Question - "How Much Cardio is Too Much Cardio"
katiepaulag
Posts: 17 Member
I feel like this question has been asked and asked and asked and harped on so much that I bet some of you MPF forum vets have a script for these now.
I'm at a plateau, I've been stuck at 187-190lbs for a little while now. My normal gym routine is 30 minutes of cardio (elliptical or ski machine, depending on the day), about 5-10 minutes of shoulder rehabilitation exercises, and then 30-45 minutes of weight training (I try to go for high reps and low weight). To try and "kick start" to get past this plateau, I have two ideas and I'm not sure which would be better.
1) Continue my normal workout routine and add in one extra workout day per week, of a solid 60 minute cardio session, or.
2) Stay at my normal 3/4 workouts a week (it's normally 3 this time of year) and do 60 minutes of cardio during each session (I like to do 30 at the beginning and end if I do that).
Any opinions are GREATLY appreciated!
I'm at a plateau, I've been stuck at 187-190lbs for a little while now. My normal gym routine is 30 minutes of cardio (elliptical or ski machine, depending on the day), about 5-10 minutes of shoulder rehabilitation exercises, and then 30-45 minutes of weight training (I try to go for high reps and low weight). To try and "kick start" to get past this plateau, I have two ideas and I'm not sure which would be better.
1) Continue my normal workout routine and add in one extra workout day per week, of a solid 60 minute cardio session, or.
2) Stay at my normal 3/4 workouts a week (it's normally 3 this time of year) and do 60 minutes of cardio during each session (I like to do 30 at the beginning and end if I do that).
Any opinions are GREATLY appreciated!
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Replies
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How accurate is your calorie counting? Do you use a food scale to weigh everything?1
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Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »How accurate is your calorie counting? Do you use a food scale to weigh everything?
I do use a food scale for things that need to be weighed, yes. I am in university & live with my parents, so sometimes depending on who's cooking, it's not convenient for me to track my calories for that meal (so some days I do skip tracking a meal), but we as a whole eat healthy.
I also plan on doing some meal prepping this Sunday when I come back from out of town to eliminate a lot of the guess work when it comes to "hmmm, what am I eating today", which would allow me to spend more time at the gym between classes.0 -
Change up your routines. Try adding more intensity to your cardio. Switch up your weightlifting to heavier weights and less reps. Switch it up daily. Your body has become accustomed to your level of fitness. Need to mix it up9
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"Too much cardio" is impossible to define. It's too much if you get injured or if it interferes with the rest of your life. Otherwise you do what fits your schedule and your goals. What you are doing now is pretty minimal, so you could easily bump it up. The recommendation is for at least 150 minutes at moderate intensity each week for good health. People who are training for races will often do 5-10 hours a week, more if they are truly competitive.0
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Your plateau is much more likely to be related to your eating and logging than it is your workout routine. Your routine has very little impact.
But you should up the weights and make sure the bulk of your movements are big compound movements. It won't break your plateau, but it'll be better in the long run.8 -
Try working in some HIIT - your situation is incredibly similar to mine at the moment. Try doing sprint intervals, elliptical intervals or even intervals in the pool.
Your cardiovascular system is probably getting quite well adapted to the steady state cardio work you've been doing. Upping the intensity and getting your heart rate up even higher could have a positive impact.8 -
Oh also do your cardio AFTER your weights, that should really be a golden rule for weight training.
Ideally they'll be in different sessions, but if they must be on the same visit, do the weights first.4 -
How long has your weight loss been stalled?0
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katiepaulag wrote: »I feel like this question has been asked and asked and asked and harped on so much that I bet some of you MPF forum vets have a script for these now.
I'm at a plateau, I've been stuck at 187-190lbs for a little while now.
Yes, it's a well written topic. I'm every plateau thread you'll see a focus on calorie tracking, spiced with nonsense about your body becoming accustomed to the exercise.
As identified upthread, you're not in calorie deficit.
I understand the challenge of having to estimate intake, but I'd also ask how your measuring the calories that you expend?
What you describe as your activity isn't contributing a significant about to your daily calorie expenditure, and it's easy to over estimate.
I'd also second the suggestion from Rybo to do heavier lifting. You'll get more enduring benefit from that.
In terms of structuring your sessions, personally I'd suggest following structured plans for both lifting and CV work, rather than cuffing it yourself. That's a different debate though, for your purposes look to your calorie tracking.1 -
I really fail to see the connection between your thread title ""How Much Cardio is Too Much Cardio" and your weight loss plateau?
Clearly your current exercise routine isn't enough to put you into a calorie deficit.
Option #1 Eat less
Option #2 Move more (activity & exercise)
Option #3 Do a bit of both
Ignore all the twaddle about changing up/ different orders of exercise / body getting used to exercise and not burning calories / the marketing miracle that is HIIT.
Making your diary public would allow people to see where you might be making food logging mistakes or over-estimating exercise.3 -
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Thank you for everyone's input
I'm currently following the caloric intake recommended by MPF and I track most of my workouts via my Fitbit. Unfortunately, lifting heavier (although it might be better for me in the LR) is out of the question as I'm recovering from a lot of rotator cuff damage/thoracic outlet syndrome and can only do certain things before it's aggravated again - I don't have the time or the money for constant chiropractor appointments to fix it up again.
