Cardio doesn't burn fat!!!

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  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    I do cardio so when zombies or a kidnapper chases after me, I can out run them. Seems beneficial to me.

    Outrunning zombies (or being faster than the guy they catch) seems highly beneficial to me too!

    I don't do any cardio because I don't like it and it's not necessary for my goals. That being said, regarding the bold, I do make it a habit to hang out with people who can't run very fast, just in case.....
  • red0801
    red0801 Posts: 283 Member
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    Gee. I hope I don't evoke pity from my mfp friends when they see my cardio:(

    Ditto...wow to think I've wasted my life away feeling good about myself & allowing myself the opportunity to broaden my horizons.
  • stefa711
    stefa711 Posts: 196 Member
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    can't we all just get along

    The more I post on MFP, the more I realize that there are some very angry, strongly opinionated people on the Internet! lol.
  • red0801
    red0801 Posts: 283 Member
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    [/quote]
    \ I do make it a habit to hang out with people who can't run very fast, just in case.....
    [/quote]

    Now that's funny!!
  • SydneyBurden
    SydneyBurden Posts: 2 Member
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    yes having more muscle burns more fat then someone with less muscle, but you're still bound to burn calories and lose weight since cardio keeps your heart rate (which burns the most calories). even in weight lifting, its beneficial to take jump roping breaks to keep your heart rate up to burn more calories and allow blood to flow to the muscles you're using to lift.

    anyway, i believe that cardio does create a large calorie deficit when pared with low calorie clean eating, you you will deff lose weight (fat and muscle) so its important to add some strengh training.

    but the more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn at rest. even after a strength training session its proven that you will burn more calories hours after your workout.

    but dont knock cardio. im a fat girl and i love low impact cardio like biking and the treadmill (where i find my runners high)

    the more i run, ill lose weight. cardio is worth it, promise.
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    I do cardio so when zombies or a kidnapper chases after me, I can out run them. Seems beneficial to me.
    Just hit them over the head with a shovel. That's what I do because my arms are strong from weight training. :wink:
    The word you're looking for is masochistic. I've not heard of many cardio sadists, though that would be interesting.
    I guess you don't know many Zumba instructors.
    Does cardio burn cake?
    Ovens burn cake.

    I enjoy weight training and cardio and see benefits in both.

    I enjoy donuts. And bacon.

    (But not ice cream. Instant gut death for more than 1/2 a cup.)
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    Myths Under The Microscope Part 1: The Low Intensity Fat Burning Zone
    In acute trials, fat oxidation during exercise tends to be higher in low-intensity treatments, but postexercise fat oxidation and/or energy expenditure tends to be higher in high-intensity treatments


    http://www.thebodygenesis.com/myths-under-the-microscope-part-1-the-low-intensity-fat-burning-zone/
    THANK YOU! This whole “fat burning zone” drives me insane.
    And cardio can burn fat...it just tends to burn muscle first.
    No it doesn't. The only exception would be someone who has been starving for an extended time with bodyfat close to 0%.
    If their body fat was close to 0%, they'd be dead.

    Muscle starts to get burned as body fat gets lower but it gets burned a lot higher percentage than 0. Essential body fat in women is around 10-12% and men is 5-6% or so they say and studies of starvation show that muscles start getting burned preferentially to fat as body fat approaches those values.

    However, studies of weight loss in the obese show that significant weight loss almost always includes some muscle loss and that is well before they get to essential body fat % (which most never do). Most likely this is because obese people often have more muscle than you'd think because they need it carry around that excess weight. As the excess weight goes away, the muscle isn't used so the body figures "hey, I can use this for energy too!"

    Strength training can really help with that but only up to a point.
    HIIT will burn some fat but a much smaller proportion of fat compared to low intensity. The downside to low intensity is that it takes time to reach a high calorie burn (if that's your aim).
    Quick Google search shows someone doing 30 mins at 60% max heartrate burns 63% fat, at 80% max heartrate this drops to 33%.
    It's a smaller percentage but because the total calories are so much more sometimes it's actually more calories. The actual break even number varies but for many exercises you actually burn more absolute calories from fat when you are in a much higher zone.

    For example:

    Do something in your "fat burning zone" for 20 min that burns about 100 calories (say a slow walk if you are very out of shape or a jog if you are in better shape), 60% from fat. That's 60 from fat. Then do some HIIT for 20 min, burn 300 calories, 30% from fat. That's 90 are from fat. So 20 min of HIIT will burn more calories from fat than 20 min. of exercising in your "fat burning zone".

    And that's just while you do the exercise. Your body is burning a combination of stored glycogen (carbs), stored fat, the food you eat, etc. all the time. All that changes is the percentage. If you burn off your glycogen stores during the day, your body will burn fat while you sleep so it can put them back. So it may not be burning the fat the exact second you are exercising, but it will burn it eventually as long as you don't eat the those calories. (As the above link explains.)
    When your heart rate is too high for too long, you burn muscle. I need to double check this, but pretty sure this is accurate.

