Cardio isn't for "fat burning".
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I have to do cardio. There was a long stretch of time where I didn't -- years actually -- and just counted calories and lifted weights and the scale didn't move and I was still fat. I've been doing cardio 4 times a week for 45-55 minutes since January and I've lost around 5 pounds and inches as well. I still count calories and haven't changed what I've been eating nor do I -- nor have I ever -- "eat back" my exercise calories (not on purpose any way) simply because I don't trust the "burn" numbers. Sure I still log it because I like to keep track of what I have done but the number of calories that I've supposedly burned is meaningless to me. I get that I'm creating a "bigger calorie deficit" with the addition of cardio (I highly doubt it's that huge) but my point is that just lifting and eating at a deficit has never worked for me. I have always had to do some sort of cardio activity to lean out. Everyone is different. What works for one person might not necessarily work for someone else.
Plus I like it which is a bonus.0 -
If you weren't losing, you weren't eating at a deficit. Nobody is different in that regard.1
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If it did not work for you then you were not in a deficit...Sassie_Lassie wrote: »I have to do cardio. There was a long stretch of time where I didn't -- years actually -- and just counted calories and lifted weights and the scale didn't move and I was still fat. I've been doing cardio 4 times a week for 45-55 minutes since January and I've lost around 5 pounds and inches as well. I still count calories and haven't changed what I've been eating nor do I -- nor have I ever -- "eat back" my exercise calories (not on purpose any way) simply because I don't trust the "burn" numbers. Sure I still log it because I like to keep track of what I have done but the number of calories that I've supposedly burned is meaningless to me. I get that I'm creating a "bigger calorie deficit" with the addition of cardio (I highly doubt it's that huge) but my point is that just lifting and eating at a deficit has never worked for me. I have always had to do some sort of cardio activity to lean out. Everyone is different. What works for one person might not necessarily work for someone else.
Plus I like it which is a bonus.
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Cardio helps create a deeper calorie deficit, which helps you lose weight...and, of course, it increases heart health. Fasted cardio has been beneficial in my weight loss efforts.1
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facts from science http://www.livestrong.com/blog/the-facts-on-why-burst-training-beats-steady-state-cardio/
I am doing exactly this now. I used to spend hrs wasted on cardio when i need to loose fat. Thats why i do HiT, yes its hard, you will be exhausted, you will be out of breath, muscles full of blood, but guess what you loose body fat, in fact quite quickly as i found out 4% in 12 days to be exact, yes it will slow, so i adjust my diet, as it is presently, inches of muscle going up, fat % going down and scales going down, believe me when i say,I have done cardio, weights, running, swimming and a mix of all of them, this HiT change coupled with dropping carbs lower has started to resolve my weight yo/yo for the first time in my life, then again its easy to sustain as its only 20-25mins 3-4 times a week, how hard can that be to fit in a day?0 -
I used to skip rope alot when I boxed at an actual boxing gym. Learning all the types of rope skips was fun. May have to take it up again once my MCL is completely healed.My favorite from of cardio at the moment is jumping rope. I like learning the skills of the different steps/moves and the time flies by. I'm like you @ninerbuff, I generally do not enjoy cardio. Prefer lifting, calisthenics, gymnastic strength training etc...
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kaneporterhome wrote: »Thats why i do HiT, yes its hard, you will be exhausted, you will be out of breath, muscles full of blood, but guess what you loose body fat, in fact quite quickly as i found out 4% in 12 days to be exact, yes it will slow, so i adjust my diet, as it is presently, inches of muscle going up, fat % going down and scales going down, believe me when i say,I have done cardio, weights, running, swimming and a mix of all of them, this HiT change coupled with dropping carbs lower has started to resolve my weight yo/yo for the first time in my life, then again its easy to sustain as its only 20-25mins 3-4 times a week, how hard can that be to fit in a day?
3-4 times per week of HIIT???!!!!
Just exactly what Zones are you hitting in your interval training?
Well, the time component may be easy to fit in, but depends on the level of HIIT one is doing which alters the word from easy to beyond hard.
Zones for cardio descriptions I use for on the bike training:
1. Old lady pace
2. Chatty pace
3. Feel good hard
4. Feel bad hard
5. I am going to die
6. Flat out
Today's schedule calls for #5 - I am going to die - intervals.
