Cardio For Fat Loss
AnvilHead
Posts: 18,344 Member
Since this is a question which comes up semi-regularly, I thought it was worth sharing a good Facebook post from Szotak Andrei (a coach/trainer) about the subject:
SHOULD YOU DO CARDIO TO HELP YOU LOSE FAT?
Here are a couple considerations to take into account when deciding if you should do cardio or not when trying to lose fat.
First and foremost, you have to realize that your diet is going to be your number 1 weapon to aid fat loss, and it should be the first on the list of priorities to take care of.
Second, even though cardio is not necessary for fat loss, it’s still very important for overall health and as such, it should be incorporated in some shape or form in everyone’s training program, regardless of goals.
Third, if you are going to use cardio to help you lose fat, make sure to pick a type (low, medium, high intensity) and modality (treadmill, bike, stepper, stairmaster etc) that you actually enjoy and you’re going to stick to, instead of opting for one that you think it’s “optimal”, even though you don’t see yourself doing it as often as you should.
Fourth and final consideration is to make sure the cardio you do doesn’t tire you out so much that you unconsciously start moving less the rest of the day. It’s no use to do 200 kcal worth of cardio if you’re just going to lay in bed the rest of the day and burn 300 kcal less.
Tracking your steps is a good way to ensure your overall activity is still up once you start introducing some structured cardio into your workouts.
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Replies
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So like doing a spinning class everyday, 6 days a week, wasn't a good idea? Good to know! Thanks for sharing
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This is very helpful, thank you Anvil.0
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I've been dealing with an injury since November, and I'm in such a funk and feeling agitated, aggravated, depressed, and hopeless about my physical activity, which has led to some stress eating. I don't know when or if I'll get back to where I was with my physical activity, but I appreciate this post because it reminds me that diet (caloric intake) is king for weight management.2
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Thank you for posting. Learn something new everyday.1
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I learned the hard way that diet is the key to my fat loss. It is absolutely the #1 priority. In a recent study of people who have lost over 100lbs and kept it off, most of the study participants walk daily for cardio. To the OPs point, they enjoy walking and it's sustainable and usually doesn't cost any money.
@Anvil_Head every time I read one of your posts or responses, I imagine that you are doing it from the boat in your picture. lol
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I've been active in the gym weightlifting for over 30yrs. Have been slowly gaining weight the last 10yrs (I'm 53 150lbs) although I crosstrain, I'm wondering if I should stop lifting and just do cardio. I've never been on a diet and eat quite healthy dose falls are weekend wine and munchies1
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yvonnedrobert wrote: »I've been active in the gym weightlifting for over 30yrs. Have been slowly gaining weight the last 10yrs (I'm 53 150lbs) although I crosstrain, I'm wondering if I should stop lifting and just do cardio. I've never been on a diet and eat quite healthy dose falls are weekend wine and munchies
I would not recommend this at all. Keep lifting. Maybe add in some cardio, but the main focus should be on the number of calories you're eating. "Healthy" foods still have calories and they can add up. Start tracking your intake here and go from there. Just my $0.02.4 -
yvonnedrobert wrote: »I've been active in the gym weightlifting for over 30yrs. Have been slowly gaining weight the last 10yrs (I'm 53 150lbs) although I crosstrain, I'm wondering if I should stop lifting and just do cardio. I've never been on a diet and eat quite healthy dose falls are weekend wine and munchies
The second sentence in the article above is where you should look to first:First and foremost, you have to realize that your diet is going to be your number 1 weapon to aid fat loss, and it should be the first on the list of priorities to take care of.
If you're very slowly gaining weight, a slight cut in your calories should take care of it for you. Eating "healthy" can still result in weight gain if your calorie intake exceeds your expenditure on an ongoing basis.3 -
I know some people who say they do a bunch of cardio so they can eat whatever they want. But then they complain when they don't lose weight... silly. It depends on where you want to get too. Do a lot of cardio, eat at a deficit and lose weight. Or don't, eat at a deficit and still lose weight. It's about the food for sure!1
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Great sensible advice, and it's advice I've inadvertently followed in maintaining a very active daily pattern. I find the morning cardio I do important, but I also find my throughout the day movement just as important. Balancing the two is key. Of course, controlling my intake comes first, but I thought that went without saying.4
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I know not all agree, but I like doing cardio (running) partly so I can eat more. It's still the biggest burn of calories for the time spent, and as long as I'm good about not over-eating them, those calories are my treat foods.13
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Tacklewasher wrote: »I know not all agree, but I like doing cardio (running) partly so I can eat more. It's still the biggest burn of calories for the time spent, and as long as I'm good about not over-eating them, those calories are my treat foods.