I think the plan is to really focus my meal planning efforts when I get back in town Sunday and prep my lunches for the following week - breakfasts and suppers are normally a non-issue. Maybe plan out 8 meals for the days it's "fend for yourself" at home.
Cheers!1 -
katiepaulag wrote: ».... I track most of my workouts via my Fitbit.
Given what you describe as your activities, that's almost certainly overestimating then.
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katiepaulag wrote: »My normal gym routine is 30 minutes of cardio (elliptical or ski machine, depending on the day), about 5-10 minutes of shoulder rehabilitation exercises, and then 30-45 minutes of weight training (I try to go for high reps and low weight). To try and "kick start" to get past this plateau, I have two ideas and I'm not sure which would be better.
1) Continue my normal workout routine and add in one extra workout day per week, of a solid 60 minute cardio session, or.
2) Stay at my normal 3/4 workouts a week (it's normally 3 this time of year) and do 60 minutes of cardio during each session (I like to do 30 at the beginning and end if I do that).
So to sum up, currently you're doing about an hour (or slightly more) of exercise 3 days a week. Is that right?
What else do you do?
Do you walk to and from university as all or part of your commute? If not, you could try including that 5 days a week.
What about on breaks between classes? Do you get out for a brisk 20-30 min walk in the fresh air to clear your head? I find it really helps me focus later on.
What about the 4 days when you don't go to the gym? Do you do other activities outdoors like ... skiing? snowshoeing? hiking? cycling? kayaking?
I know you're going through rehab for your shoulder so you probably don't want to take up something like tennis, but you could dabble in some more leg focused activities.
Try to do something active ... even just a walk ... at least 5-6 days a week.
Oh and ... only eat back about half your exercise calories.
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »katiepaulag wrote: ».... I track most of my workouts via my Fitbit.
Given what you describe as your activities, that's almost certainly overestimating then.
Indeed. The elliptical and "ski trainer" are the most overestimated equipment/exercises out there.
They're also the most flexible and versatile, But unless you're really dialing up the load and the speed, you're probably not getting anywhere close to the estimated burns.0 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »
HIIT leads to higher VO2 max than steady state cardio:
Daussin et al. (2007) measured VO2max responses among men and women who participated in an 8-week HIIT and a continuous cardiovascular training program. VO2max increases were higher with the HIIT program (15%) as compared to the continuous aerobic training (9%)
cited here: https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/HIITvsCardio.html
also there are now studies investigating HIIT as a good method of recuperation from heart disease.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5129054/
HIIT and Steady State are two sides of the same coin, I think of it like strength training - you want days where you push the weight limit to increase your max strength, and you want days where you push the number of reps at a lower weight as much as possible. Intensity and volume.
Same thing for cardio, unless you have a very specific sport related goal in mind, for general fitness a mix of HIIT and Cardio is good, you can push your peak performance with the HIIT and increase your endurance with Steady State.
It's not an either or, but a mutually beneficial relationship which will increase overall performance if you do both.0 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »
HIIT leads to higher VO2 max than steady state cardio:
Daussin et al. (2007) measured VO2max responses among men and women who participated in an 8-week HIIT and a continuous cardiovascular training program. VO2max increases were higher with the HIIT program (15%) as compared to the continuous aerobic training (9%)
cited here: https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/HIITvsCardio.html
also there are now studies investigating HIIT as a good method of recuperation from heart disease.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5129054/
HIIT and Steady State are two sides of the same coin, I think of it like strength training - you want days where you push the weight limit to increase your max strength, and you want days where you push the number of reps at a lower weight as much as possible. Intensity and volume.
Same thing for cardio, unless you have a very specific sport related goal in mind, for general fitness a mix of HIIT and Cardio is good, you can push your peak performance with the HIIT and increase your endurance with Steady State.
It's not an either or, but a mutually beneficial relationship which will increase overall performance if you do both.
Fact, but irrelevant to the weight loss question the OP asked.2 -
The extra cardio won't really help with weight loss. Think about it, the extra 60 minute session will only add another 500-600 calories of burn or so per week and the extra 30 minutes per workout only about 1200 or so. Hardly enough to make a difference, especially given the extra time investment needed.
Look into your diet. It might be time to take a bit of a diet break and/or to confirm your tracking/target levels.1 -
stanmann571 wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »
HIIT leads to higher VO2 max than steady state cardio:
Daussin et al. (2007) measured VO2max responses among men and women who participated in an 8-week HIIT and a continuous cardiovascular training program. VO2max increases were higher with the HIIT program (15%) as compared to the continuous aerobic training (9%)
cited here: https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/HIITvsCardio.html
also there are now studies investigating HIIT as a good method of recuperation from heart disease.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5129054/
HIIT and Steady State are two sides of the same coin, I think of it like strength training - you want days where you push the weight limit to increase your max strength, and you want days where you push the number of reps at a lower weight as much as possible. Intensity and volume.
Same thing for cardio, unless you have a very specific sport related goal in mind, for general fitness a mix of HIIT and Cardio is good, you can push your peak performance with the HIIT and increase your endurance with Steady State.
It's not an either or, but a mutually beneficial relationship which will increase overall performance if you do both.
Fact, but irrelevant to the weight loss question the OP asked.
the story of my life
get a kitchen scale OP!0
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