Warm up well then do 4 x 4 minutes in power L5 or HRZ5 with 3 minutes easy spin recoveries between intervals. Keep cadence high during the 4 mins on.
16 total work minutes in the I am going to die Zone. 9 minutes total work of recovery in old lady pace. Probably a good 15-20 minute warm up before enduring those 25 minutes of HIIT.
Not sure I would want to put myself through that 3-4 times per week if it were even possible. But that is part of an overall structured training program with lots of cardio (10-12 hours per week on the bike).0 -
Cardio is absolutely essential to keeping me in a good mood. I forget to log it, because it doesn't seem like exercise if I'm taking a dance class, or I'm out in nature hiking or biking.0
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lithezebra wrote: »Cardio is absolutely essential to keeping me in a good mood. I forget to log it, because it doesn't seem like exercise if I'm taking a dance class, or I'm out in nature hiking or biking.
This is something I absolutely 100% agree with...1 -
I used to skip rope alot when I boxed at an actual boxing gym. Learning all the types of rope skips was fun. May have to take it up again once my MCL is completely healed.My favorite from of cardio at the moment is jumping rope. I like learning the skills of the different steps/moves and the time flies by. I'm like you @ninerbuff, I generally do not enjoy cardio. Prefer lifting, calisthenics, gymnastic strength training etc...
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Yeah I had a one year layoff from it when I had hip surgery for a torn labrum...
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SingingSingleTracker wrote: »kaneporterhome wrote: »Thats why i do HiT, yes its hard, you will be exhausted, you will be out of breath, muscles full of blood, but guess what you loose body fat, in fact quite quickly as i found out 4% in 12 days to be exact, yes it will slow, so i adjust my diet, as it is presently, inches of muscle going up, fat % going down and scales going down, believe me when i say,I have done cardio, weights, running, swimming and a mix of all of them, this HiT change coupled with dropping carbs lower has started to resolve my weight yo/yo for the first time in my life, then again its easy to sustain as its only 20-25mins 3-4 times a week, how hard can that be to fit in a day?
3-4 times per week of HIIT???!!!!
Just exactly what Zones are you hitting in your interval training?
Well, the time component may be easy to fit in, but depends on the level of HIIT one is doing which alters the word from easy to beyond hard.
Zones for cardio descriptions I use for on the bike training:
1. Old lady pace
2. Chatty pace
3. Feel good hard
4. Feel bad hard
5. I am going to die
6. Flat out
Today's schedule calls for #5 - I am going to die - intervals.
Warm up well then do 4 x 4 minutes in power L5 or HRZ5 with 3 minutes easy spin recoveries between intervals. Keep cadence high during the 4 mins on.
16 total work minutes in the I am going to die Zone. 9 minutes total work of recovery in old lady pace. Probably a good 15-20 minute warm up before enduring those 25 minutes of HIIT.
Not sure I would want to put myself through that 3-4 times per week if it were even possible. But that is part of an overall structured training program with lots of cardio (10-12 hours per week on the bike).
The bolded area would have been more helpful than what I was told during a recent orientation at my gym.
I was informed that on the cardio equipment to keep my heart rate between some numbers I ignored to be in the "Fat Burning zone". Its really no wonder that people become confident they are burning fat with cardio with so much misinformation spread.
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So in theory fasted cardio is better than cardio at the end of a long day? (Taking into consideration probably around 400-500 calorie cut back)0
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So in theory fasted cardio is better than cardio at the end of a long day? (Taking into consideration probably around 400-500 calorie cut back)
Not really, not if your total cals in - total cals out for the day are equal. Your option you would have stored fat earlier in the day, and are now burning that plus a little off. doing it the other way you would store less during the day, but burning less later in the day, net effect would be the same.0 -
debsdoingthis wrote: »SingingSingleTracker wrote: »kaneporterhome wrote: »Thats why i do HiT, yes its hard, you will be exhausted, you will be out of breath, muscles full of blood, but guess what you loose body fat, in fact quite quickly as i found out 4% in 12 days to be exact, yes it will slow, so i adjust my diet, as it is presently, inches of muscle going up, fat % going down and scales going down, believe me when i say,I have done cardio, weights, running, swimming and a mix of all of them, this HiT change coupled with dropping carbs lower has started to resolve my weight yo/yo for the first time in my life, then again its easy to sustain as its only 20-25mins 3-4 times a week, how hard can that be to fit in a day?
