Two Hours A Day of Cardio?

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Giantess
Giantess Posts: 213 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Why yes, it IS time for my weekly self loathing I mean weigh in. Why do you ask?

Anyone else out there not losing weight or inches on an hour of cardio a day with calorie deficits? When I say I'm working my *kitten* off here, people, I mean it. If only it were TRUE and my *kitten* were COMING OFF.

I heard someone mention that contestants on the big loser show do two hours of cardio a day. Maybe I should kick it up a notch? Run an hour, then come home and do an hour of aerobics, then some pushups/crunches/squats?

I'm so utterly exhausted when I come home from running, I would probably have to wait an hour in between workouts.

I need to hear from people whose bodies just...don't budge on an hour of cardio. Then at least I will know what to do here instead of just beating my head against the wall (would that count as ab work?) wondering what is wrong with me.

Edited to add: I'm obese here, so it's not a case of being near an ideal weight. Two weeks of hard work and no joy.
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Replies

  • Airbear3
    Airbear3 Posts: 335 Member
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    i have read that cardio alone won't do it! i love to run, i do 3 miles everyday avg about 9 min a mile(go me), but it wasn't until i added in some strength (yoga and 6 wek 6 pack) did i see inches come off. i think is a great combo for me, since i am a foody and LOVE to eat. i'm working on that though. or i have just tried to change up my running speeds doing 3 min at 7mph, 2 min at 5 mph 2min at 6mph to keep the body guessing!
    ....and no i don't think beating your head off the wall counts as "ab work" or i would have a permanent concussion by now:0)
  • sarahcuddle
    sarahcuddle Posts: 349 Member
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    Feeling dejected too this morning as the scales haven't budged this week. I've been under my calories all week except one day where I was over about 40 cals and I've done some kind of exercise every day, usually totalling about an hour so yes I can definitely sympathise. I have started a new exercise programme doing C25K jogging so i'm putting it down to that. My body isn't used to running. The last time I actually ran was probably at school 30 years ago !! :) I did lose over 2lbs last week though. I think MFP overestimates calories from exercise so I'm not going to eat all my exercise calories back this next week and I will try to eat better and healthier and see if that works! Good luck to you too
  • bigboytriathlon
    bigboytriathlon Posts: 25 Member
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    One hour of cardio is more than enough. Definately. In fact, you mention you are obese, it may be too much. you may be sending your body into a "shock" response. Remember, our bodies get very comfortable from the lifestyle choices we make and will fight back with all means.
    Before kicking it up a notch to 2 hours, look at the other areas. Are you being 100% correct on your calories, are you stressed, are you getting enough sleep, etc.
    I am an advocate of huge cardio and endurance training, but make sure you are doing it for the right reason first. I would recommend changing the cardio first, try HIIT (interval training) for shorter periods of time before you jump it up. i find that a 29 minute HIIT session on a bike makes me feel a more intense burn than an hour of sustained riding, even with cadence changes.

    check your routine thoroughly before making any major dynamic changes, always change intensity before length.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    Add some serious resistance training instead. Doesn't matter if you join a gym or do bodyweight exercises in your living room, but you're going to want to add some strength training to your regimen, not another hour of cardio. It will benefit you more than the 200 odd calories that MFP will credit.

    Three things work in conjunction with each other to help control your weight. Calorie control, some form of cardio, and something for muscular enhancement. Right now you're doing two of them. Instead of going overboard on those two things, try adding the missing ingredient and seeing where you are 60 days from now.

    1. NO, you will not get bulky, manly, or anything like that
    2. NO, you do not need to wait until you have lost a lot of weight before you begin strength training
    3. DON'T use The Biggest Loser as a guide. Motivation, yes. Roadmap, Hell To The Naw.
    3. DON'T feel bad about your progress. It's only been two weeks? The body takes a while to make sure you're serious before it will start adjusting to your new routine. Give it some more time to adapt to what you're doing. I'm sure it took longer than 2 weeks for you to become obese. Stop the self loathing. You're on the right path and you're doing something. That seems like a reason to feel good, IMO.
  • kashudesu
    kashudesu Posts: 7
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    Davpul, you're response was beautiful~

    From the last visit I paid to the gym (whileback...) I was advised the same thing that Davpul mentioned. 1) Calories. 2) Cardio. 3) Strength training.
    Just figure out how to balance it out!! and don't work to overtire yourself~~ Your body is a temple, and you're learning how to look after it right :)<3 If you scrub the floors too hard, the tiles might start coming up. Same thing. Keep balanced~~

    I'm doing an hour of cardio a day (if not more...) and juuuust starting some strength training using those ball thingamajigs. doing 10 minutes on it doing things like planks, lunges, squats, bridge lifts, etc.

