how many calories should you burn in one workout?

em9371

em you didnt answer the original question as it was how many calories should you burn in one workout.

The answer is as many as you want. Why not burn 3000 in one workout?!

But if you do, refuelling is incredibly important.

Also I believe a purely cardiovascular workout plan is perfectly fine for creating a lean build.

ooops didnt read it right!
you are right, exercise as many cals as you want as long as you take in enough cals for what you do, and take enough rest days to recover.

Re cardio / weights only, I guess it depends what you want your end results to be, if it works for you then thats good :-)
For example I know a lot of runners don't do much if any weight training as it can affect their running performance, but thats not the type of body I want.
Ive done cardio only before and I did lose weight, but was still flabby so weights are important for me to building / maintaining muscle and losing inches, cardio is important for stamina / endurance / general fitness.

millarabello

I don't think you are over training as per your exercise dairy. The way to bring weight down is the one you are doing, by having a calorie deficit. 7700 calorie deficit should equal to 1 kg.
Well, I definitely prefer the cardio exercises, they are more dynamic and fun to do, but I try to do some light weightlifting in order to keep my muscle mass, it is a fact, that when you lose weight, you aren't losing only fat, but also precious muscles. I try to do the weight training twice a week only and work a big number of muscle groups at the same time. I also like to do it because I feel that everywhere in body is starting to fall (no kidding), and I try to avoid the disastrous fall by training with weights. I basically do it in order to get tonus and lose weight, so it means: many repetitions and light weight.
Keep on your good job Lara!!!

Awkward30

I will not be skinny fat. I feel the muscles in my legs by all the walking and running I have been doing!! and I bet that none of you eat as healthy as I do every single day. I only have 5 kilos left. I didn't say that I wasn't going to work on my muscles either. Where is all this science that you guys are spouting off??. Actually when I first started this journey I lost a ton of inches and I wasn't weight training at all back then and I have been weight training on this journey. I just want to wake up every day knowing I am normal weight, maybe overrated to you but would mean a great deal to me!!!. Once I get there, my other goals will take over. My question wasn't which exercise I should choose!! It was can you work out too much!! This is seriously frustrating me.

Your frustration is frustrating to me. You asked a question and included Information that led us to believe you were misinformed, so we were trying to help. Almost 25% of the weight I lost early was muscle. That is bad. Thus, I make it my mission to let people know that they will lose it if they don't use it. I was training for a half marathon, thus exercising profusely, so the "my muscles get enough work in cardio" logic was incorrect for me. I strength train and lose weight, as do many of the people here, so citing one friend is poor sampling. You do retain more water when you strength train, but it's just water. I don't understand your preoccupation with weight, you don't have to tell anyone, but I've found it's fun to get the "wait really?" response.

Borderline overweight by BMI and damn proud of it

dad106

I bet that none of you eat as healthy as I do every single day.

Well ain't that the truth as I nomm on some pizza and italian lemonade..

Eat healthy 80% of the time, do weights plus cardio, lost 30 pounds and I'm a size 4.. who woulda thunk?

NeverGivesUp

Again, it all depends what you want. I don't want large muscles. Saying that though, it looks like weight lifting will be my new exercise as my ankle is injured from running, so cardio is out for me while it heels. I like the feeling after I run but I am not so coordinated and I think I don't run properly. I do like the elliptical though. Thanks Milla!! I plan on listening to my body too but that is hard for me to do because I don't have a shut off when I am tired because my body just wants to keep going. I was recently anemic before I got my iron infusion so my body learned to run off of very little energy. Hence this is why I asked this question to begin with. Especially when I see the amount of calories that I am burning, I get excited but I don't really know when I should stop. I guess my ankle let me know I was training too hard. Yes, I want to be normal weight and I am not afraid to say that nor ashamed of it. It has been a long time coming for me and I just want to be there now. I definitely do not want to have almost an obese BMI to be proud of. That is definitely NOT my goal. I feel stronger than I ever have, so I couldn't be losing that much muscle!! And I definitely have stamina if I can run for over an hour shortly after beginning to run. I do not believe there is one right way to exercise nor one right way to gain muscle for that matter. Just by using muscles, you are keeping them active to some degree. I do not believe they will whither away while I lose my last 5 kilos and I didn't say that I was opposed to lifting and have no idea how this thread got completely derailed as to what exercise I should be doing?? That was not my question nor my concern.