3-4 times per week of HIIT???!!!!
Just exactly what Zones are you hitting in your interval training?
Well, the time component may be easy to fit in, but depends on the level of HIIT one is doing which alters the word from easy to beyond hard.
Zones for cardio descriptions I use for on the bike training:
1. Old lady pace
2. Chatty pace
3. Feel good hard
4. Feel bad hard
5. I am going to die
6. Flat out
Today's schedule calls for #5 - I am going to die - intervals.
Warm up well then do 4 x 4 minutes in power L5 or HRZ5 with 3 minutes easy spin recoveries between intervals. Keep cadence high during the 4 mins on.
16 total work minutes in the I am going to die Zone. 9 minutes total work of recovery in old lady pace. Probably a good 15-20 minute warm up before enduring those 25 minutes of HIIT.
Not sure I would want to put myself through that 3-4 times per week if it were even possible. But that is part of an overall structured training program with lots of cardio (10-12 hours per week on the bike).
The bolded area would have been more helpful than what I was told during a recent orientation at my gym.
I was informed that on the cardio equipment to keep my heart rate between some numbers I ignored to be in the "Fat Burning zone". Its really no wonder that people become confident they are burning fat with cardio with so much misinformation spread.
Yeah it really is a perfect example of overcomplicating the process...0 -
Well, and the eating plans that start with average weekly TDEE method where they are picking their planned exercise routine - then deficit is taken daily for a set eating amount.
And since they don't understand the concept behind what is happening, all they know is that for weeks they don't exercise what they said they would, they don't lose weight - or they gain perhaps.
So in their mind they must exercise for weight loss. And dollars to donuts (hmmmmm, donuts) they are doing that diet plan along with a cardio only exercise plan - just starting out.
So cardio exercise is required for weight loss for what limited they understand.0 -
So in theory fasted cardio is better than cardio at the end of a long day? (Taking into consideration probably around 400-500 calorie cut back)
To add - Only if your purpose for such training is to train your body's fuel burning system to utilize a slightly higher % of fat at the start of a workout (30 min) than the normal carb:fat ratio that would occur.
And that's if you are actually interested in endurance cardio and need to spare those carb stores as best as possible because the workout is going to be long and/or intense.
But as far as purely fat and calorie burn, gotta look at the day as a whole, as @erickirb mentions.0 -
This thread has been very helpful to me. I joined a gym five weeks ago and have lost a kilo a week. I do cardio, weight program, some classes and I also watch the food intake. The staff told me I can exercise all I like but I need to keep my calories down to lose the weight. Well no surprise there as weight is coming off. Yipee0
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Not really. All in all it's basically your total calories at the end of the day.So in theory fasted cardio is better than cardio at the end of a long day? (Taking into consideration probably around 400-500 calorie cut back)
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Cathscottage wrote: »This thread has been very helpful to me. I joined a gym five weeks ago and have lost a kilo a week. I do cardio, weight program, some classes and I also watch the food intake. The staff told me I can exercise all I like but I need to keep my calories down to lose the weight. Well no surprise there as weight is coming off. Yipee
So they were sharing the same kind of general confusing info that can lead to mis-application of advice.
I'm betting their comment to keeping calories down was in perspective to not eating more and more as you exercise more and more - a normal response.
But if you started at say 2000 calories eating and no exercise, and have increased exercise up 500 daily and food down by 500 daily - that's not bad. For now. Eventually that won't be reasonable deficit for amount to be lost.
It's when people get in to the extremes they cause trouble fast - cut 1000 and exercise massively compared to prior.
Because really, only need to eat less than you burn in total (which includes exercise) by reasonable amount to lose fat weight.
Make it unreasonable and include muscle mass too.
That's why MFP attempts to save people if used correctly by logging exercise when done, and your eating level correctly adjusts for doing more that day.0 -
Cardio is done to improve cardio vascular fitness and burn calories. It will HELP with a calorie deficit and for some that do a lot of cardio, allow one to eat more versus someone at the same weight who does little or no cardio at all.
Like all other physical activity, GLYCOGEN will be the first thing burned before fat is even touched (ratio will vary more to fat if duration extended and/or intensity is lower) so the addage that one needs to do cardio to burn fat is a myth. You burn fat with a calorie deficit. Don't believe it? Do whatever cardio you want, but eat your TDEE. You'll more likely keep the same bodyfat percentage if you keep doing that.
