cardio and fat burning

mormas

Hi all,

I read on one of the boards yesterday that cardio does not burn fat.

Cardio just burns calories (energy) and allows you to eat more. If you do not replenish the calories by eating them back, you will loose energy.

I need to weight train to gain muscle because that burns fat, gives shape and prevents squidgy bits.

Is this true?

I always believed (maybe naively) that you needed cardio to burn the fat and to help create a calorie deficeit so that your body would use fat stores to give you the energy.

So confused, can someone please advise me.

Thanks

ninerbuff

This is correct. Cardio (or any exercise for that matter) burns calories. Calorie deficit helps to burn STORED fat and resistance training helps to ensure that lean muscle is retained while on calorie deficit.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

jfan175

Cardio burns calories and has other health benefits. Weight training helps you preserve muscle when eating at a deficit (which is very important). Do both, and eat back your exercise calories so you net your calorie goal....and you can't go wrong. You'll also be much healthier.

porcelain_doll

This is correct. Cardio (or any exercise for that matter) burns calories. Calorie deficit helps to burn STORED fat and resistance training helps to ensure that lean muscle is retained while on calorie deficit.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Couldn't have put it any simpler.

bcattoes

Hi all,

I read on one of the boards yesterday that cardio does not burn fat.

Cardio just burns calories (energy) and allows you to eat more. If you do not replenish the calories by eating them back, you will loose energy.

If you don't give your body enough calories through food to produce enough energy for exercise (including cardio) it will draw upon it's reserves (fat) for that energy.

mowu

Cardio just burns calories (energy) and allows you to eat more. If you do not replenish the calories by eating them back, you will loose energy.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by losing energy - when you do not do not replenish the energy (calories) you've spent your body will turn to your stored energy (including fat deposits) and use those reserves to keep on going.

But cardio training does not do much in way of building or retaining muscle (except your heart....kind of goes with the cardio theme) - that's where resistance training comes in.

myofibril

I think you are getting confused because of the "fat burning zone".

When you exercise your body needs to find fuel to power itself. It does so from various sources to include stored fat. When you perform exercise at lower intensity (say 60% of your maximum heart rate) then it is true that your body burns a greater percentage of the energy you utilise (calories) from fat. However, that is not saying much as the amount of actual fat burned in any given workout is miniscule.

Long story short: do whatever exercise that racks up the most calorie overall for your individual strengths as Niner said above. For some people that may be long, low intensity cardio sessions. For others it maybe shorter, high intensity sessions. For others it may be a mixture of both.

However, never forget to include some sort of resistance training if your primary goals include looking good naked in the shortest amount of time and with the greatest efficiency.

cobaltis

Hi all,

I read on one of the boards yesterday that cardio does not burn fat.

Cardio just burns calories (energy) and allows you to eat more. If you do not replenish the calories by eating them back, you will loose energy.

I need to weight train to gain muscle because that burns fat, gives shape and prevents squidgy bits.

Is this true?

I always believed (maybe naively) that you needed cardio to burn the fat and to help create a calorie deficeit so that your body would use fat stores to give you the energy.

So confused, can someone please advise me.

Thanks

The only reason you will LOSE energy is if your calorie deficit is too extreme, your body will try to hang on to the stored fat resulting in that loss of energy.

shakybabe

Hi all,

I read on one of the boards yesterday that cardio does not burn fat.

Cardio just burns calories (energy) and allows you to eat more. If you do not replenish the calories by eating them back, you will loose energy.

If you don't give your body enough calories through food to produce enough energy for exercise (including cardio) it will draw upon it's reserves (fat) for that energy.

I don't get this either if I exercise after each meal burning the cals back off that I've just eaten, then surely I should be at a deficit and forcing body to find extra energy from stored fat? so if i eat 300 cals for lunch then exercise 316 I've burned off 300 of my lunch cals, if do same at teatime eating 600cal meal and burning off another 600 I should have only had 16 cals that could have been stored at fat, so if body needed BMR 1,216 for example (to keep it simple) it should have had to burn off already stored fat to give my body the other 1200cals to get through the day? ... weight should be dropping off me! .. but scales aren't budging!

