So you want a nice stomach

4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

Err... what? Cardio sessions do not add "much" to the calorie burn for the week? Hard to take the OP seriously after reading that

4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

Err... what? Cardio sessions do not add "much" to the calorie burn for the week? Hard to take the OP seriously after reading that

The core of your argument here is completely flawed. OP said cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week.

You appear to have completely misinterpreted that to mean cardiovascular activity itself does not burn calories. You've then carried on for several exchanges with wild insulting accusations about ignorance, bro science, and all sorts of crazy crap.

Nice work, solid troll. Surprised anyone is paying any attention to you.

4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

Err... what? Cardio sessions do not add "much" to the calorie burn for the week? Hard to take the OP seriously after reading that

Would you like to know why I said I personally only do a limited amount of cardio?

.
.
.

I'm not saying that we don't burn calories doing cardio, but monitoring our intake is FAR more important.

I agree that diet and exercise are both required in order to succeed in the weight loss. Furthermore you are absolutely correct that monitoring your diet far more important.

However that is completely besides the point, which is that the OP is factually incorrect and is essentially spouting broscience "Cardio killz gainz lolz" nonsense.

I do 5 x 1hour elliptical per week and the remaining two days I go for a nice walk just to get the heart rate going a bit. That's approx. 6000 calories in just cardio per week for me. It is ludicrous to suggest that is an insignificant amount of calories.

I stand by my statement that it's hard to take the OP seriously when I know for a fact that his point 4 is just broscience wrong.

Also it is worth noting that the current accepted math is 1 pound of muscle burns 6-10 calories per day at rest. So if you gained 20 pounds of muscle you would burn an extra ~120-200 calories per day. You understand how hard it is to gain 20 pounds of muscle naturally? I just laugh out at the stupidity.

Please everyone take the OP with a grain of salt and keep doing your cardio.

What the Hell's going on here?!? Nah forget all that

usmcmp I just wanted to say Congrats on the sticky! Great post, WHAT!!

Thank you! I wrote it back in January and was shocked to find out it was a sticky this morning!

4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

Err... what? Cardio sessions do not add "much" to the calorie burn for the week? Hard to take the OP seriously after reading that

Would you like to know why I said I personally only do a limited amount of cardio?

It's because my entire life I have been told that the way to lose weight is to go run. I was never told to eat less, just go run. As I have learned it's impossible to out run a bad diet. Even more than that if you are carefully monitoring food intake (like you would on a calorie counting website such as this) then cardio is great for the heart, but absolutely unnecessary for fat loss because you can create a calorie deficit through diet alone.

This post is to show others that they don't have to go run every day to get a nice stomach or lose belly fat. The main objectors to the point about cardio and enjoying some treats are women in their 40's or 50's who have been lead to believe that cardio and clean eating is essential for fat loss.

I'm not saying that we don't burn calories doing cardio, but monitoring our intake is FAR more important.

I agree that diet and exercise are both required in order to succeed in the weight loss. Furthermore you are absolutely correct that monitoring your diet far more important.

However that is completely besides the point, which is that the OP is factually incorrect and is essentially spouting broscience "Cardio killz gainz lolz" nonsense.

I do 5 x 1hour elliptical per week and the remaining two days I go for a nice walk just to get the heart rate going a bit. That's approx. 6000 calories in just cardio per week for me. It is ludicrous to suggest that is an insignificant amount of calories.

I stand by my statement that it's hard to take the OP seriously when I know for a fact that his point 4 is just broscience wrong.

Also it is worth noting that the current accepted math is 1 pound of muscle burns 6-10 calories per day at rest. So if you gained 20 pounds of muscle you would burn an extra ~120-200 calories per day. You understand how hard it is to gain 20 pounds of muscle naturally? I just laugh out at the stupidity.

Please everyone take the OP with a grain of salt and keep doing your cardio.

I am the OP (I am also a woman, not a man as you indicated) and just because you don't agree with one point (in which I said I personally) doesn't mean that any of my post is invalid. Feel free to do more cardio. That point was about how I personally do things and had success with. I have gone from obese to competitive bodybuilder and I personally do not do more than an hour of cardio total in a week (which comes out to a total of around 500 calories since my body has become efficient at cardio).

