Cardio make you fat???

Scoobies100

A trainer at the gym told me that doing lots of cardio without any weights can make you put weight on around the middle. Something to do with endorphins that your body releases when doing cardio and stress on the body....

is this true?? I am all about cardio (running, zumba, cross trainer, dvds) but now I am wondering if I am going about it all wrong?

wackyfunster

Interesting article on the subject:
http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/women-running-into-trouble/

Jynus

It won't put on fat...

But cardio isn't a great fat burner. When the body is in a caloric deficit, it will prioritize tissue lost. So you'll lose some fat, some muscle, etc. Since cardio doesn't use a lot of your bodies muscles, your body will over time shed a lot of this unused muscle tissue to try and save fat energy. It's where the term skinny fat comes from. People you do tons of cardio, but still look flabby at their goal weight because of all the non fat mass that was also lost.

It's why we say to do resistance training. If the body is using the fast twitch muscles, then priority will be seen to conserve it as well. And that caloric deficit will be used moreso for fat loss.

scottb81

No, it's not going to make you fat. If you are eating at a calorie deficit where is this fat going to come from? And unless you were lifting weights a lot and then stop, it's not going to make you lose muscle either unless you are starving yourself.

Your body will preserve the muscle it needs to meet its demands, given proper diet. If all else remains the same, why would it suddenly start shedding muscle? And why would it suddenly start burning through muscle when the body is specifically designed to store fat and then to use that fat as an energy source when in a calorie deficit?

wackyfunster

No, it's not going to make you fat. If you are eating at a calorie deficit where is this fat going to come from? And unless you were lifting weights a lot and then stop, it's not going to make you lose muscle either unless you are starving yourself.

Your body will preserve the muscle it needs to meet its demands, given proper diet. If all else remains the same, why would it suddenly start shedding muscle? And why would it suddenly start burning through muscle when the body is specifically designed to store fat and then to use that fat as an energy source when in a calorie deficit?

Common misconception. The body actually generally prefers getting rid of muscle to fat in the context of cardiovascular exercise (unless you are someone who won the genetic lotto, or are taking performance enhancing drugs, in which case what are you doing on this site?!). Think about it... a pound of muscle yields at most 600 calories of usable energy. A pound of fat yields 3500. The body say "OMG I have to run to survive, and I have to lose a pound of something"... guess which one it's going to pick? Lean muscle mass that is not related to the task at hand. This is why cyclists/marathoners who don't resistance train are so scrawny in the upper body (I have a friend who can cycle over 100 miles in one go, and rides several hundred miles/week, but can't do 1 body-weight push-up). The muscle:fat ratio is going to be determined heavily by genetics and current body composition (someone who is morbidly obese and insulin resistant will probably not lose a significant amount of muscle mass, someone who is at 'athletic' body fat levels will lose almost exclusively muscle). Once you add resistance training in, muscle preservation is greatly improved, as it causes the body to prioritize muscle sparing over fat sparing.

mjmacros

trainers usually try to quietly figure out what your favorite exercises are, then sell you a different plan (e.g. make you feel like you're missing out on something). if you're still getting results from whatever you're doing, keep going!

scottb81

In the past 12 months I have run around 2500 miles. That is roughly 275,000 calories. I have also lost weight in this time. If the body preferred to burn muscle for this cardio at 600 calories per pound it would have burned through 458 pounds of muscle. I would have died long ago.

So, either I am a genetic frieak or the body does not prefer muscle tissue over fat as fuel.

meerkat70

I do do strength training. But predominantly, I do cardio - and a lot of it. These days my main aim in cardio is to run faster, longer and harder - not to 'lose weight' for weight's sake. That said, I suspect my ticker does demonstrate that the idea that cardio isn't an effective fat burner, or that it makes you fat, is a bit silly....

That and the old saying about fat marathon runners. :-)

meerkat70

In the past 12 months I have run around 2500 miles. That is roughly 275,000 calories. I have also lost weight in this time. If the body preferred to burn muscle for this cardio at 600 calories per pound it would have burned through 458 pounds of muscle. I would have died long ago.

So, either I am a genetic frieak or the body does not prefer muscle tissue over fat as fuel.

