Random Thoughts on Cardio

[Daisy_Girl]

So I was thinking about this the last few days. My current workout routine entails 3x week HIIT and 1x 30-45min SS cardio.

Seeds of doubt started entering my mind, little horrible trolls saying "I really should add more cardio" "maybe do SS cardio the days I don't do HIIT" "I bet I would lose fat faster if I did more cardio" "maybe I should add some more cardio on the evenings I lift weights" "I don't think this is enough cardio to lose fat" etc etc .....

After all, women are programmed to think that 852 hours of cardio a week is necessary to lose fat. Everyone will be proud to know that I stomped on those trolls. But that started me really thinking ....

The cardio goal should be to do the least amount needed. By that, I mean, do the minimum you, as an individual, need to lose fat. If you develop a plan and start with a minimum amount and GET RESULTS - why do more?

If you are already doing cardio 45-60min 6x week - What will you do when results stop? Add MORE time? A second workout? For most people, that is so incredibly ridiculous. Once results slow or stop, THEN add another day or more time. Not before. Not to mention that all this cardio is likely counter-productive to fat loss.

Just some thoughts rumbling through my head.


** DISCLAIMER ... I didn't even mention that DIET is where you should look to make changes before adding hours of cardio. DIET is where fat loss happens, then weight training, and cardio is a distant, distant 3rd. And like Shadow has said - if you NEED to do more than 45min cardio 3x a week to lose fat - the problem is diet related.

 

[katdav]

How about a squeaky clean, nazi diet???

 

[Sassy69]

Well, as you noted, there are 4 components to your program:

Diet
Training
Cardio
Recovery

If you are already high on the cardio, then consider moving to maybe a more aerobic lifting program for a while, drop the cardio some and change your diet a bit. The thing is that there are so many different ways you can tweak things and also remember that its important to change things up -- if you're capped out on cardio and the only place to go is to 2x/ day or something like that, then maybe its time to shock your system and do something different. Maybe its time to up the carbs a bit or cycle your calories or your carbs or whatever. LOTs of different things.

I agree it is very hard to set up a shitload of regular cardio - but the intention is that you WILL be getting results from the combination of diet / trainng / cardio /recovery and it will be time to change parts of the program and not just focus 1000% on the fat burning thing that is being driven by this feelign that you need to do craploads of cardio. That's where if you look at your program similar to a competition prep approach - you don't do 3M hrs of cardio for 4 solid months - you build up with the intent of being at a certain point after x weeks of the build up. Then you switch to a different variable of the whole program.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

I am assuming you mean "you" in the general sense, not in refernce to ME in particular.

The number of things to adjust can boggle the mind ..... yet most people automatically go to MORE MORE MORE CARDIO.

I guess I was just ruminating over WHY DO SO MUCH CARDIO before changing other things? Because people are programmed to think more cardio = more fat loss?

 

[Sassy69]

LOL yes I mean "you" in the general sense of the word.

 

[T-Cake]

The number of things to adjust can boggle the mind ..... yet most people automatically go to MORE MORE MORE CARDIO.

I guess I was just ruminating over WHY DO SO MUCH CARDIO before changing other things? Because people are programmed to think more cardio = more fat loss?

I definitely think that this is the general consensus on cardio, especially when folks are first starting off on a fitness craze of any sort.

When I was still 185 back in February, I was doing 60 minutes a day, 6 days a week of HIIT first thing in the morning. Even once I started weightlifting, I remember telling Ulter I didn't think I was doing enough, and he told me that 1) anymore time spent on cardio would be counterproductive (like you were saying earlier) and 2) That one day off a week I was taking (as the extra sleep I was trying to get at night or via naps) was extremely necessary.

So not only do most people go gun ho out the gate to be "fit" in a week... they will miss sleep on top of that... and if they're well-rested, they'll do EXTRA cardio that day to crank it up.

I remember a day last year I did 90 minutes straight of cardio (yes, 90 minutes in the GYM on one machine!) because I had eaten 300 extra calories the night before.

I was HURTING and exhausted and felt so awful when I was done... little did I know, had I just taken a nap and slept it off... my well-rested body would have fixed it.

So should you do MORE cardio? It's your call (probably the worst answer I can give) Maybe add one more day if your body is crying for it... but don't doubt that you aren't doing enough. I'm still doing 45 to 60 minutes a day, 6 days a week... but I've got 25# to lose and it's the LAST 25# so I'm pushing myself harder with the weights and my endurance to make my body burn burn burn.

But do I feel like I'm killing myself? No. I'm getting more sleep now and I feel like I pay more attention to what my body is telling me about what I need and what I don't.

Ok, I just rambled... I hope I had something useful to say in there.

 

[The Shadow]

damn....


folks need to stop eating all the crap and then attempting to burn it off

LOL

 

[Sassy69]

For some people, they accept the cost of extra cardio so they can indulge some - that is a valid lifestyle as well.

Its not perfectly optimal but for a lifestyle balance it can be fine if a person so chooses to do that.

 

[*Bunny*]

These are MY random thoughts...

Im so past the extra cardio is better for fat loss thinking... I know better NOW.

For fat loss I like to whoop my ass on the step mill or sprint or run stairs & incline hills...

Sometimes cardio sometimes weight training help me clear my head when nothing else can. If someone else thinks Im doing it for any other reason I don't really care... Im not doing it to 'tone up' or lose added fat, I know that (for me) happens with my diet.

Cardio has never been a negative thing for me to incorporate in my life, EVER. I don't think I'd like to ever give it up completely or cut it down to a minimum when I enjoy it and the way I feel after it. As long as I know what I want and what Im doing it for then it's all good me with.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Im so past the extra cardio is better for fat loss thinking... I know better NOW.

For fat loss I like to whoop my ass on the step mill or sprint or run stairs & incline hills...

Sometimes cardio sometimes weight training help me clear my head when nothing else can. If someone else thinks Im doing it for any other reason I don't really care... Im not doing it to 'tone up' or lose added fat, I know that (for me) happens with my diet.

Cardio has never been a negative thing for me to incorporate in my life, EVER. I don't think I'd like to ever give it up completely or cut it down to a minimum when I enjoy it and the way I feel after it. As long as I know what I want and what Im doing it for then it's all good me with.

I totally see this and I was EXACTLY the same way - pre baby. I loved doing cardio - it was a stress reliever for me, and I just simply enjoyed doing it. But sometimes, unfortunately, I did cardio at the expense of weights- not a great thing. ALso, now that I have Baby Daisy, I would rather spend time with HER than time at the gym. It is all about your life, and the priorities you set - you know?

But also, you KNOW that cardio is not where the bulk of fat burning comes from. You acknowledge, that for you, all the cardio you do is not for fat burning. It is the people that think MORE MORE MORE cardio will make them lean and "toned" (lol) that are troublesome.