Is doing cardio 2x per day a bad idea?

tahoe5280

Ok, so I'm trying to drop a bunch of weight (45lbs down, another 150 to go) and I've been doing cardio every morning for about 5-6 weeks now. I've started getting used to 45 min at 2.5-3mph but toward the end of the day I still have enough energy for another round on the treadmill, and it's really become my favorite part of my day.

I am trying to avoid lifting weights until I get closer to my target weight because I'm doing keto, and I really don't want to mess around with carb cycling. I'd really just rather do cardio two-a-days

So my question is if I do cardio twice a day, am I going to see increased benefits in weight loss and metabolism? Or should I instead stick to doing it once a day but focusing on increasing my distances and speeds? Or something entirely else all together?

XtyAnn17

go for it!!! it will be good for you

Erinslove

When I ran cross country in college we ran twice a day. Since then I sometimes work out twice a day when I am up for it. You say it's "your favorite time of day?" Then by all means go for it!

erickirb

As long as you are fueling your body properly it shouldn't be an issue.

hawtpep

Ok, so I'm trying to drop a bunch of weight (45lbs down, another 150 to go) and I've been doing cardio every morning for about 5-6 weeks now. I've started getting used to 45 min at 2.5-3mph but toward the end of the day I still have enough energy for another round on the treadmill, and it's really become my favorite part of my day.

I am trying to avoid lifting weights until I get closer to my target weight because I'm doing keto, and I really don't want to mess around with carb cycling. I'd really just rather do cardio two-a-days

So my question is if I do cardio twice a day, am I going to see increased benefits in weight loss and metabolism? Or should I instead stick to doing it once a day but focusing on increasing my distances and speeds? Or something entirely else all together?

Do it if you have the energy BTW I'm a big guy too. I find it a lot easier to increase incline rather then increasing speed. It also burns higher amount of calories at lower speeds. The other day I did 3miles at 2.5 between 10-13incline ended up burning 1170 calories.

Good Luck

muwchck

I don't think I personally would go for twice a day. But your body is getting acclimated to what you are doing, so maybe you should increase your time, your speed, or your incline. Something to make what you're already doing more of a challenge. Or maybe even switch up and do something different from the treadmill every other day or something. I don't see any harm in doing 2 work outs a day either though. As long as you aren't over doing anything. When I was younger and in much better shape, I would get up and run before school in the mornings, and then hit the gym and work out in the evening too.

ukjake3

I'm not an expert by any means, but I believe that it's all about your energy levels. If you have the energy and feel like you can, go for it. Listen to your body though, that's most important. I do spin in the morning before work and play basketball with my co-workers on lunch 2-3 days per week and it has not affected me at all. Make sure you are eating & drinking lots of water!

iCACTUS

You can do cardio every day, as often as you like. It's excellent for you!

Mommareed4

Idk..I am currently doing JM 30 day shred in the afternoon, and then do the elliptical for a hour, except for Tuesday and Thursday i do kick boxing class. I haven't lost any weight in a few months though i am sure it wouldn't be the case for you...my body just doesn't loose weight easily.

Huffdogg

Nevermind. You listed a preference for weightlifting avoidance. I don't get it, frankly, but I'm not going to argue about it lol.

david081

If you feel up to it why not? I do two-miles cross-country each morning and afternoon with my dogs plus an exercise schedule inbetween 6-days a week... I think your body will tell you if you are overdoing it...

jcpmoore

Do it if you have the energy BTW I'm a big guy too. I find it a lot easier to increase incline rather then increasing speed. It also burns higher amount of calories at lower speeds. The other day I did 3miles at 2.5 between 10-13incline ended up burning 1170 calories.

Good Luck

Seriously? You can increase calorie burn that much with just incline? I have GOT to try this! Thanks for the tip!

For OP- There is no reason not to work out twice in one day. No real diff between 1 hour now and 1 hour later or just doing 2 hrs now. It's all good.