Also, most people don't have an hour to spend doing cardio 5 days a week like you do. In general many people have 30-45 minutes 4-5 days a week to workout. If they just do cardio and no resistance training they will be losing lean body mass in the long run. I don't say that because "cardio kills gains" as you put it, but as you lose weight you lose fat mass and lean mass (generally the body is organ sparing, so we can assume that a large portion of that lean mass is muscle). The greater your calorie deficit (through diet or cardio) the more likely you are to burn lean mass. Resistance training assists in retaining lean mass.

Nowhere in my post did I claim that someone who is lifting weights will gain 20 pounds of lean mass (I have achieved 20 pound lean mass gains in the last two years naturally as a woman). Although people won't gain tons of muscle, they will spare their muscle through resistance training. Why is that important? Because when you get closer to your goal body composition matters. You aren't there yet, but when you get to your goal and maintain it for over a year I'd like to have this talk again.

Edited to paste the rest of what I wrote back into my above reply since he edited it out and I feel that it is important.

(sorry I didn't realise you were the OP)

Now you are backtracking and trying to qualify your blanket point 4 with many if-then-butts. Now you are bringing up things like

1) Me personally
2) Time poor
3) Greater calorie deficit = more lean mass loss (what??)
4) Body gets efficient

None or some or all may apply to random Joe. Your blanket statement to avoid or minimize cardio is absurd. Most people who could loose weight could also stand to get fitter. If walking from the car park to the mall gets you out of breath - Do cardio as much as possible. Get your heart rate up.

You are misleading people. I followed your advice I would be lose about 5000 calories burnt each week (if I restricted myself to 1 hours of cardio a week). That's about a pound and a half or almost a kilogram of weight loss less per week. No thank you.

I appreciate that you have a different view. You are correct that some people should probably perform additional cardio because their current cardiovascular condition is below the normal range. I am not misleading people by encouraging them to view the bigger picture and minimize lean mass loss early by eating protein and including resistance training while not over doing cardio. If I followed your advice I would lose lean mass. That proves that no blanket statements are correct, which is why when I made the point of mentioning cardio I said what I personally do. I did not tell people to only do that amount, which is what you read into it. The point was to show people that hours of cardio are not necessary to have a nice stomach.

I have done no backtracking on this issue. I have explained further exactly what I meant. I understand that you read into what I said in your own way and I have attempted to explain further that the section on cardio is how I did it.

You have found a way that is currently working for you and that is great. What I outlined worked great for me and many others I know personally. We have lost weight and kept it off, which is the ultimate marker of a successful plan. I know people who do zero cardio and have incredible physiques (as well as excellent health markers and highly athletic VO2 max, since weight lifting does improve cardiovascular funtion as linked twice earlier in this thread).

We will all find our own ways to lose fat and keep it off. I have shared mine in this post. If you would like to share how you have been successful please feel free to start your own thread outlining what you did and how that has worked long term. As for now I feel I have fully addressed why I stated my personal preference in my OP.

4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

Err... what? Cardio sessions do not add "much" to the calorie burn for the week? Hard to take the OP seriously after reading that

Would you like to know why I said I personally only do a limited amount of cardio?

It's because my entire life I have been told that the way to lose weight is to go run. I was never told to eat less, just go run. As I have learned it's impossible to out run a bad diet. Even more than that if you are carefully monitoring food intake (like you would on a calorie counting website such as this) then cardio is great for the heart, but absolutely unnecessary for fat loss because you can create a calorie deficit through diet alone.

This post is to show others that they don't have to go run every day to get a nice stomach or lose belly fat. The main objectors to the point about cardio and enjoying some treats are women in their 40's or 50's who have been lead to believe that cardio and clean eating is essential for fat loss.

I'm not saying that we don't burn calories doing cardio, but monitoring our intake is FAR more important.

I agree that diet and exercise are both required in order to succeed in the weight loss. Furthermore you are absolutely correct that monitoring your diet far more important.

However that is completely besides the point, which is that the OP is factually incorrect and is essentially spouting broscience "Cardio killz gainz lolz" nonsense.

I do 5 x 1hour elliptical per week and the remaining two days I go for a nice walk just to get the heart rate going a bit. That's approx. 6000 calories in just cardio per week for me. It is ludicrous to suggest that is an insignificant amount of calories.