Nothing wrong with that, especially since you take the bolded into consideration.
The problem comes when people do a 1-mile run or a 30-minute Zumba class or whatever and think they "earned" a reward, so they go eat a 600-calorie ice cream sundae or some such. Heck, you could do a 5-mile run and wipe that extra deficit out (plus some!) in less than 5 minutes by stopping off at McDonalds for a Big Mac and fries on the way home.
Andrei doesn't really dive into it much in the article above other than to mention diet, but there are a lot of people who believe their calorie burns during cardio are a lot higher than they actually are. How many threads have we seen claiming something like an 1100 calorie burn from a 60 minute cardio class, or that they're burning 2000 calories a day in exercise? Yeah, not unless you just happened to do an Ironman length triathlon today. Hence, the frequently seen MFP advice to eat back a portion of your exercise calories rather than all of them, and adjust as necessary.4 -
I'd still be obese without cardio. I need those extra 300-400 calories because eating 1400 calories is NOT happening.6
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Tacklewasher wrote: »I know not all agree, but I like doing cardio (running) partly so I can eat more. It's still the biggest burn of calories for the time spent, and as long as I'm good about not over-eating them, those calories are my treat foods.
Nothing wrong with that, especially since you take the bolded into consideration.
The problem comes when people do a 1-mile run or a 30-minute Zumba class or whatever and think they "earned" a reward, so they go eat a 600-calorie ice cream sundae or some such. Heck, you could do a 5-mile run and wipe that extra deficit out (plus some!) in less than 5 minutes by stopping off at McDonalds for a Big Mac and fries on the way home.
I look at it this way. If my "normal" lunch is 500 calories, and I run 5K for ~400 calories(1), I've got 900 calories for lunch and I can do a Big Mac and medium fries (870 cals(2) before ketchup) with a diet coke and still be at my goal.
Either that or I eat a normal lunch and add 400 cals of wine for dinner.
(1) I'm 210 lbs, so 210 * (5*.621) * .63 = 411 calories
(2) https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca/about-our-food/nutrition-calculator.html1 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »I know not all agree, but I like doing cardio (running) partly so I can eat more. It's still the biggest burn of calories for the time spent, and as long as I'm good about not over-eating them, those calories are my treat foods.
Nothing wrong with that, especially since you take the bolded into consideration.
The problem comes when people do a 1-mile run or a 30-minute Zumba class or whatever and think they "earned" a reward, so they go eat a 600-calorie ice cream sundae or some such. Heck, you could do a 5-mile run and wipe that extra deficit out (plus some!) in less than 5 minutes by stopping off at McDonalds for a Big Mac and fries on the way home.
I look at it this way. If my "normal" lunch is 500 calories, and I run 5K for ~400 calories(1), I've got 900 calories for lunch and I can do a Big Mac and medium fries (870 cals(2) before ketchup) with a diet coke and still be at my goal.
Either that or I eat a normal lunch and add 400 cals of wine for dinner.
(1) I'm 210 lbs, so 210 * (5*.621) * .63 = 411 calories
(2) https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca/about-our-food/nutrition-calculator.html
You're not wrong.
[ETA:] Run an extra 1/4 mile and have the ketchup, lol.7 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »I know not all agree, but I like doing cardio (running) partly so I can eat more. It's still the biggest burn of calories for the time spent, and as long as I'm good about not over-eating them, those calories are my treat foods.
Nothing wrong with that, especially since you take the bolded into consideration.
The problem comes when people do a 1-mile run or a 30-minute Zumba class or whatever and think they "earned" a reward, so they go eat a 600-calorie ice cream sundae or some such. Heck, you could do a 5-mile run and wipe that extra deficit out (plus some!) in less than 5 minutes by stopping off at McDonalds for a Big Mac and fries on the way home.
I look at it this way. If my "normal" lunch is 500 calories, and I run 5K for ~400 calories(1), I've got 900 calories for lunch and I can do a Big Mac and medium fries (870 cals(2) before ketchup) with a diet coke and still be at my goal.
Either that or I eat a normal lunch and add 400 cals of wine for dinner.
(1) I'm 210 lbs, so 210 * (5*.621) * .63 = 411 calories
(2) https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca/about-our-food/nutrition-calculator.html
Wine > McDonald's. Just sayin.
I'd add that those extra calories earned can be particularly precious to those of us who are shorter, female, and nearing goal, as calorie levels required for weight loss at that point can be rather...depressing if not supplemented with activity. (Not disagreeing with anything in the OP, BTW. All still applies ) 5 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »I know not all agree, but I like doing cardio (running) partly so I can eat more. It's still the biggest burn of calories for the time spent, and as long as I'm good about not over-eating them, those calories are my treat foods.
