Too much cardio

delonda1

So I have been gaining weight back....not sure how..well I kinda know how haha. But Im getting back on track but I havent been eating too awful except the past week and I still can't get below 140 and actually somehow got back to 145 which is the devil to me at this point So i dont want to see that on the scale again.

I talked to my trainer and he made me write out day by day and told me I'm doing too much cardio? How can that be. I am still doing weights but he wants me to cut back the cardio...not sure if this will help. any suggestions?

FireBrand80

You should ask him.

Huffdogg

From a pure WEIGHT loss point that makes no sense whatsoever.

DominiqueSmall

Actually my trainer told me I should do more than 7 hours a week of cardio as well.

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

I can absolutely see where your trainer is coming from! And not doing as much cardio AND still seeing loss is totally the best! It really could just be that you aren't eating enough to sustain heavy weight training as well as heavy cardio. That's just my guess, but you could just ask him for an explanation

I know since I cut down on cardio and started heavy weights, I have seen a huge difference in my body and it's great because I don't have to bust my *kitten* nearly as much as with cardio only!

Good luck!

SARgirl

How much cardio do you do? Based on your diary I'm assuming you do not eat your exercise calories back? Maybe try that for a month or so, perhaps your body needs a little shake up with your calorie intake? Just some thoughts!

Mursenary

Cardio is still going to create muscle growth since you're excercising muscle groups. If you're calorie intake is still lower than your BMR with excercise adjusted, it might just be muscle mass that you're seeing. Weight also fluctuates greatly depending on when you weigh yourself, how much water you consume, etc. Or the scale itself might be off. Just some suggestions to consider

mynameiscarrie

do your clothes still fit? i've gained almost 15 pounds since january but i don't look much different (my goal weight was too low so i'm only trying to re-lose 5-10 of it--maybe). I know it's not all muscle obviously, but if it were fat i'd be getting bigger and i'm still fitting into my size 1 jeans... weight is a number that really isn't indicative of fitness...

Huffdogg

You're not building muscle mass doing oodles of cardio. Either your trainer is stupid, or he's trying to convince you to focus on the weight training so you'll look better and not worry about the number on the scale so much and he just isn't telling you what he's shooting for.

meeka472

It depends on the results you want. If you want to shrink down and lose fat but maintain muscle then you trainer is right you need to cut down on the cardio. What this means is that you will probably lose inches and look really smaller but you might not see the scale drop as fast as you like because you will be losing fat only (not muscle which is denser than fat).

Doing too much cardio could cause you to lose weight but some of that weight you lose will be muscle as well as fat.

bms34b

I have no idea about the cardio: I am currently working from a strength-training pov, but am by no means an expert on exersize or nutrition.

BUT, from experience, whenever I'm working out really hard or really stressing my body or mind, the best thing I can do is combine these few things:
1. Switch to walking as my work out. Low impact, doesn't stress out my muscles, but still has me moving around.
2. Drink way more water, and put cucumbers, citrus, and ginger in it! It's delicious and helps with inflammation.
3. Focus on eating way more fresh produce.

These things always help get my body back to reacting from my work-outs. My suggestion (from experience) would be to do these things for a week or so just to relax your body. Best of luck!

delonda1

As of now I am doing M, T , TH, FRI weight training... and insanity everyday on top of it... and sun is my off day. I do see a different im losing inches but the lbs arent coming off thats why i think i should be doing more cardio and cut a weight day off.

meeka472

As of now I am doing M, T , TH, FRI weight training... and insanity everyday on top of it... and sun is my off day. I do see a different im losing inches but the lbs arent coming off thats why i think i should be doing more cardio and cut a weight day off.

Honestly if you are losing inches then you shouldn't focus on the scale.

Kat120285

As of now I am doing M, T , TH, FRI weight training... and insanity everyday on top of it... and sun is my off day. I do see a different im losing inches but the lbs arent coming off thats why i think i should be doing more cardio and cut a weight day off.