TeaBea

Hi all,

I read on one of the boards yesterday that cardio does not burn fat.

Cardio just burns calories (energy) and allows you to eat more. If you do not replenish the calories by eating them back, you will loose energy.

If you don't give your body enough calories through food to produce enough energy for exercise (including cardio) it will draw upon it's reserves (fat) for that energy.

I don't get this either if I exercise after each meal burning the cals back off that I've just eaten, then surely I should be at a deficit and forcing body to find extra energy from stored fat? so if i eat 300 cals for lunch then exercise 316 I've burned off 300 of my lunch cals, if do same at teatime eating 600cal meal and burning off another 600 I should have only had 16 cals that could have been stored at fat, so if body needed BMR 1,216 for example (to keep it simple) it should have had to burn off already stored fat to give my body the other 1200cals to get through the day? ... weight should be dropping off me! .. but scales aren't budging!

I'm not sure if I'm understanding your post (forgive me if I've got it wrong). You are eating back your exercise calories because MFP does NOT assume that you will exercise (some people cannot). The calorie deficit is already built in BEFORE exercise.

Example: You eat 1800 calories .... you then burn off 600. This leaves you with a NET calorie amount of 1200. These 1200 calories are spoken for ....... your body uses this for everyday bodily functions. Your body cannot use stored fat (just 1 example) to build red blood cells. If you are trying to burn 1200 plus 600 .... then of course the scales are not budging. Your body is hanging on to every single calorie it gets.

MoveTheMountain

Hi all,

I read on one of the boards yesterday that cardio does not burn fat.

Cardio just burns calories (energy) and allows you to eat more. If you do not replenish the calories by eating them back, you will loose energy.

If you don't give your body enough calories through food to produce enough energy for exercise (including cardio) it will draw upon it's reserves (fat) for that energy.

I don't get this either if I exercise after each meal burning the cals back off that I've just eaten, then surely I should be at a deficit and forcing body to find extra energy from stored fat? so if i eat 300 cals for lunch then exercise 316 I've burned off 300 of my lunch cals, if do same at teatime eating 600cal meal and burning off another 600 I should have only had 16 cals that could have been stored at fat, so if body needed BMR 1,216 for example (to keep it simple) it should have had to burn off already stored fat to give my body the other 1200cals to get through the day? ... weight should be dropping off me! .. but scales aren't budging!

I'm not sure if I'm understanding your post (forgive me if I've got it wrong). You are eating back your exercise calories because MFP does NOT assume that you will exercise (some people cannot). The calorie deficit is already built in BEFORE exercise.

Example: You eat 1800 calories .... you then burn off 600. This leaves you with a NET calorie amount of 1200. These 1200 calories are spoken for ....... your body uses this for everyday bodily functions. Your body cannot use stored fat (just 1 example) to build red blood cells. If you are trying to burn 1200 plus 600 .... then of course the scales are not budging. Your body is hanging on to every single calorie it gets.

You might not want to eat back all your exercise calories. Some people can - and some people have to. But I, as an example, do much better if I don't eat back everything. I have a really efficient metabolism (to put it nicely...), and if I eat back all my calories, I don't make much progress.

You need to track it for yourself. Start by eating back most or all of your calories, and see how you feel. If you feel fatigued and hungry all the time, you need more food. If you're not making progress, then cut some more calories and see how that goes for another week. Continue to monitor and adjust.

Weight training is great because it increases your body's need for calories by requiring your body to repair itself after your workouts. The stronger your muscles get, the more calories they burn, and the easier it is to lose weight. There are plenty of people who do nothing but run and still make their goal weight, but it's pretty broadly accepted these days that the best approach is a mix of cardio and resistance training.