SassyCalyGirl

your cardio is not high intensity so twice a day sounds fine. I run every morning 6.2 miles anywhere from 5.0 mph to 6.5 mph then I take a slow paced walk for 2 miles in the afternoon at a lower HR for fat burning. Listen to your body. It will tell you what you can handle.

Becky_Boodle

I would try mixing up your cardio...
if treadmill is your thing then play with the speed and incline throughout your workout
it will keep your muscles guessing on what you're doing
as for twice a day...I say go for if you've got the energy...
but I would definitely recommend eating back your burned calories...
that way you'll definitely have the energy to get through 2 workouts

Fattack

"bad idea?" no. Amazingly inefficient, though. If you have that much time available to exercise, start lifting heavy. The overall benefits are quite likely better for your weight loss efforts anyhow.

Agreed.

Provided you're not on a Keto diet for specific health reasons, I would advise you adopt a more balanced diet so that you can reap the many benefits of strength training in conjunction with your cardio. You don't want to lose too much muscle, which can be a side effect of overdoing the cardio on too little food. Muscle boosts your metabolism, and well-trained muscle means you needn't worry about that "deflated" look as you lose weight :]

fteale

It seems a bit pointless to me. Just go for a walk. The most important thing is keeping moving as much as you can throughout the day. Doing 45 mins on a treadmill is pointless if you spend the rest of your day sitting down.

tabi26

I don't understand....I lift weights and have never carb cycled....what is carb cycling? Lol.

Anyway, cardio twice a day is fine, as long as you don't wear yourself out

memega

Not a bad idea imo. If I could afford that kind of timings, even I might give it a try. Instead I easily do around 75min on average every evening. I increase the intensity by increasing resistance and keeping up the pace and sometimes play around with the default settings for variety. So yeah, go for it!

Fattack

Do it if you have the energy BTW I'm a big guy too. I find it a lot easier to increase incline rather then increasing speed. It also burns higher amount of calories at lower speeds. The other day I did 3miles at 2.5 between 10-13incline ended up burning 1170 calories.

Good Luck

Seriously? You can increase calorie burn that much with just incline? I have GOT to try this! Thanks for the tip!

For OP- There is no reason not to work out twice in one day. No real diff between 1 hour now and 1 hour later or just doing 2 hrs now. It's all good.

Actually, there are theories that splitting cardio (as long as they're not very short workouts) is more beneficial than one long workout in lowering insulin levels and boosting fat metabolism.

HotBodUnderConstruction

It seems a bit pointless to me. Just go for a walk. The most important thing is keeping moving as much as you can throughout the day. Doing 45 mins on a treadmill is pointless if you spend the rest of your day sitting down.

What?

Fattack

It seems a bit pointless to me. Just go for a walk. The most important thing is keeping moving as much as you can throughout the day. Doing 45 mins on a treadmill is pointless if you spend the rest of your day sitting down.

This is ludicrous. For instance, how would you advise those of us who work at desks?

elzianne

I think doing it twice a day is a great idea to boost your metabolism - but I would decrease how long / far you're going (for ex: two 20 minute sessions not two 40 minute sessions). If you're training for long distance / endurance, you'll want one long session... but for weight loss quick and frequent is often more effective.

I read a study awhile ago that recommended doing just 20 minutes of cardio when you first wake up, to help "rev up" your metabolism and keep you energized throughout the day. They recommend following that with another workout in the late afternoon (or for those of us that have a 9-5 job, early evening) because that's when you're body tends to perform best and when you'll be able to push for the most progress. I saw a lot of results when I did this approach, but got away from it when I was training for my first half-marathon. Now that I'm focusing more on weight loss again, I'm back to this type of format most days.

Just make sure to listen to your body and don't overexert yourself. Like I said, if you do twice a day, don't try to do really long sessions. Two quick, high intensity workouts will help you the most. Intervals are also great - they tend to be more effective than just a steady pace.