Honestly you're still getting smaller if you're losing inches even if the scale isn't going down. If you're doing anything different in your routine the gain could be water with your muscles and body retaining fluid. I do weights on Mondays and Wednesdays and cardio 6 days a week. I don't count calories though, I eat when I'm hungry and don't eat when I'm not hungry or bored. I love cardio and how I feel after a good hour long stationary bike ride. Don't focus so much on the number the scale spits out and focus on how your body keeps changing and how your clothes fit =]

wolfpack77

The only thing I can think of is water weight. I only say this because l looked at your diet over the last week and your getting a lot of your calories from fats and carbs. You're missing your protein targets miserably.

Remember that when carbs are abundant, the liver and muscles become saturated with glycogen. This is good because it provides better energy for lifting and exercise, but glycogen is stored with water. Lots of water. For every 1 gram of glycogen, theres 3 grams of water.

This is why a lot of people notice an immediate weight loss of 5 lbs or so when switching to a low carb diet. That initial loss is not fat. Its water weight. Because of the shortage of carbohydrate in the diet, the body starts using up glycogen stores. Thus releasing a bunch of water weight. They also gain it right back when they carb back up. Just a guess.

Dont worry about it.

tigersword

Cardio is still going to create muscle growth since you're excercising muscle groups. If you're calorie intake is still lower than your BMR with excercise adjusted, it might just be muscle mass that you're seeing. Weight also fluctuates greatly depending on when you weigh yourself, how much water you consume, etc. Or the scale itself might be off. Just some suggestions to consider

Cardio does NOT cause muscle growth. You cannot overload muscles with cardio. Completely different concepts.

SARgirl

I did Insanity and lost about 2 pounds but lost inches. So you may not see a lot of weight loss results with that program. Plus if you are doing weight lifting on top of it you might not be eating enough?

Huffdogg

As of now I am doing M, T , TH, FRI weight training... and insanity everyday on top of it... and sun is my off day. I do see a different im losing inches but the lbs arent coming off thats why i think i should be doing more cardio and cut a weight day off.

Don't be silly. Throw your scale away. Eat ~1g per lb of bodyweight of protein every day. Eat at a small deficit. Watch the mirror, the tape measure, and the notches on your belt. Be patient.

myofibril

I talked to my trainer and he made me write out day by day and told me I'm doing too much cardio? How can that be. I am still doing weights but he wants me to cut back the cardio...not sure if this will help. any suggestions?

You can give it a go and see what happens.

For the reasoning see the following:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

Whilst I think cardio is an excellent weapon in a fat loss armoury a combination of excessive amounts and low calories lead to an inefficient fat loss environment.

DavPul

As of now I am doing M, T , TH, FRI weight training... and insanity everyday on top of it... and sun is my off day. I do see a different im losing inches but the lbs arent coming off thats why i think i should be doing more cardio and cut a weight day off.

Honestly if you are losing inches then you shouldn't focus on the scale.

What she said. PLUS, this is much much MUCH too much work. Insanity plus weight training equals overtraining. When you first said too much cardio I was thinking you were running 5-6 hours per week. That could be too much for the program you're on. But Insanity? Damn sure too much.

You're putting massive wear and tear on your body plus creating a calorie suck that just forces you to eat more. Detrimental to your progress and unsustainable when you hit goal. Stop. If you find that you must do something for that 55 mins per day take the other poster's suggestion and walk for an hour.

LisaWilson2012

You're not building muscle mass doing oodles of cardio. Either your trainer is stupid, or he's trying to convince you to focus on the weight training so you'll look better and not worry about the number on the scale so much and he just isn't telling you what he's shooting for.

HERE HERE!!

DavPul

You're not building muscle mass doing oodles of cardio. Either your trainer is stupid, or he's trying to convince you to focus on the weight training so you'll look better and not worry about the number on the scale so much and he just isn't telling you what he's shooting for.

See, that's what I was thinking, and then she replaced the word cardio with the word Insanity. I used to refer to Max Plyo as the Pushup Hell DVD. We weren't given all the information and we still don't know what the MT, ThF workout consists of. I totally defer to the trainer, who has the info and is actually in the room. There's a reason you are paying a PT, and if you aren't going to take his/her advice, why bother?

delonda1

Thanks guys!

Going to try to get my carb intake down and take another rest day. Maybe stop doing insanity and switch to running/walking in place of it. We will see

My lifting schedule is staying the same as I see a major difference dice starting it.