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I do want to add though (at least in my personal experience) cardio helps get rid of bloats. Not saying it's a weight/fat thing but if I'm bloated, gassy, etc it goes away shortly after an intense cardio session. Weight lifting however doesn't fix my bloats lol.1
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Lol, trust me if the session was intense enough, you'll get rid of the bloat one way or another!FeedMeFish wrote: »I do want to add though (at least in my personal experience) cardio helps get rid of bloats. Not saying it's a weight/fat thing but if I'm bloated, gassy, etc it goes away shortly after an intense cardio session. Weight lifting however doesn't fix my bloats lol.
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bump for Friday!0
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There's a great Scientific American on this - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-exercise-paradox/
I subscribe to the magazine, and would highly recommend reading that article if you're interested in the science behind why exercise doesn't cause humans to lose weight - there's an evolutionary answer and it's really interesting!1 -
True BUT, if you don't want to feel like you're starving while "dieting," getting a 200-300 cal burn doing cardio and eating at or slightly below your estimated TDEE is the most effective way to lose weight.
At least it was for me.
That's how I lost most for the 36# that I dropped over 5 months w/in the 1st 3months - - by doing 30-60 mins of moderate intensity rowing each day while eating 1800-2000 cals a day at/near my TDEE for a net of around 1500-1700 cal/day.
Only difference now while in maintenance at 160# for the past 3 months is that I don't do any more cardio (like that) but still eat about the same amount at an ave if 1850 cal a day.2 -
Oh, believe me I've seen quite a few people do loads of cardio just so they can eat more. There's a female in our gym now who does an hour of elliptical, followed by an hour of step climbing. I thought she was an endurance athlete (no upper body muscle, decent legs) and when I talked to her, she said she only does that much work so she can eat an extra 1000 calories. The issue is, what happens when she can't offset it by stopping exercise? She looked to be in her early 20's and I don't believe she was married, but most of us know that when a family comes along, a lot of life changes and usually physical activity is the first thing that people give up.True BUT, if you don't want to feel like you're starving while "dieting," getting a 200-300 cal burn doing cardio and eating at or slightly below your estimated TDEE is the most effective way to lose weight.
At least it was for me.
That's how I lost most for the 36# that I dropped over 5 months w/in the 1st 3months - - by doing 30-60 mins of moderate intensity rowing each day while eating 1800-2000 cals a day at/near my TDEE for a net of around 1500-1700 cal/day.
Only difference now while in maintenance at 160# for the past 3 months is that I don't do any more cardio (like that) but still eat about the same amount at an ave if 1850 cal a day.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Ok, I read through a lot of this and I am questioning myself. At the risk of sounding like a moron and inciting further frustration (I'm so sorry!), what I do is cardio/HITT/Strength training and I use it to create a larger deficit so I can eat more. I am 32 years old, female, 164 lbs, 5'6 1/2" and I have MFP set to .5 pound loss per week, with a sedentary lifestyle as I work a desk job. This gives me about 1610 calories per day that I can eat. However, I also workout 5-6 hours per week and my TDEE according to Scooby is around 2358 (which seems high). I have my Fitbit linked to MFP and whenever I workout/get steps, MFP gives me additional calories that I can eat. I know that the calorie burn is not very accurate however I do eat some of the calories back because honestly, 1604 calories per day is not enough to satisfy me....I am usually still super hungry despite eating enough protein and fiber and mostly home cooked food (not processed or pre-packaged). I do weigh all of my food on a food scale, with the only exception being when I go out to eat (which is not very often). According to my stats, I am allowed 1610 calories per day and my current average that I am actually eating is 1804, however with my exercise added in, I am currently netting an average of 1391 per day (again it could be higher because my fitbit/MFP may overestimate my calorie burn during exercise-however, I doubt it is overestimating enough to kill my entire deficit). I am doing this right because I am still in a deficit, correct? I am not eating 2358 per day (or even 2095 which is what my fitbit says is my actual daily average calorie burn)
I have only been back on MFP (after a few years) since the beginning of the month so I want to be sure I am on the right track. I also understand that if my 5-6 hours a week of exercise reduces, I will have to reduce the amount of food I eat.0
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