    <3 Good luck!!!
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    ewww why do so much cardio?

    i've seen great results on focusing mainly on strength training and weight lifting. i'm a former athlete so i can tell you for sure that i'm the type of woman who easily gains muscle yet because i eat at a deficit the more weight i lift the slimmer i get and the more my body sheds fat. the majority of my cardio is of the HIIT variety (which i guess technically isnt cardio) and in general i steer clear away from the long steady state endurance type cardio

    i spend an hour a day working out. i weight lift 3 times a week (was dong new rules of lifting for women and now i've switched to strong lifts 5*5). there's really only 1 day i spend doing close to 90 minutes of working out and that's on my long run day that i'm doing to prepare for some upcoming adventure and obstacle races.

    also i wouldnt trust what half the trainers in the gym say about strength training. most try and push cardio down women's throats i think because either they think the non barbie plastic weights will scare us or they themselves don't know what the hell they are doing with regards to free weights so they try and discourage anything they cant sell. not all trainers are like this of course, but generally speaking any trainer that's going to tell you to emphasize cardio over strength training i'd advise to ignore.

    the best thing about strength training is not only can you gain crazy strength , bu even when you have weeks where the scale weight stalls you will still be losing fat and can see the difference in your clothes. at one point over a few weeks i only lost 2 pounds, but those 2 pounds resulted in half a pants size
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,449 Member
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    I do not have the attention span for 1 hour of cardio. This week I did a challenge of 1 hour of steady state cardio and I was about ready to kill the machine after 40 minutes.

    I vote for working on strength training. And doing intervals, HIIT or not. They are all effective. Just go fast for a little wihile, then go normal pace and then go fast again. You can do a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of fast to slow, and build up to true HIIT (going all out for 20 seconds)

    I am the type to get gain size easily, and I mix up bodyweight, lower weights, kettlebells, heavier weights etc just to keep my self from getting bored. Keep the weights heavy enough to stay challenging for your entire set of reps.

    The best thing about strength training for me? The fact that I feel like I am making progress, even when nothing is moving anywhere. Even if I haven't dropped an inch, I can lift more weight, do more pushups, or do more reps. Eventually things will catch up.

    For me this month was horrible on the scale front. I am doing my weigh in tomorrow, but I am maybe down 2 pounds if I am lucky. But I lost about 4 inches in my belly! (Waist and other measurements stayed pretty consistent, besides around my belly button).

    And the etra strength even improves your performance in cardio. As I mentioned I did steady state for an hour. I rowed 10K meters, my longest distance yet (previous best was about 8000m). I also dropped my speed by 6 seconds per 500m over my last long row. And I only did the rower for about 2000m 2-3 times the entire month.
  • vfnmoody
    vfnmoody Posts: 271 Member
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    2 weeks is long time to wait for a change that you have earned.
    Just keep swinging .......it will come.
    I would suggest the addition of some strength training. I would also suggest you increase the intensity and ferquency of your cardio rather than the time per day. Maybe go up to 6 days a week.
  • ZoeyRobinson
    ZoeyRobinson Posts: 301
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    I'm with you. I was walking 10 miles a day. Thats over 2 hours a freaking day and absolutely no weight loss or inches lost.
    I am about to throw in the towel.

    I am starting the Butt Bible today. Hope that works.
  • fionarama
    fionarama Posts: 788 Member
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    you definitely need to try something different, if not to save your mental health! So change the way you exercise or change the way you eat. Question yourself - if you are feeling demoralised maybe you are "cheating" diet wise a bit, having that extra cookie here or there or whatever. I know I get slack when I feel frustrated with progress. So look at that and make sure you really can say you are logging correctly.
    And yeah, maybe try something different ? If you like running, instead of running for an hour do 30 mins of interval training (combined sprints and moderate pace).
    I don't think there is anyone who doesn't get great results from gillian michaels dVD's, maybe you could throw in 30DS which is only 20 minutes a day, do that for a month - you are almost guaranteed results from her DVD's they really do work.
  • varulv
    varulv Posts: 21
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    i would say two hours of cardio is WAY to much. if i were you i would mix in a little light weight lifting you may not see the pounds drop on the scale from it but as your muscle definition improves you will appear slimmer, and isn't that better then losing pounds?
  • Hendrix7
    Hendrix7 Posts: 1,903 Member
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    If you are not losing weight with the amount of cardio you are doing your total calorie intake and macros are wrong, simple as that, it's not te exercise which is the problem.

    This could be under eating (whic seems to plague this forum!) as well as over eating.

