Cardio make you fat???

DavPul

I didn't realize you looked down your nose at people that train to look good. It may be beneath you, but yeah, I do hope to look good. I'm gonna pass on your suggestion of lipo and implants though. I thoroughly enjoy working to get mine and won't be taking any shortcuts.

No one is denying that different goals require different training. Just the opposite. If you want to be a runner, then go run. But if you want to look like a fitness model, then train like a fitness model. We're just trying to help people understand that a ton of cardio does indeed make it difficult to build muscle and strength. And cardio isn't the best way for people that are going for a certain type of muscular/fit/toned look to get there.

Kara_xxx

I didn't realize you looked down your nose at people that train to look good. It may be beneath you, but yeah, I do hope to look good. I'm gonna pass on your suggestion of lipo and implants though. I thoroughly enjoy working to get mine and won't be taking any shortcuts.

Of course most of us want to be attractive.

I think it's more a case of having some respect for a competitive athlete like Isla Paulson, who runs a 2:31:49 Marathon, not be be slated as anorexic or ugly next to some barbie girl. She doesn't deserve that!

amyy902

thats a stupid thing for them to have said. running wont make you fat, im a personal trainer, and im a serious runner. im far from fat.

maybe the trainer thinks your going to make yourself realllly hungry and then go eat a lot of 'trashy bad' foods.....

but thats seriously a crazy thing for them to have said.

auroranflash

Cardio burns calories. There is no way burning calories can make you fat. The opposite is more likely to happen.

Seriously, WTF are these trainers on? I have had trainers tell me that drinking 1 beer every night of the week is dietary disaster. Eating six times a day is golden, but five times a day will ruin you. Stay within your target heart rate, because if your heart beats 1 second out of time, your waist will explode.

Can we please get rid of all this diet magic BS. Eat less than you expend. That means over BMR and below TDEE. It's not magic, people. It's fact. WHY U NO STUDY LOGIC.

tlo5

I've never heard of that one. I have lost most of my weight running. That is how I started my training, but I also include circuit training now with my runs.

Kara_xxx

Have any of you actually read the articles that have been linked? :huh:

Kara_xxx

I have been training for various things and taking part in a wide range of sports for the last 20 years or so.

Normally I mix it up and it's something like 20% endurance cardio, 20% fitness cardio, 40% strength and 20% flexibility.

Then I trained for an Ironman triathlon, where due to the vast distances involved the training was at least 80% steady state cardio, and guess what -- you get flabby, regardless of the hours you put it!!

No HIIT, no strength training, ... no muscle tone!

Bobby_Clerici

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?

Yes, it's best to balance your cardio with resistance, or you will run into issues in terms of results.
This applies to those who are doing low intensity for hours to offset bad eating or whatever.
Your body responds by keeping fat and burning muscle.

Balance is key, and though cardio is great, like anything positive, it becomes a negative if over-done.
Maybe that's what your trainer meant - who knows....

Bobby_Clerici

I have been training for various things and taking part in a wide range of sports for the last 20 years or so.

Normally I mix it up and it's something like 20% endurance cardio, 20% fitness cardio, 40% strength and 20% flexibility.

Then I trained for an Ironman triathlon, where due to the vast distances involved the training was at least 80% steady state cardio, and guess what -- you get flabby, regardless of the hours you put it!!

No HIIT, no strength training, ... no muscle tone!

^^^^^^^^
THIS

myfitnessnmhoy

I'm not suggesting that cardio makes you fat, by the way, just that if truly being "fit", rather than "skinny" is your goal, doing only cardio and no strength training is NOT the way to go. To the OP, I think that may have been the point your trainer was trying to make. Take a look at these photos and decide which body you want to strive for yourself:

Stick woman:


Fit woman:

Depends on my goals. If I wanted a realistic chance of competing in long-distance running at an elite level, the first body accomplishes the goal more effectively. If I wanted a body that looks fantastic and is attuned to all-around function, I'd tend toward the second look.

I'm a bicyclist (commute about 30 miles in hilly terrain daily) but I still lift heavy and try to strengthen my core and do upper-body workouts. Why? Because I also use my body for other things, cycling is not my profession, and I will never compete at an elite level in cycling. I'm OK with taking an extra 30-40 seconds climbing that 1/4 mile 3% grade on my way to work. I'm not racing anyone.

But if cycling was my profession or I wanted to race at any sort of a serious level, that would be incompatible with having a lot of extra weight.

In fitness, one size does not fit all.

blonde71

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

^^^^This x2.

Topsking2010

Bump for later!!!

porcelain_doll

LOL..... sorry, that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time. Wow. Is the trainer hurting for business? "Those machines will make you fat, but I will make you skinny!"

porcelain_doll

Cardio burns calories. There is no way burning calories can make you fat. The opposite is more likely to happen.

Seriously, WTF are these trainers on? I have had trainers tell me that drinking 1 beer every night of the week is dietary disaster. Eating six times a day is golden, but five times a day will ruin you. Stay within your target heart rate, because if your heart beats 1 second out of time, your waist will explode.

Can we please get rid of all this diet magic BS. Eat less than you expend. That means over BMR and below TDEE. It's not magic, people. It's fact. WHY U NO STUDY LOGIC.

^ This.

futuremalestripper

I smell some broscience



Edit: I also know women who ONLY do cardio and they do NOT look like that stick photo posted above.
Too much broscience and stereotyping here, too little reality.

Elf_Princess1210

Only if you eat McDonald's double quarter pounder meals 6 times a day and then run. My point: if you don't create a calorie deficit through diet then you're not going to see results.

Bobby_Clerici

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

^^^^This x2.

Sorry, but you always lose some muscle any time you reduce weight .
I hate this, but ever pound lost is part fat and part muscle unless the subject is juicing roids.
It's part of the reason I am disconnected about further weight loss.
I feel I am losing strength.

Lainnee

Save to read later.....lots to decipher!

Bobby_Clerici

I'm not suggesting that cardio makes you fat, by the way, just that if truly being "fit", rather than "skinny" is your goal, doing only cardio and no strength training is NOT the way to go. To the OP, I think that may have been the point your trainer was trying to make. Take a look at these photos and decide which body you want to strive for yourself:

Stick woman:


Fit woman:

Depends on my goals. If I wanted a realistic chance of competing in long-distance running at an elite level, the first body accomplishes the goal more effectively. If I wanted a body that looks fantastic and is attuned to all-around function, I'd tend toward the second look.

I'm a bicyclist (commute about 30 miles in hilly terrain daily) but I still lift heavy and try to strengthen my core and do upper-body workouts. Why? Because I also use my body for other things, cycling is not my profession, and I will never compete at an elite level in cycling. I'm OK with taking an extra 30-40 seconds climbing that 1/4 mile 3% grade on my way to work. I'm not racing anyone.

But if cycling was my profession or I wanted to race at any sort of a serious level, that would be incompatible with having a lot of extra weight.

In fitness, one size does not fit all.

Performance athletes may not win the beauty contest, but they always win the race.
Personally, my goals are more oriented toward performance than making me pretty like Tom Cruise.
And I will never understand those riod guys who train and train just to parade themselves on a stage flexing.
That I will never get.
Whatever, to each his own.
Health and fitness is about living long, looking good and feeling great.
That's what we all want no matter our personal goals.

bobie1978

I think that only cardio makes you fat. I think that if you don't combine it with weight training you will have a higher percentage of fat. I was only 10 pounds away from my goal and basically only did cardio but my fat % was high. The PT at my gym couldn't tell me why at the time, now I know from here. I love cardio and I honestly don't think it will hurt by doing what you like to do but to get the right balance add strength.