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Jun 24, 2009 7:49 AM GMT
My workout is strictly cardio. I do interval training for 3 miles on the treadmill every morning, then I do about 1/2 hour on the stationary bike. In the evening after dinner I do another 2 miles on the treadmill (interval) and 1/2 hour on the stationary bike. Then to finish the workout for the day I swim 72 laps in the pool. Its about one mile. I started this workout out about 2 months ago and have only lost 4 pounds. WTF!!!! I don't eat more than 2000 calories a day. I am 5 10 183. Please help!!!  |
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Jun 24, 2009 7:53 AM GMT
I forgot to mention, I do this workout 7 days a week.
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Jun 24, 2009 11:41 AM GMT
Could be overtraining.... take off two days a week, see if that helps.
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Jun 24, 2009 11:48 AM GMT
Agree that you are doing too much. Try alternate days for a couple of weeks and see if it helps.
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Jun 24, 2009 12:08 PM GMT
You are overtraining. You also need to include a muscle-buildng workout as that will increase your metabolism.
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Jun 24, 2009 3:30 PM GMT
Like the others have said, you're overtraining. If you want to do cardio daily, switch it up so you're never doing the same type two days in a row--you need at least 24 hours for those particular muscle fibers to recover, and be rebuilt as stronger versions than what you had before. Think about maybe running one day, biking the day after, and swimming the day after that.
Also, unless you're training for a marathon, there is very little reason to do more than 30-45 minutes of cardio in a single stretch. You run into diminishing returns (each additional minute gives you less and less cardio benefit than the previous minute), and increase the risk of injury.
Final note: it's likely that you're trying to operate on too high of a caloric deficit, and your metabolism has switched to starvation mode. The amount of cardio you've listed looks to be about 800-1000 kcal each day. Doing that much, plus your basal metabolism, and only eating 2,000 kcal is way more than a 500 kcal deficit, which is the maximum one typically recommended for sustained weight loss.
You're in the odd position of probably needing to eat more and exercise less in order to lose weight.
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Jun 24, 2009 4:06 PM GMT
I never thought I was over training. I will try these suggestions. Maybe its time to start hitting the weights.  |
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Jun 24, 2009 4:12 PM GMT
all these peopleDeficits, calories, numbers, metabolizing, blah blah blah. My suggestion: eat 1500 calories a day and cut out a bit of the cardio. If you eat less, you will get smaller. That's the simplest equation on earth. |
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Jun 24, 2009 4:15 PM GMT
The human body adapts quickly. Change what you're doing and it will have to work harder to adapt. The biggest mistake in fitness is doing the same thing over and over again. Plus, current research states that strength training, or interval training, are far more effective methods for burning fat than steady state cardio.
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Jun 24, 2009 4:34 PM GMT
Aznewbie saidMy workout is strictly cardio. I do interval training for 3 miles on the treadmill every morning, then I do about 1/2 hour on the stationary bike. In the evening after dinner I do another 2 miles on the treadmill (interval) and 1/2 hour on the stationary bike. Then to finish the workout for the day I swim 72 laps in the pool. Its about one mile. I started this workout out about 2 months ago and have only lost 4 pounds. WTF!!!!
I don't eat more than 2000 calories a day. I am 5 10 183.
Please help!!! Keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat - so rather than judging your progress by weight, you might consider taking your body's measurements and tracking your progress that way. |
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Jun 24, 2009 4:50 PM GMT
Ryko saidThe human body adapts quickly. Change what you're doing and it will have to work harder to adapt. The biggest mistake in fitness is doing the same thing over and over again. Plus, current research states that strength training, or interval training, are far more effective methods for burning fat than steady state cardio.
all my training on the treadmill is interval. BTW, i just weighed myself this morning and I'm down another 2 pounds. 180 |
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Jun 24, 2009 4:52 PM GMT
***eagerly awaits Chucky***
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Jun 24, 2009 5:13 PM GMT
I know this sounds hard to believe, but you might actually be eating TOO FEW calories to lose weight!
There is an ideal zone for weight loss, where your body is taking in about 400-600 calories less than it burns a day. In this zone you will lose the most weight!
If your body is burnin 0 - 400 calories more than your daily intake, you will basically just maintain your weight. HOWEVER - if your body is burning 600 - 1000 calories more than your daily intake, your body goes into starvation mode and starts to stubbornly store fat!
I would bet you are burning closer to 3000 calories a day, yet you are only eating 2000! I know it sounds wacky, but either eat more or work out less and you will lose more weight!
Good luck to ya!
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Jun 24, 2009 6:07 PM GMT
As others are mentioning, lift weights. You need some serious strength training.