I stand by my statement that it's hard to take the OP seriously when I know for a fact that his point 4 is just broscience wrong.

Also it is worth noting that the current accepted math is 1 pound of muscle burns 6-10 calories per day at rest. So if you gained 20 pounds of muscle you would burn an extra ~120-200 calories per day. You understand how hard it is to gain 20 pounds of muscle naturally? I just laugh out at the stupidity.

Please everyone take the OP with a grain of salt and keep doing your cardio.

I am the OP (I am also a woman, not a man as you indicated) and just because you don't agree with one point (in which I said I personally) doesn't mean that any of my post is invalid. Feel free to do more cardio. That point was about how I personally do things and had success with. I have gone from obese to competitive bodybuilder and I personally do not do more than an hour of cardio total in a week (which comes out to a total of around 500 calories since my body has become efficient at cardio).

Also, most people don't have an hour to spend doing cardio 5 days a week like you do. In general many people have 30-45 minutes 4-5 days a week to workout. If they just do cardio and no resistance training they will be losing lean body mass in the long run. I don't say that because "cardio kills gains" as you put it, but as you lose weight you lose fat mass and lean mass (generally the body is organ sparing, so we can assume that a large portion of that lean mass is muscle). The greater your calorie deficit (through diet or cardio) the more likely you are to burn lean mass. Resistance training assists in retaining lean mass.

Nowhere in my post did I claim that someone who is lifting weights will gain 20 pounds of lean mass (I have achieved 20 pound lean mass gains in the last two years naturally as a woman). Although people won't gain tons of muscle, they will spare their muscle through resistance training. Why is that important? Because when you get closer to your goal body composition matters. You aren't there yet, but when you get to your goal and maintain it for over a year I'd like to have this talk again.

Edited to paste the rest of what I wrote back into my above reply since he edited it out and I feel that it is important.

4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

Err... what? Cardio sessions do not add "much" to the calorie burn for the week? Hard to take the OP seriously after reading that

Would you like to know why I said I personally only do a limited amount of cardio?

It's because my entire life I have been told that the way to lose weight is to go run. I was never told to eat less, just go run. As I have learned it's impossible to out run a bad diet. Even more than that if you are carefully monitoring food intake (like you would on a calorie counting website such as this) then cardio is great for the heart, but absolutely unnecessary for fat loss because you can create a calorie deficit through diet alone.

This post is to show others that they don't have to go run every day to get a nice stomach or lose belly fat. The main objectors to the point about cardio and enjoying some treats are women in their 40's or 50's who have been lead to believe that cardio and clean eating is essential for fat loss.

I'm not saying that we don't burn calories doing cardio, but monitoring our intake is FAR more important.

I agree that diet and exercise are both required in order to succeed in the weight loss. Furthermore you are absolutely correct that monitoring your diet far more important.

However that is completely besides the point, which is that the OP is factually incorrect and is essentially spouting broscience "Cardio killz gainz lolz" nonsense.

I do 5 x 1hour elliptical per week and the remaining two days I go for a nice walk just to get the heart rate going a bit. That's approx. 6000 calories in just cardio per week for me. It is ludicrous to suggest that is an insignificant amount of calories.

I stand by my statement that it's hard to take the OP seriously when I know for a fact that his point 4 is just broscience wrong.

Also it is worth noting that the current accepted math is 1 pound of muscle burns 6-10 calories per day at rest. So if you gained 20 pounds of muscle you would burn an extra ~120-200 calories per day. You understand how hard it is to gain 20 pounds of muscle naturally? I just laugh out at the stupidity.

Please everyone take the OP with a grain of salt and keep doing your cardio.

I am the OP (I am also a woman, not a man as you indicated) and just because you don't agree with one point (in which I said I personally) doesn't mean that any of my post is invalid. Feel free to do more cardio. That point was about how I personally do things and had success with. I have gone from obese to competitive bodybuilder and I personally do not do more than an hour of cardio total in a week (which comes out to a total of around 500 calories since my body has become efficient at cardio).

