Max 30 Mins of Cardio?

campbellcjdm

I think the main thing is that there is no 'magic' answer that works for everyone. For the 60Mile biker ... good for you. I love biking but had gotten out of it. My son and I will be biking 184 miles on the C&O canal in June with the Boy Scouts -- that's my motivation right now!! But I would have never considered bikes before - it was always casual riding. But I can say that my legs are certainly toning up - even though it is considered a cardio exercise.
The goal of mixing up the cardio & weight training is to burn calories and build muscles (which burn calories). Same goal for both basically. I suggest you do the cardio first, then the big-muscle weights (eg. legs first, biceps last). The benefit is that you will get your heart rate up for the weight lifting, the big muscles first will keep the heart rate up, and you will slow down as you do the smaller muscles... and you will burn more calories !!! :happy:
I am curious why myFitnessPal doesn't give any credit for weight lifting, because it certainly burns calories and should be included in the calculations.

mikeyrp

I am curious why myFitnessPal doesn't give any credit for weight lifting, because it certainly burns calories and should be included in the calculations.

It does but only if you log weights as CV

piccolarj

So I gues I should stop doing my 4 hour/60mile bike rides? I think not!!! I agree it's all in how you feed your body pre & post workout. A 30 min workout is not nearly enough for me to get the calorie burn my body needs nor increase my endurance.

Good for you! I'm jealous, I've gotten older and can't do the long rides anymore but I savor every minute on the bike. Some folks my age are still doing it so maybe I can work back up to those long rides. Thirty minute max? Come on man!

You can do it!! We have some 50 & 60 year old cyclist in our club. Just take it slow and build up. Cycling is a great exercise because you get the benifits of both cardio and muscle training especially in the lower half. My legs have never been this tone before and I long for day when I have those "Cyclist Legs"!!

johnwhitent

Thanks piccolarj. I'm 58 now and diverted from cycling to trail running for several years so that I could take my dogs out on the trail for their exercise. "Back in the day" I was an avid cyclist and did centuries and such. It is a great form of cardio exercise! Now I do a little cycling, trail running, plyometrics, and strength training. I'm trying to enter my sixties fit and younger physically than my years would indicate. You'll never find a cyclist who buys the "anything over 30 minutes is too much" approach! They say the pros burn over 10,00 calories a day - and no "jiggle" there.

terri0702

Bump

antipholous

When you lose weight, you inevitably lose muscle, too. The weight lost is a combination of both fat and muscle.

What the poster here is refering to by "skinny-fat" and "weak" is that you won't build up your muscle if you only do cardio. Long, extended, heavy cardio exercises (long-distance running or biking, etc.) will break down muscle pretty damn fast. Look at your 95 pound, Kenyan marathon winners for examples of why this happens.

The poster was that if you want the "toned" look, which most people do want, you're going to have to vary your exercise, lift weights, and avoid prolonged, intense cardio to achieve this goal.

If you want to put in additional hours at the gym, but do want to work towards the toned look constantly, just circuit train, vary your cardio, weight lift, or play a sport. I circuit train regularly, and it's awesome, but hard to do if the gym's crowded.

Flyntiggr

Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Just because someone says something in a blog doesn't make her a brilliant fitness expert.

My trainer expects my cardio workouts to be AT LEAST 30 minutes each, if not longer. In order to train for longer distances, you have to run past your distance/time to build endurance.

AmandaD99

Interesting replies! And I now also learned the meaning of BUMP. :laugh: :bigsmile:

knantz

I am curious why myFitnessPal doesn't give any credit for weight lifting, because it certainly burns calories and should be included in the calculations.

Lifting weights is listed under strength training in the cardio section.

campbellcjdm

Thanks !

shreddingit

Skinny fat means thin with high body fat.
Fitness models do 25-45 min of cardio like 2x a week, bodybuildets rarely do cardio, mostly because a lot of mindless cardio burns muscle.
but there is a way to build some muscle with cardio...