And while cardio is very important, don't forget about strength! You'll be amazed at how much it helps with weight loss.

jonesdav254

Doing two sessions of cardio in a day is ok...so long as the workouts are reasonable in length and intensity. Using the additional cardio session to kick-start stalled progress towards a weight loss goal is a good change of pace. Playing devil's advocate for a moment, let me offer this bit of info. The body will adapt to the increased level of exercise after a while. That is, the set point of what greater amount of work the body is doing will go up. This will cause the body to tap into the stored energy to feed the requirement for this exercise. The increase in exercise could cause a spike in hunger pangs as the body seeks to replace what it is using during the extra work. Be aware of this and be prepared to counter this reaction by increasing your water intake and having options for lower calorie food (veggies and some fruit) that can supplement your nutrition. I've been doing 2 a day workouts for the past 45 days. The increase in activity helped awaken by stalled weight loss. Best of luck!

hawtpep

Do it if you have the energy BTW I'm a big guy too. I find it a lot easier to increase incline rather then increasing speed. It also burns higher amount of calories at lower speeds. The other day I did 3miles at 2.5 between 10-13incline ended up burning 1170 calories.

Good Luck

Agreed
Seriously? You can increase calorie burn that much with just incline? I have GOT to try this! Thanks for the tip!

For OP- There is no reason not to work out twice in one day. No real diff between 1 hour now and 1 hour later or just doing 2 hrs now. It's all good.

Actually, there are theories that splitting cardio (as long as they're not very short workouts) is more beneficial than one long workout in lowering insulin levels and boosting fat metabolism.

fteale

It seems a bit pointless to me. Just go for a walk. The most important thing is keeping moving as much as you can throughout the day. Doing 45 mins on a treadmill is pointless if you spend the rest of your day sitting down.

This is ludicrous. For instance, how would you advise those of us who work at desks?

You may think it ludicrous, but it's a basic fact of biology. Unfortunately biology doesn't conveniently match modern life styles. We are designed to move, constantly. There is a lot of study being done on this by sports scientists/human biologists at the moment. If you are in the UK, look out on BBC iplayer for Horizon - the truth about exercise, from last week. It'll finish tonight, so you have to be quick, but it explains a lot.

nonafit

It seems a bit pointless to me. Just go for a walk. The most important thing is keeping moving as much as you can throughout the day. Doing 45 mins on a treadmill is pointless if you spend the rest of your day sitting down.

it seems even more pointless spending the day sitting including that 45 mins that you can run on treadmill.

bryntevans01

Twice a day cardio is a science proven better way to lose weight, there was an article in men's health mag a while back. Pro athletes will always train twice a day and will also improve (I believe) sleep.
However, as you run at a very slow pace it may be that you don't raise your heart rate enough for it to actually do any good so you would have to lift the incline right up. I also believe that you should excersize at least 3 or 4 sessions per week at least.

mama2shi

It seems a bit pointless to me. Just go for a walk. The most important thing is keeping moving as much as you can throughout the day. Doing 45 mins on a treadmill is pointless if you spend the rest of your day sitting down.

How is it pointless? I work at a desk all day, and go to the gym at night and get on the treadmill for 50 minutes. I find it far from pointless.

fteale

It seems a bit pointless to me. Just go for a walk. The most important thing is keeping moving as much as you can throughout the day. Doing 45 mins on a treadmill is pointless if you spend the rest of your day sitting down.

it seems even more pointless spending the day sitting including that 45 mins that you can run on treadmill.

I'm not saying sit on your *kitten*. But most people would get more benefit from moving more every day than going to the gym for 45 mins. Seriously, watch the Horizon program, it explains it all much better than I can in a few sentences on here. If you have a desk job you can still move more. Get up and walk around the office and talk to people instead of sending them emails, use the stairs, in the evening, instead of plonking yourself down on the sofa, keep moving around. Things like that.

I'm not preaching, I am not claiming anything new, this is all common knowledge.

Genie30

In the summer I commute by bike (6 miles in about 30 minutes each way) so on those days I do cardio twice a day. If anything I think it aids my weight loss and body shape. It also helps keep my moods and appitite under control.

970Mikaela1

Do what feels right to YOU!!! Eat enough and enjoy the ride! When the weight starts coming off you will have a better idea of whats right for you:)