    Being at target "fat burning" heart rate is one reason for heart rate monitors'

    Yeah, not so much.

    You don’t burn “muscle”. You deplete the glycogen from your muscles. Glycogen is just stored carbs (essentially). And guess what? Your body just puts it back. Not muscles are harmed in this actions.

    And all this “training in your heart rate zones” is mostly completely garbage because the average person has NO IDEA what their actual heart rate zones are. There is NO FORMULA that will tell you. You have to be tested. The most accurate test is a cardiac stress test and insurance isn’t going to pay for one just because you want to train in your heart rate zones. :wink:

    I had one for other reasons, btw, and my maximum heart rate is 20 points higher than that stupid 220 - your age formula that everyone uses.
  • bunny1006
    bunny1006 Posts: 325 Member
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    The word you're looking for is masochistic. I've not heard of many cardio sadists, though that would be interesting.

    Nah, we're sadists. I want to do cardio and MAKE those weightlifters look at my sweaty face and my wobbly *kitten* bouncing up and down as I run.

    That's the sadistic part.

    LMBO!!!!!
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    The people who say heart rate training zones are meaningless don't know what they're talking about and don't have any understanding of training aerobic and anaerobic energy systems.

    Muscle does not get burned preferentially at all if there is still fat or glycogen in the body.

    Hint: Ignore everything you read on this subject from strength training websites.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    I do cardio so when zombies or a kidnapper chases after me, I can out run them. Seems beneficial to me.

    Outrunning zombies (or being faster than the guy they catch) seems highly beneficial to me too!

    I don't do any cardio because I don't like it and it's not necessary for my goals. That being said, regarding the bold, I do make it a habit to hang out with people who can't run very fast, just in case.....

    You can never be too careful. Hold on while I get my 2500 calorie Thw Walking Dead feast ready. After which I will go straight to bed abd most deffinately wake up fat.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Did someone mention pop tarts and ice cream?
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,735 Member
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    i linked a "sorry babe, no cardio" graphic here that i found on google and was immediately notified that my computer was attacked by the site that hosted it. my firewall blocked it, but be warned that anything on wtfgym.com is probably there to lure you in so they can attack your computer. insert swear word here.
  • shelbiiii
    shelbiiii Posts: 24
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    I LOVE CARDIO!!!!!!!
  • shelbiiii
    shelbiiii Posts: 24
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    Doing Cardio is better than doing nothing! Lifting weights is better than doing nothing!

    TRUTH.
  • Pamko57
    Pamko57 Posts: 182
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    I will say this about that: I will never, ever, unless I am completely disabled NOT be able to 60 minutes of cardio. I'm doing 50 to 55 minutes now, basically to blast calories. I don't eat them back. Maybe it doesn't burn fat, but how could cardio be a bad thing?

    My reason, however, is that my step-mother died, essentially, because she was unable to do cardio. She needed lifesaving surgery when she was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. But her doctor wouldn't perform the surgery until she could walk 2 miles. Yes, she might have died anyway, but I'm convinced the surgery would have prolonged her life to some extent.

    And I just won't be in a position that I can't have a surgery until I build cardio strength.

    That said, I'd have changed doctors, but she didn't, and the whole situation cost her life.
  • SwimFan1981
    SwimFan1981 Posts: 1,430 Member
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    I lost 5 stone (70lbs) through cardio, my BF% reduced from 40% to 25%. It worked for me :bigsmile:
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    I lost 5 stone (70lbs) through cardio, my BF% reduced from 40% to 25%. It worked for me :bigsmile:
    How much of that was muscle?
  • melindanew
    melindanew Posts: 150 Member
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    An assertion made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

    That's a good line. I'm gonna have to remember that one.

    He who asserts, proves.

    That's a good one, too. :)
  • moontyrant
    moontyrant Posts: 160 Member
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    If anyone can show me a single reliable scientific study showing that aerobics help burn significantly more fat than dieting alone, I'll never make another forum post ever again. Srs.

    From the National Library of Medicine http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_132293.html
    Study by the Journal of Applied Physiology http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/17/cardio-burns-more-fat-than-weight-lifting/

    I will not waste my time reading through any study where the diet of the subjects was not controlled. Yet again you miss the whole point of my post.

    Are you mad?
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    I lost 5 stone (70lbs) through cardio, my BF% reduced from 40% to 25%. It worked for me :bigsmile:
    How much of that was muscle?
    I love algebra. In order for all of it to have been fat, she would have needed to start at 350 pounds with (60%) 210 lbs of lean body mass and (40%) 140 lbs of fat. Losing 70 pounds of fat from there would leave her at 280 with 210 lbs lean body mass and 70 lbs of fat giving 25% BF.

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