Ah no. Don't be confusing us with your pesky logic and basic arithmetic!

meerkat70

Have you ever seen an addicted runner with a FAT midsection? Pfffft.. Soooo not true!

Well, I'm still a fat runner. But I'm a much thinner runner than I used to be! :-)

mikeyrp

Sounds like its time to get a new trainer....


OK, maybe I'm being harsh - but if (s)he had said 'the most effective way to loose fat is to do a combination of strength and cardo training with an emphasis on strength' I would have respected (but disagreed) with their view. But gain fat? utter nonsense!

nheilweil

Two word review: Total. Crap. :-)

I do not typically see very overweight runners. I do see many overweight guys at my gym who are really strong, although you can't see their muscle (although they obviously have lots of it) because of their excess body fat.

There's an expression which I think is really true "Six pack abs aren't made in the gym, they're made in the kitchen." In other words, if you want to control your weight and body fat so people can see your muscle definition, you need to do that through diet.

While cardio without weights won't make you fat, adding some weight lifting to your routine is a really great idea. It's too bad your trainer doesn't have a more balanced approach!

BackTatJIM

I have never heard of cardio making you fat, I do cardio 5-6 times a week for a minimum of a half hour and all i am doing is burning fat not gaining any

NeverGivesUp

probably referring to cortisol. I have to say running is shaping my body in a different and better and tighter way than ever before. It is all about finding the exercise you like and sticking to it. Listen to your own body above and beyond what you hear from anyone else. Only you can feel how it is working for you within your body.

BackTatJIM

Two word review: Total. Crap. :-)

I do not typically see very overweight runners. I do see many overweight guys at my gym who are really strong, although you can't see their muscle (although they obviously have lots of it) because of their excess body fat.

There's an expression which I think is really true "Six pack abs aren't made in the gym, they're made in the kitchen." In other words, if you want to control your weight and body fat so people can see your muscle definition, you need to do that through diet.

While cardio without weights won't make you fat, adding some weight lifting to your routine is a really great idea. It's too bad your trainer doesn't have a more balanced approach!

Deflict diet + cardio + weight training = fat loss and no muscle loss

CyberEd312

I have done no less than 6 days of cardio for the past 3 years, have been in a calorie deficit, lift weights 3 days a week, and take 1 rest day and have went from:

This fat guy:



To this 250 lb. guy:



pretty sure I have burnt up alot of fat, even gained alittle muscle, and am pretty sure I am not fat now... Have alot of loose skin LOL but not fat..... So OP now you won't get fat doing cardio..... Best of Luck

IronSmasher

Your trainer has most likely half heard, not understood and completely misquoted a study concerning stress hormones brought on by 'chronic cardio'.

IsMollyReallyHungry

Sounds like its time to get a new trainer....


OK, maybe I'm being harsh - but if (s)he had said 'the most effective way to loose fat is to do a combination of strength and cardo training with an emphasis on strength' I would have respected (but disagreed) with their view. But gain fat? utter nonsense!

I totatly agree on the new trainer.....

Azdak

In the past 12 months I have run around 2500 miles. That is roughly 275,000 calories. I have also lost weight in this time. If the body preferred to burn muscle for this cardio at 600 calories per pound it would have burned through 458 pounds of muscle. I would have died long ago.

So, either I am a genetic frieak or the body does not prefer muscle tissue over fat as fuel.

Or you will soon self-combust like a drummer for Spinal Tap.

Inconvenient facts are always ignored.

IsMollyReallyHungry

I have done no less than 6 days of cardio for the past 3 years, have been in a calorie deficit, lift weights 3 days a week, and take 1 rest day and have went from:

This fat guy:



To this 250 lb. guy:



pretty sure I have burnt up alot of fat, even gained alittle muscle, and am pretty sure I am not fat now... Have alot of loose skin LOL but not fat..... So OP now you won't get fat doing cardio..... Best of Luck

Awesome job!! Congrats!!

IsMollyReallyHungry

If this were true the Biggest Loser and other shows like it would not have their contestants doing 2 to 4 hours of cardio 6 days a week. True these shows are extreme but it still is testimony that cardio is not making anyone fat who is eating cleanly also.