Do cardio 3 times a week, HIIT. Four times at the extreme maximum. Lift weights 3 times a week. Four if you are actually serious about it.
Get sufficient rest. Eight hours a night.
Your largest meal should be breakfast, diminishing amounts for later meals.
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Jun 24, 2009 6:08 PM GMT
Aznewbie saidMy workout is strictly cardio. I do interval training for 3 miles on the treadmill every morning, then I do about 1/2 hour on the stationary bike. In the evening after dinner I do another 2 miles on the treadmill (interval) and 1/2 hour on the stationary bike. Then to finish the workout for the day I swim 72 laps in the pool. Its about one mile. I started this workout out about 2 months ago and have only lost 4 pounds. WTF!!!!
I don't eat more than 2000 calories a day. I am 5 10 183.
Please help!!! First of all realize that anything worth doing should be worth doing well. You haven't even made the effort to put forth a picture, doing the bare minimum possible, yet, you seek answers from strangers, giving them no basis other than the paragraph above. If you went into your doctor's, lawyer's or accountant's office so unprepared they'd tell you to come back prepared, later, and send you a bill for your time. Get it together. You're lazy, having not even taken time to complete your profile. Of course, your whole approach is a plan for failure. I have friends who are high-level trainers. They would fire you. I don't know you, your somatype, your fat levels, your calories levels / composition, so, any advice here, is, at best, an unqualified guess, but, you're doing almost everything wrong. You've had a sure-fire plan for failure up to this point. Interval training should take about 12 minutes, and you should be done. Period. That's all you need to stay lean and fit. Period. To preserve your body weight, in the lack of calories, your body will slow everything from heart rate, breath rate, to digestion, in an effort to to protect you from the famine, and yet allow you to continue the hunt. It's a holdover from chasing after prey in the caveman days and drought and so on. Your body will catabolize muscle for fuel. Clearly, you need to take some time to study this on your own, and to experiment with works for you. In most instances I've seen with this, the solution has been to 1. Increase calories to get your metabolism back up, and to stop the famine syndrome. 2. Cut back on the cardio. 12 minutes of HIIT, properly done, is ENOUGH. Unless you're training for a marathon, endless hours of aerobic exercise are non-productive, and cost you joint injury and ruin any muscle you might have. 3. Properly done, HIIT WILL INCREASE YOUR CARDIAC THRESHOLD AS YOU GROW OLDER. Steady state cardio does NOT do that. DO HIIT. It's vastly more effective. It preserves muscle. It prevents injury. It saves time. It increases cardiac threshold. 4. You MUST do resistance training. Increased muscle mass is the ONLY THING that will increase your base metabolic rate AS YOU GROW OLDER. Increased muscle mass means it's easier to stay lean, and injury free. 5. Keep your calories UP to sustain a high activity level. Without knowing your body composition, isn't impossible to compute your base caloric requirement, but, I can tell you that 2000 calories IS NOT NEARLY ENOUGH, given your posting. Roughly, HIIT can burn 800 to 1200 calories, per hour..... with lower level cardio burning from 300 to 600 per hour. Do the math yourself. Take some time to get off your ass and study up. Almost certainly you are training your body how to be a fat-storing machine with all that activity and lack of calories. Study the famine response. 6. You say you're 31. Have a CMP done with a PSA test, fasting glucose, thyroid, and testosterone. You're at the age where you likely should be on HRT (Hormone Replace Therapy) to prevent diseases of aging, protect your heart, skeletal muscle, and bone, prevent cancer, increase libido, and promote a general sense of well being. You almost certainly could benefit from HRT/AAS. 7. You should see a mental health professional. Even the very best of master athletes don't train at the level you say you do. It's sounds like you have issues of OCD, or self esteem (the pictureless and lack of profile give it away.). Understand, all this is sports science. The body is a machine. What works on a GM, may, or may not, work on a Ford, but, there are some general rules. For now, you're training like an idiot. Now, go use the computer to learn everything you can about sports science. Now, go eat. Now, go get the SR21 food calculator from the USDA, and get your food intake tabulated and analyzed. Now, go get a body fat composition test done. Now, go get the tests done I mentioned above. Now, go get your pictures, profile completed. Now, go get to lifting some weights, or doing some from of resistance exercise (they can be body weight if need be). Now, go see a pro about why you're obsessed about training. Now, go see a prof about why you're to lazy, to dumb, or to scared to show yourself, and complete your profile. Memorize this: anything worth doing should be worth doing well. After you've done the above, check back, and we'll look at what's going on. Stop training like an idiot. Study. Learn. Make a plan for success. Execute it. |
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Jun 24, 2009 6:38 PM GMT
chuckystud saidAznewbie saidMy workout is strictly cardio. I do interval training for 3 miles on the treadmill every morning, then I do about 1/2 hour on the stationary bike. In the evening after dinner I do another 2 miles on the treadmill (interval) and 1/2 hour on the stationary bike. Then to finish the workout for the day I swim 72 laps in the pool. Its about one mile. I started this workout out about 2 months ago and have only lost 4 pounds. WTF!!!!