NeverGivesUp

and you can have your pizza and sugary lemonade, I don't like that stuff and wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. I have lost a lot of weight too if you haven't noticed.

NeverGivesUp

34 kilos translates to 77 pounds in case you were wondering.

NeverGivesUp

And just because I don't believe in doing it "your way" doesn't mean that I am misinformed!!

Awkward30

And just because I don't believe in doing it "your way" doesn't mean that I am misinformed!!

I did not say you were, just explained why we thought it prudent to suggest strength training.

I also never said you can't lose weight without strength training, I just said it lowers your BMR, meaning you can eat less, loss of muscle causes less of a decrease in size than loss of fat, and that most people won't be happy with the all cardio look because they want to look "toned" which is a lower body fat % regardless of muscle mass. So if I had only 100 pounds of muscle instead of 111, I would need to lose 12 more pounds of fat to have the level of bodyfat "tone" I have now. Conversely, had I not lost 8 lb of muscle, I would have been at this body fat percent 10 pounds ago, and would currently be at my goal body fat percent.

I sincerely hope your ankle heals and that you get to normal weight and enjoy the way you look.

em9371

Sorry to hear about your ankle, I see what you mean now about how you burn more, I was just the same with my running, its too easy to get a bit overexcited and do too much trying to beat what you did last time, I'm off with my knee at the minute and it drives me nuts seeing everyone else running :-(
I've been doing leg free workouts since January and this hasn't really affected my loss - you could do swimming, arm bike, upper body weights etc, if your ankle is up to it maybe bike or cross trainer.

By the way - you don't get large muscles from just lifting a few weights, it takes years of hard work and a very high protein diet, and bmi is not a good indicator of health if you exercise, most athletes are classed as obese by bmi standards due to muscle weight, and they are some of the healthiest people around!

NeverGivesUp

Thanks everyone about your well wishes for my ankle. We don't realize how much we use all of our body parts till they are injured. I do this every time I try to run. The last time I tried, it was 4 years ago and I did something to both my ankles and couldn't walk without hobbling for 2 entire weeks. Saying that, I have found the best after feeling come from running. I loooove that feeling. The elliptical comes in a close second for me. I do like to vary my exercise so I do not get bored. This is the first time in my life that I have actually stuck to exercising even though the scale doesn't always go my way. I am proud of that and I am proud that I pushed through my couch potato ways and am always looking for new ways to push myself. I don't object to weight training at all and I have done it from time to time, just not as my focus just yet. It is just not my main source of exercise at the moment but I do believe it is a good way to prevent things like osteoporosis in the future so I do plan on incoorporating it in a bigger way. ooooooh I hate seeing everyone else running too, haha. It just isn't fair. I will need to get better running shoes and try it again once my ankle heals up I think. Body percentage of fat will most likely be my next focus. I can see it going in that direction for me but one thing at a time. I am a stubborn gal and do not like to be told how to do things especially when what I am doing is a complete turnaround from the way I wasn't doing things before so sorry for the defensiveness. I just want to wake up every morning knowing I am normal weight. Completely psychological. I know it sounds silly but I have only been there a couple of times in my life and being normal for once is really important to me in so many ways. I love to have a focus, and a purpose because it keeps me interested. So, now to lose the last 5 kilos and maybe a little more and then to work on the body fat. My husband loves me the way I am and he loved me when I weighed 230 pounds too so I am only doing this for me, my health and well being. I feel better than every physically so improving is just icing on the cake at this point. It is a lot easier for a 20 year old to lose weight than a 40 year old such as myself. You 20 somethings are doing amazing things for your health and bodies, I only wish I was ready for something like this 20 years ago ! and had the support that this website has to offer !!