or 2)They start lifting weights or God forbid start eating healthy, which, with an APPROPRIATE amount of cardio, is what they should have done to begin with!

The problem is people try to out-exercise a bad diet which is a bad idea. It's endless wheel spinning. "Oh, I ate X so I have to do X hours on the elliptical!" Bad way to approach weight lose IMO.

I am not sure where most of you guys got the 3 straight hours of cardio idea, I think I said that I do 1-2 hours of cardio in 2 sessions after the 40-60 mins of weight machines for the body building.
It is not that I don't eat "healthy" I most of the times eat homemade food that consists of vegetables and some small amount of meet in it + some rice on the side and that would be my 1 big meal for the whole day in addition to a small breakfast of cereal or an apple before going out of my house.

Don't get me wrong though, I really appreciate your tips and suggestions about this, and yes I agree with you lots of people have that kind of "diet" as you said. For me if I don't go to the gym I don't gain weight I just maintain the latest one I reached because I changed my eating habits to a more healthy one

RunBrew

Hey guys
... I thought maybe it would be a better idea to ... spending 2-3 hours on the elliptical trainer alone 5 days a week until I reach like 70 kg (154 lbs) and THEN start spending most time on machines and weights.

Competitive marathoners don't do this much cardio. I don't mean those that finish one marathon in their lives in 4+ hours, I mean those that win their age group in under 3 hrs. 15 hours is ludicrous.

Don't get me wrong, I love to run, and I burn piles of calories by doing it, but to lose weight, get your diet right. That much cardio is unnecessary for weight loss.
Personally, If I had 3 hours at the gym, I'd run/elliptical for an hour, take a little break, lift for an hour, then enjoy a nice long soak in the pool.
Edit: ....and it'd be a sustainable workout program...not one that relies on self-punishment through elliptical ultra-marathoning.

Also, if by your third workout of the week you're so beat down that you have to bail early, you're way overdoing it. What makes you think that increasing both the duration and frequency is gonna be alright?