Also, most people don't have an hour to spend doing cardio 5 days a week like you do. In general many people have 30-45 minutes 4-5 days a week to workout. If they just do cardio and no resistance training they will be losing lean body mass in the long run. I don't say that because "cardio kills gains" as you put it, but as you lose weight you lose fat mass and lean mass (generally the body is organ sparing, so we can assume that a large portion of that lean mass is muscle). The greater your calorie deficit (through diet or cardio) the more likely you are to burn lean mass. Resistance training assists in retaining lean mass.

Nowhere in my post did I claim that someone who is lifting weights will gain 20 pounds of lean mass (I have achieved 20 pound lean mass gains in the last two years naturally as a woman). Although people won't gain tons of muscle, they will spare their muscle through resistance training. Why is that important? Because when you get closer to your goal body composition matters. You aren't there yet, but when you get to your goal and maintain it for over a year I'd like to have this talk again.

Edited to paste the rest of what I wrote back into my above reply since he edited it out and I feel that it is important.

I personally find long cardio sessions boring and also do not do over 15 min of cardio a few days per week (max effort)

4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

Err... what? Cardio sessions do not add "much" to the calorie burn for the week? Hard to take the OP seriously after reading that

Would you like to know why I said I personally only do a limited amount of cardio?

It's because my entire life I have been told that the way to lose weight is to go run. I was never told to eat less, just go run. As I have learned it's impossible to out run a bad diet. Even more than that if you are carefully monitoring food intake (like you would on a calorie counting website such as this) then cardio is great for the heart, but absolutely unnecessary for fat loss because you can create a calorie deficit through diet alone.

This post is to show others that they don't have to go run every day to get a nice stomach or lose belly fat. The main objectors to the point about cardio and enjoying some treats are women in their 40's or 50's who have been lead to believe that cardio and clean eating is essential for fat loss.

I'm not saying that we don't burn calories doing cardio, but monitoring our intake is FAR more important.

I agree that diet and exercise are both required in order to succeed in the weight loss. Furthermore you are absolutely correct that monitoring your diet far more important.

However that is completely besides the point, which is that the OP is factually incorrect and is essentially spouting broscience "Cardio killz gainz lolz" nonsense.

I do 5 x 1hour elliptical per week and the remaining two days I go for a nice walk just to get the heart rate going a bit. That's approx. 6000 calories in just cardio per week for me. It is ludicrous to suggest that is an insignificant amount of calories.

I stand by my statement that it's hard to take the OP seriously when I know for a fact that his point 4 is just broscience wrong.

Also it is worth noting that the current accepted math is 1 pound of muscle burns 6-10 calories per day at rest. So if you gained 20 pounds of muscle you would burn an extra ~120-200 calories per day. You understand how hard it is to gain 20 pounds of muscle naturally? I just laugh out at the stupidity.

Please everyone take the OP with a grain of salt and keep doing your cardio.

I am the OP (I am also a woman, not a man as you indicated) and just because you don't agree with one point (in which I said I personally) doesn't mean that any of my post is invalid. Feel free to do more cardio. That point was about how I personally do things and had success with. I have gone from obese to competitive bodybuilder and I personally do not do more than an hour of cardio total in a week (which comes out to a total of around 500 calories since my body has become efficient at cardio).

Also, most people don't have an hour to spend doing cardio 5 days a week like you do. In general many people have 30-45 minutes 4-5 days a week to workout. If they just do cardio and no resistance training they will be losing lean body mass in the long run. I don't say that because "cardio kills gains" as you put it, but as you lose weight you lose fat mass and lean mass (generally the body is organ sparing, so we can assume that a large portion of that lean mass is muscle). The greater your calorie deficit (through diet or cardio) the more likely you are to burn lean mass. Resistance training assists in retaining lean mass.

Nowhere in my post did I claim that someone who is lifting weights will gain 20 pounds of lean mass (I have achieved 20 pound lean mass gains in the last two years naturally as a woman). Although people won't gain tons of muscle, they will spare their muscle through resistance training. Why is that important? Because when you get closer to your goal body composition matters. You aren't there yet, but when you get to your goal and maintain it for over a year I'd like to have this talk again.

Edited to paste the rest of what I wrote back into my above reply since he edited it out and I feel that it is important.

I personally find long cardio sessions boring and also do not do over 15 min of cardio a few days per week (max effort)

Oh I forgot

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see profile pic

There are many ways to skin a cat, but in this case I could not agree more with OP if I tried