I don't eat more than 2000 calories a day. I am 5 10 183.
Please help!!!
First of all realize that anything worth doing should be worth doing well.
You haven't even made the effort to put forth a picture, doing the bare minimum possible, yet, you seek answers from strangers, giving them no basis other than the paragraph above. If you went into your doctor's, lawyer's or accountant's office so unprepared they'd tell you to come back prepared, later, and send you a bill for your time. Get it together.
You're lazy, having not even taken time to complete your profile.
Of course, your whole approach is a plan for failure. I have friends who are high-level trainers. They would fire you.
I don't know you, your somatype, your fat levels, your calories levels / composition, so, any advice here, is, at best, an unqualified guess, but, you're doing almost everything wrong. You've had a sure-fire plan for failure up to this point.
Interval training should take about 12 minutes, and you should be done. Period. That's all you need to stay lean and fit. Period.
To preserve your body weight, in the lack of calories, your body will slow everything from heart rate, breath rate, to digestion, in an effort to to protect you from the famine, and yet allow you to continue the hunt. It's a holdover from chasing after prey in the caveman days and drought and so on. Your body will catabolize muscle for fuel.
Clearly, you need to take some time to study this on your own, and to experiment with works for you.
In most instances I've seen with this, the solution has been to
1. Increase calories to get your metabolism back up, and to stop the famine syndrome.
2. Cut back on the cardio. 12 minutes of HIIT, properly done, is ENOUGH. Unless you're training for a marathon, endless hours of aerobic exercise are non-productive, and cost you joint injury and ruin any muscle you might have.
3. Properly done, HIIT WILL INCREASE YOUR CARDIAC THRESHOLD AS YOU GROW OLDER. Steady state cardio does NOT do that. DO HIIT. It's vastly more effective. It preserves muscle. It prevents injury. It saves time. It increases cardiac threshold.
4. You MUST do resistance training. Increased muscle mass is the ONLY THING that will increase your base metabolic rate AS YOU GROW OLDER. Increased muscle mass means it's easier to stay lean, and injury free.
5. Keep your calories UP to sustain a high activity level. Without knowing your body composition, isn't impossible to compute your base caloric requirement, but, I can tell you that 2000 calories IS NOT NEARLY ENOUGH, given your posting. Roughly, HIIT can burn 800 to 1200 calories, per hour..... with lower level cardio burning from 300 to 600 per hour. Do the math yourself. Take some time to get off your ass and study up. Almost certainly you are training your body how to be a fat-storing machine with all that activity and lack of calories. Study the famine response.
6. You say you're 31. Have a CMP done with a PSA test, fasting glucose, thyroid, and testosterone. You're at the age where you likely should be on HRT (Hormone Replace Therapy) to prevent diseases of aging, protect your heart, skeletal muscle, and bone, prevent cancer, increase libido, and promote a general sense of well being. You almost certainly could benefit from HRT/AAS.
7. You should see a mental health professional. Even the very best of master athletes don't train at the level you say you do. It's sounds like you have issues of OCD, or self esteem (the pictureless and lack of profile give it away.).
Understand, all this is sports science. The body is a machine. What works on a GM, may, or may not, work on a Ford, but, there are some general rules. For now, you're training like an idiot.
Now, go use the computer to learn everything you can about sports science.
Now, go eat.
Now, go get the SR21 food calculator from the USDA, and get your food intake tabulated and analyzed.
Now, go get a body fat composition test done.
Now, go get the tests done I mentioned above.
Now, go get your pictures, profile completed.
Now, go get to lifting some weights, or doing some from of resistance exercise (they can be body weight if need be).
Now, go see a pro about why you're obsessed about training.
Now, go see a prof about why you're to lazy, to dumb, or to scared to show yourself, and complete your profile.
Memorize this: anything worth doing should be worth doing well.
After you've done the above, check back, and we'll look at what's going on.
Stop training like an idiot. Study. Learn. Make a plan for success. Execute it. BOO-YA!!! There it is....
Thanks Chuckystud! |
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Jun 24, 2009 6:46 PM GMT
Jeez Chucky,
Harsh much. Unfortunately, he's right . . . although his tactic in pointing it out to you is a little rough (then again, rough love is most certainly the most fun love).
