Could this be right???

Just_loose_it · September 2012

I went to the trainer yesterday and he told me i was doing way too much cardio......I know that part. I run for 1 hour-2 on the treadmill that get on an eliptical for an hour and weight train 30min 3X a week. When I told him this he looked at me in disbelief...I do not look like I exercise at all let alone that much! He said doing that much cadio is useless-you only need to reach you target heart rate. He suggested me do 1 day of cardio for 30 min...following that with every other day weight-traing (will that not make me big???). I did not want to argue the fact because he is a professional but I heard at lease 3X a week moderate exercise is what you need. I can see more weights being added but will I not gain weight exercising so liittle? I know I had to cut the cardio but I would have said an hour a day 5X a week to loose weight???? Anybody on this schedule????? It seems really weird to me......I will also have a problem giving all my cardio up because I enjoy it sooo much and that is my stress reliever. I need some thoughts please! :happy:

mjsunshine16 · September 2012

http://www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts.asp?q=69

Is it possible to do too much cardio?

It is possible to do too much cardio. What counts as "too much" is different for everyone, and depends on a lot of factors, including the intensity of your exercise, your fitness level, how much activity you do each day, how much you eat, your health status, your fitness goals, etc.

Usually, 60-90 minutes of cardio is safe for most people, as long as…
You aren't elevating your heart rate above 80% (of your max) the whole time
You are eating enough carbohydrates every day to replace the fuel you are using up.

Your body perceives exercise as a stressor, and chemically reacts the same way it does to "bad" stress. Therefore, too much exercise can have negative effects on your metabolism the same way that eating too few calories can. In addition, too much cardio exercise can result in muscle loss, which is not the outcome you want.

SparkPeople's experts recommend taking at least one day off from the cardio during the week—just as a mental health day, if nothing else. It's easy to become compulsive about exercise, and having a day off is a good way to stay away from that. If it really makes you nervous or uncomfortable NOT to exercise, you could be heading for trouble.

If you see signs of general fatigue, irritability, sleep problems, physical soreness, or if your workouts start feeling harder than before, you'll probably need to rest from cardio more than one day.

To learn more about the symptoms of overtraining, read No Pain = BIG Gain.

omma_to_3 · September 2012

I don't believe there is 'too much cardio' if you're also doing weight training. If you're concerned, or apparently it isn't giving you the results you want, add in more weight work and take the cardio back a bit. But, you enjoy it, it's good for you, and it helps you relieve stress? Keep doing it. I only do cardio right now (yeah yeah, I know, I keep saying I'll start strength training and just haven't done it yet!) and I do 5 days a week 40 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on if I'm running or biking.

mfpcopine · September 2012

There was an article in today's New York Times that discussed a study of Swedish (?) men in their 20s and 30s who were heavy but not obese. The control group, which did no exercise, remained the same weight. A group of heavy exercisers (60 minutes a day of cardio), lost weight, but not as much as the group who engaged in moderate exercise (30 minutes of cardio).

One theory is that the people who exercised heavily were tired from the exertion, and did little else during the day, while the moderate exercisers had energy left for other things.

I believe the study lasted only 13 weeks.

I think I'd be concerned about overuse injuries if I did as much cardio as you do and were overweight. Do you think it's helping?

Calorie reduction is still the most important part of weight loss.

LorinaLynn · September 2012

Strength training has only make me smaller and tighter.

My cardio is running 3x a week, usually 3-5 miles, sometimes a little more, and strength training for about 30-60 minutes 3x a week. It's plenty.

jwallner04 · September 2012

I do very little cardio. I started doing Chalean extreme in May. I only do the lifting workouts though and haven't noticed that it's made me big and bulky. I've got nice definition in my arms and I've noticed everything else is slimming down nicely as well. Now...I hate cardio. I'd much rather workout 3X a week for about 30 minutes and get good results VS. doing my lifting 3X and cardio 2-3X a week.

monty619 · September 2012

the trainer has point... if aesthetics is the goal then cardio can be a waste of time in a way... 1. cardio its not useless 2. the benefits are EXTREMELY important for health purposes. 3. Some people love to run because they get that endorphine rush... by all means you should keep doing cardio...

however, if you complain about why you are not losing any more weight, or not getting leaner and keep adding cardio because of it then you are going in the wrong direction. the main focus should be weight training ( or other anaerobic exercise) and your diet. the more steady state cardio you do such as jogging the better cardiovascular shape you will get in (which is good) but over time you will burn less calories every time you step on the treadmil... there is also the stress factor of running all the time which can inhibit weight loss without proper recovery if you do not eat enough food.

how i approach cardio is that when i cut i try to get as lean as i can i diet and strength train until my weightloss is slowing down without doing any cardio and once the weight loss starts to slow i start to add the stair master, treadmil, and sprints... i find that HIIT works well because the body has a hard time adjusting to max effort training and you wont plateau in that regard.. cardio should be an afterthought for getting lean and should not be a priority above DIET and resistance training. at my max amount of cardio i was doing sprints 2x a week and stairmaster 30min 4 days a week.. to me anything more than 45min of cardio is just a waste of time.

(also when im off a cut and want to gain weight again i still do cardio in order to not make my caloric surplus so great because of the amounts of cardio i was doing to get lean eventually i taper it off.)

in conclusion if you like running for 1-2 hours thenkeep doing it becasue the health benefits and psychological benefits are great.. however if you are at a plateau and are frustrated with results i suggest you re-assess your approach to weight loss... try doing sprits outdoors for cardio and see how you like that for a change, but i would agree ith your trainer that doing 1-2 hours of cardio THEN going to an eliptical is way overkill.

Could this be right???

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