Cardio

greencampx · April 7

Does anyone do cardio anymore to lose weight? If so what’s the right amount one would do to lose some belly fat. Some would suggest 1-3 hrs a day. Give your thoughts in the comments

Lietchi · April 7

You lose belly fat by losing weight overall.

You lose weight by being in a calorie deficit, which you can achieve by eating less and/or being more active.

Personally, I did do exercise while losing weight (and still do now) because I love my food and being more active means being able to eat more 🙂 just do something you enjoy at a frequency and duration that suits you, your fitness level and your lifestyle. If exercise is new, it's best to build up gradually.

yirara · April 7

Doing 1-3 hours of cardio per day, ever day will lead very quickly to injury or overtraining. And likely a lot more hunger and potentially overeating. Why not set MFP to a realistic weightloss rate (hint: high is not always realistic) and eat food you enjoy and the right amount. Exercise a bit next to it because you enjoy it.

tomcustombuilder · April 7

The more sedentary you are the more cardio will play a part in overall well being, from burning calories to just getting the blood flowing. Too much and hunger goes up and you're potentially less active throughout the day due to being tired from the cardio so its a slippery slope and you need to find the right balance for your personal situation

neanderthin · April 7

No not really except 1 hour of pretty intense hockey once a week and I do walk for about 30 minutes on the treadmill after weights twice a week, but that's basically just to help with lactic acid and to cool down, so to speak. Diet is probably the better metric to concentrate on compared to cardio. You might see 100-300 calories burned for an hour of cardio, which is pretty much nullified if someone isn't vigilant regarding their diet and if your hitting Mickey Dee's on the way home or the way to work, your done, lol.

AnnPT77 · April 7

One to three hours of cardio is way, way overdoing for someone who hasn't worked up to that level. People can lose body fat, including belly fat, with zero additional exercise. There have been immobilized wheelchair users here, people entirely unable to exercise, who lost weight and belly fat.

I've been a pretty heavy exerciser for literally more than two decades. For a good share of that time, I trained pretty hard for 6 days most weeks, even competed as an athlete, not always unsuccessfully. Guess what? I stayed overweight to class 1 obese for a dozen years, doing that.

Then I lost body fat, including quite a lot of belly fat. Within a year, I was slim, at a healthy body weight. How? Well, I didn't increase exercise significantly. Increasing exercise by much would've ruined my good overall life balance. Honestly, if someone - anyone - goes from zero exercise to an hour daily, let alone 3 hours, I think they're very likely to crash and burn, ruin their life balance, even risk their health, and almost certainly give up before they lose much weight or improve fitness. It's not a realistic plan.

You'd be more likely to actually achieve your goals, and do it in less calendar time, if you ate sensibly fewer calories daily than you burn, and gradually increased exercise to a level that's enjoyable for you and fits into your life well.

As others have said, it's not exercise in itself that triggers weight loss. The right calorie balance triggers weight loss. Exercise lets a person eat a bit more and get better nutrition while that sensible loss rate is happening, plus it's great for health and appearance improvement.

The real goal here, the golden prize, is finding new routine habits that will make us healthier and help us look better, while keeping us happy and having a balanced life - job, home, family/friends, non-exercise hobbies, eating routine, intentional exercise.

Don't work out for an hour or more daily, unless you're only doing it because you love that activity. (Even then, increase exercise gradually.) Make a more sensible plan . . . one that's more likely to succeed.

No matter what route you take, I hope you succeed in your goals, sincerely!

springlering62 · April 8

judging from your profile pic, you are young, and don’t have much to lose. It’s also a much slower process when you’re very close to goal already.

You can’t target where weight will come off. That’s basically down to genetics.

Please be really cautious overdoing it, because your post kind of implies you’re seeking permission to go that route.

If you go too hard too fast, you can injure yourself, risk hair loss, actually risk muscle damage or loss (including your heart) women can lose their periods, and men can lose, well, performance.

If your photo is accurate, I’d continue focus on building core and muscle to get the look you want.

Lose the “some would say” mindset and research for yourself, or ask for help from the good folks here. A couple of the gentlemen who’ve already posted on your thread are extremely knowledgeable and helpful.

BTW, I do workout several hours a day, but it’s taken me a while to build up to it. I also have the luxury of being retired, time on my hands, and I do it because I enjoy it. I still gots belly fat. Genetics. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ but you know what? So does my husband of nearly 40 years, and we still love each other through-literally- thick and thin. If you’re fearful a potential partner is judging you for belly fat, move on. But honestly it comes down to us judging ourselves, doesn’t it?

You, in your prime, are presumably a student or working or both. Give yourself a break. Working out at that level is an additional full time job. Allow yourself some time to enjoy life, too!

Cardio

Replies

Categories