How much Cardio is too much?

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matt93312
matt93312 Posts: 4
in Fitness and Exercise
My current cardiovascular fitness is great. After nearly 2 hours on the elliptical yesterday, I overheard a personal trainer make a negative comment to the effect that more than an hour and a half of cardio was overkill.

I'm not preparing for a marathon or anything, I just want to maximise my calorie burn. Am I looking at this the wrong way?

Started June 22 @ 252 lbs.
Currently 189

Replies

  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
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    #1, approach him, see if he was being catty or if not, then tell him to enlighten you since he is the professional.

    I personally wouldn’t go over 1 hour (I do 55 min, 5 of those are cool-down). You probably would tire of a 2h 1-machine cadio routine after a couple weeks - if that long. If you have lots of time on your hands learn about weights, do classes and switch up the machines.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    From everything I've read, anything over an hour or so can actually be counter productive. Your muscles will end up fatigued and could result in an injury. Also, there is a point when your muscles will stop building and will actually begin to burn themselves.


    I limit my workouts to one hour. Whether it is one hour of cardio or a split between cardio and strength training.
  • foxxybrown
    foxxybrown Posts: 838 Member
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    My brother is a personal trainer and his thoughts are in line with the trainer at your gym. He used to tell me all the time that I was doing too much cardio (I was doing about an hour a day). I listened, followed his meal plan and workout guide for a month and lost 10 lbs. I need to go back to his philosophy but sometimes I'd rather do cardio.
  • ChunTingO
    ChunTingO Posts: 225 Member
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    wow what a hater!!! anyways i wanted to know the same thing cause i did over 2 hours of cardio the other day and that came to mind
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    I think if you feel good and your hydrated go for it...look at your weight loss its working...perhaps the trainer likes to extend and slow the process of his clients more money for him
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
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    Your body doesn't always take from fat stores for energy. If you do a lot of cardio, without sufficient fuel it will eventually start taking from the muscle. Since on this site, we are supposed to eat our exercise calories, working out for a caloric deficit does very little to help you, in fact it can slow your metabolism if you are not careful. If you want the extra calories for a big meal, go for it. It probably won't be too harmful, as long as you eat them back, but if you just want to increase your caloric deficit, It can do a lot more harm than good, especially if you've got less than 50lbs to lose.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    Depends on what you're going for..endurance is always good the only way to build it is to do it. As far as a fat loss stand point after an hour of steady state cardio your body starts burning muscle for fuel regardless of how much fat you still have to burn :)
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
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    Too much hard cardio isn't good for your heart. But too much is 100+ marathons at professional pace, or Olympic rowers. People who train 2 - 4 hours HARD a day.

    I hardly ever do more than an hour a day of high intensity cardio, usually 55 mins.
  • DaddyMantz
    DaddyMantz Posts: 145 Member
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    I am not sure of your goals but if you want to lose fat and retain your muscle, I believe you would be happier with the results if you did cardio for one hour and lifted weights for the second hour. Look at marathoners who run hours a day and decide if that's the ultimate body type you want. Contrast that with a myriad of other athletes who work out two hours a day, swimmers, bodybuilders, fighters, football players, etc,... and then look at their routines.
  • jkestens63
    jkestens63 Posts: 1,164 Member
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    I always do 2 hours of cardio a day. Have lost consistently, have great stamina, and definitely getting a leaner look. But I drink lots of water, I eat back most exercise calories, and I do additional time for strength building.
  • shaunshaikh
    shaunshaikh Posts: 616 Member
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    Honestly, there's no reason to do 2 hours of cardio if your only goal is to lose weight (READ: burn fat). No matter what your calorie expenditure is, you control your weight loss with your diet. As you get to the lower body fat percentages, you can't sustain large calorie deficits without taking steps back in your weight loss process. You will lose a lot of muscle with your fat and won't achieve the body you're looking for. Like someone said earlier, look at what marathoners look like and decide if that's the body you want.
  • OptiFitPT
    OptiFitPT Posts: 4 Member
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    45 minutes is enough cardio per session.
    Make sure to do resistance training also to help boost metabolism

    optifitpt.co.uk

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