Nothing wrong with that, especially since you take the bolded into consideration.
The problem comes when people do a 1-mile run or a 30-minute Zumba class or whatever and think they "earned" a reward, so they go eat a 600-calorie ice cream sundae or some such. Heck, you could do a 5-mile run and wipe that extra deficit out (plus some!) in less than 5 minutes by stopping off at McDonalds for a Big Mac and fries on the way home.
I look at it this way. If my "normal" lunch is 500 calories, and I run 5K for ~400 calories(1), I've got 900 calories for lunch and I can do a Big Mac and medium fries (870 cals(2) before ketchup) with a diet coke and still be at my goal.
Either that or I eat a normal lunch and add 400 cals of wine for dinner.
(1) I'm 210 lbs, so 210 * (5*.621) * .63 = 411 calories
(2) https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca/about-our-food/nutrition-calculator.html
Wine > McDonald's. Just sayin.
I'd add that those extra calories earned can be particularly precious to those of us who are shorter, female, and nearing goal, as calorie levels required for weight loss at that point can be rather...depressing if not supplemented with activity.
But sometimes you just NEED a cheeseburger. (But not a Big Mac. Yuck.)2 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »I know not all agree, but I like doing cardio (running) partly so I can eat more. It's still the biggest burn of calories for the time spent, and as long as I'm good about not over-eating them, those calories are my treat foods.
Nothing wrong with that, especially since you take the bolded into consideration.
The problem comes when people do a 1-mile run or a 30-minute Zumba class or whatever and think they "earned" a reward, so they go eat a 600-calorie ice cream sundae or some such. Heck, you could do a 5-mile run and wipe that extra deficit out (plus some!) in less than 5 minutes by stopping off at McDonalds for a Big Mac and fries on the way home.
I look at it this way. If my "normal" lunch is 500 calories, and I run 5K for ~400 calories(1), I've got 900 calories for lunch and I can do a Big Mac and medium fries (870 cals(2) before ketchup) with a diet coke and still be at my goal.
Either that or I eat a normal lunch and add 400 cals of wine for dinner.
(1) I'm 210 lbs, so 210 * (5*.621) * .63 = 411 calories
(2) https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca/about-our-food/nutrition-calculator.html
Wine > McDonald's. Just sayin.
I'd add that those extra calories earned can be particularly precious to those of us who are shorter, female, and nearing goal, as calorie levels required for weight loss at that point can be rather...depressing if not supplemented with activity.
But sometimes you just NEED a cheeseburger. (But not a Big Mac. Yuck.)
That's why I have a husband with a grill, duh!
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quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »I know not all agree, but I like doing cardio (running) partly so I can eat more. It's still the biggest burn of calories for the time spent, and as long as I'm good about not over-eating them, those calories are my treat foods.
Nothing wrong with that, especially since you take the bolded into consideration.
The problem comes when people do a 1-mile run or a 30-minute Zumba class or whatever and think they "earned" a reward, so they go eat a 600-calorie ice cream sundae or some such. Heck, you could do a 5-mile run and wipe that extra deficit out (plus some!) in less than 5 minutes by stopping off at McDonalds for a Big Mac and fries on the way home.
I look at it this way. If my "normal" lunch is 500 calories, and I run 5K for ~400 calories(1), I've got 900 calories for lunch and I can do a Big Mac and medium fries (870 cals(2) before ketchup) with a diet coke and still be at my goal.
Either that or I eat a normal lunch and add 400 cals of wine for dinner.
(1) I'm 210 lbs, so 210 * (5*.621) * .63 = 411 calories
(2) https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca/about-our-food/nutrition-calculator.html
Wine > McDonald's. Just sayin.
I'd add that those extra calories earned can be particularly precious to those of us who are shorter, female, and nearing goal, as calorie levels required for weight loss at that point can be rather...depressing if not supplemented with activity.
But sometimes you just NEED a cheeseburger. (But not a Big Mac. Yuck.)
That's why I have a husband with a grill, duh!
I'll admit to a Big Mac being kinda a comfort food for me. Loved them as a kid.4 -
Your food intake is totally key. While training for a marathon we had a lot of people who were very heavy and remained heavy throughout the training (and we were all running over 30 miles a week). Problem was that many would just head on over to IHOP after our runs, totally negating all the calories they just burned. And when we finished the race, many wondered why they had gained weight. CICO 1
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