    Would be interested to know your height/weight/age and current calorie intake
  • Natihilator
    Natihilator Posts: 1,778 Member
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    I vote for strength training/ intervals over an extra hour of cardio. If how you look matters to you more than a number on a scale, lifting heavy weights is the way to go.

    Proof that strength training is awesome: I just fit into a pair size 14 pants, and I currently weigh 223lbs. Last time I fit into a size 14, when I was starvation dieting and only doing cardio for exercise, I weighed around 195lbs. The scale progress has been slow, but it's because I've lost fat, gained muscle as my body composition has changed, all thanks to pumping iron. If that's not a huge selling point, I don't know what is!
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
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    The exercise has been covered in the posts above
    I would recommend a little red meat too, Only checked your diary for a week and you don't have much red meat
    It was all chicken and seafood.

    Hormones can cause weight loss to be uneven too.

    Non-free range chicken is high in hormones and could be throwing you off too.
  • roxerella
    roxerella Posts: 80 Member
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    I'm not sure that upping your cardio will work. Something else maybe hindering you. I started going to the gym regularly a year ago, initially an hour every other day. I quickly upped it to an hour a day and in the first 5 months I lost 40 pounds. Then the weight loss stopped. I have not lost any weight since Dec despite eating 1400 calories a day and working out. Like you I thought "im not doing enough" So I have steadily increased my workouts. I currently do 2 hours of fitness classes/gym work outs a day (6 days a week) I wear a HRM and I burn 820 cals a day on average. Still no loss! I've started seeing a nutritionist and been to the Dr for tests. I have underlying issues.

    1: My cortisol levels (Stress hormone) are sky high. Dr says this may be physical stress due to working out too much and eating too litttle. My body is stressed and as a result has slowed down to try and recover from the shock.

    2: My thyroid is underactive.

    I do not yet have an answer. Dr and nutritionist do not know what to recommend. My thyroid hormones are not the common mix for underactive so Thyroxin is unlikely to work. And no easy cure for cortisol problem. Dr said. maybe work out less and eat more for a while. But she thinks I will likely gain weight. My body is fighting against my hard work and I'm not seeing results.

    If you are truly tracking everything that goes into your mouth and working out regularly and still not losing you may have an underlying issue.
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
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    If you are not losing weight with the amount of cardio you are doing your total calorie intake and macros are wrong, simple as that, it's not te exercise which is the problem.

    This could be under eating (whic seems to plague this forum!) as well as over eating.

    Would be interested to know your height/weight/age and current calorie intake

    This. I would also add in strength training over more cardio. And looking at your diary, while I know it's a personal decision, eating back some exercise calories might help with the exhaustion and get your body moving in the right direction.
  • Bobby_Clerici
    Bobby_Clerici Posts: 1,828 Member
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    Sorry, but you are headed for failure. I hate to be so blunt, but you need to realize that you're engaging in a typical form of self-sabotage. I looked at your diary.
    Eat back your exercise calories.:bigsmile: And balance your cardio with 3 days of resistance, but none of what we do means anything if we fail to feed our bodies.
    MFP is set up for us to maintain a net calorie intake every day to equal 1 lb of weight loss per week.
    1 pound equals 3500 calories.
    3500 divided by 7 days equals 500 calories per day. Our MFP daily number already has that 500 calories subtracted.
    When we exercise, that green number goes up, because MFP expects us to eat back your exercise calories to keep your net daily calorie intake steady; that's how MFP works.

    You just proved that not eating back calories freezes results, stifles metabolism and makes you crazy.
    Try doing it right.
    Follow the MFP recommendations.
    Good Luck :flowerforyou:
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
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    1. Try eating your workouts calories - at least half.
    2. Do weights
    3. Check with your dr you have no thyroid problems, etc
    4 Track sodium, the foods which you're eating (maccas etc) are very high in sodium, which will make you retain water plus do not have the highest nutritional content.
  • lisav6
    lisav6 Posts: 56
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    I don't have the time or the stamina to do that much cardio and from what I have read recently, it could be doing more harm than good as you can be burning muscle as well as fat. I am doing the beginner body weight work out from Nerd Fitness

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

    and am definitely seeing results. It feels like quite an easy circuit workout at first but, boy, do you feel it in your legs the next day (and the day after! etc...) The sight is great too, lots of good and funny advice. I am not loosing much weight at the moment but am definitely loosing inches which is what I want most of all, weight is just a number.
  • kitinboots
    kitinboots Posts: 589 Member
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    Try to shake it up a little, if you do the same all the time your body gets used to it and it has less effect. Even if you run further or faster as you progress you still need to keep your body guessing. Run backwards, up hills, do sprint intervals and add some different forms of exercise to your workout.

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