Look, weight loss is a specialty of mine. I've helped many clients reach their personal goals . . . and I'm proud to say I used to be quite overweight myself and put many theories and whatnot into practice. I think most of the guys here have so you really should listen to some keynotes in this regard.
1. Think of your body as a machine...as Chucky said...without the mechanics (muscles) how can you expect your body to react. Get into the gym and start doing some resistance training. Speak to a trainer if you must to set you up on a program that can gear you towards weightloss. MOST IMPORTANT, remember it's all about form not about how much you can lift. It's quality over quantity!
2. Doing cardio is all well and good -- although like everyone here has already stated, you are doing some SERIOUS overtraining. HIIT is certainly the most effective in training and weight loss . . . but it's not for everyone. Personally, I absolutely HATE doing cardio, but I do it at least 3x a week at a pretty intense level. Take 220-your age...that's the maximum your heart rate should really reach. By the end of your cardio, you should be sweating and exhausted. Too many people simply go along for the ride...that's not doing anyone any good. WORK!
3. Variety really is key to weight loss. Your food should be varied, although your choices smart; your cardio should also be varied to keep you engaged; and your resistance training should be varied as well...in other words, change your program every 6 weeks.
4. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, be specific about you want!!! If you give your trainer a clear idea of exactly what you want, they'll be able to tailor a program suited to you! You don't have to do this alone.
5. Get a picture up...it's always nice to see who's on the other end of the advice and it's pretty difficult to give accurate ideas without seeing SOMETHING.
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Jun 24, 2009 9:25 PM GMT
If was to start weight lifting what muscles should I work out together?
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Jun 24, 2009 11:40 PM GMT
chuckystud saidAznewbie saidMy workout is strictly cardio. I do interval training for 3 miles on the treadmill every morning, then I do about 1/2 hour on the stationary bike. In the evening after dinner I do another 2 miles on the treadmill (interval) and 1/2 hour on the stationary bike. Then to finish the workout for the day I swim 72 laps in the pool. Its about one mile. I started this workout out about 2 months ago and have only lost 4 pounds. WTF!!!!
I don't eat more than 2000 calories a day. I am 5 10 183.
Please help!!!
First of all realize that anything worth doing should be worth doing well.
You haven't even made the effort to put forth a picture, doing the bare minimum possible, yet, you seek answers from strangers, giving them no basis other than the paragraph above. If you went into your doctor's, lawyer's or accountant's office so unprepared they'd tell you to come back prepared, later, and send you a bill for your time. Get it together.
You're lazy, having not even taken time to complete your profile.
Of course, your whole approach is a plan for failure. I have friends who are high-level trainers. They would fire you.
I don't know you, your somatype, your fat levels, your calories levels / composition, so, any advice here, is, at best, an unqualified guess, but, you're doing almost everything wrong. You've had a sure-fire plan for failure up to this point.
Interval training should take about 12 minutes, and you should be done. Period. That's all you need to stay lean and fit. Period.
To preserve your body weight, in the lack of calories, your body will slow everything from heart rate, breath rate, to digestion, in an effort to to protect you from the famine, and yet allow you to continue the hunt. It's a holdover from chasing after prey in the caveman days and drought and so on. Your body will catabolize muscle for fuel.
Clearly, you need to take some time to study this on your own, and to experiment with works for you.
In most instances I've seen with this, the solution has been to
1. Increase calories to get your metabolism back up, and to stop the famine syndrome.
2. Cut back on the cardio. 12 minutes of HIIT, properly done, is ENOUGH. Unless you're training for a marathon, endless hours of aerobic exercise are non-productive, and cost you joint injury and ruin any muscle you might have.
3. Properly done, HIIT WILL INCREASE YOUR CARDIAC THRESHOLD AS YOU GROW OLDER. Steady state cardio does NOT do that. DO HIIT. It's vastly more effective. It preserves muscle. It prevents injury. It saves time. It increases cardiac threshold.
4. You MUST do resistance training. Increased muscle mass is the ONLY THING that will increase your base metabolic rate AS YOU GROW OLDER. Increased muscle mass means it's easier to stay lean, and injury free.
5. Keep your calories UP to sustain a high activity level. Without knowing your body composition, isn't impossible to compute your base caloric requirement, but, I can tell you that 2000 calories IS NOT NEARLY ENOUGH, given your posting. Roughly, HIIT can burn 800 to 1200 calories, per hour..... with lower level cardio burning from 300 to 600 per hour. Do the math yourself. Take some time to get off your ass and study up. Almost certainly you are training your body how to be a fat-storing machine with all that activity and lack of calories. Study the famine response.
6. You say you're 31. Have a CMP done with a PSA test, fasting glucose, thyroid, and testosterone. You're at the age where you likely should be on HRT (Hormone Replace Therapy) to prevent diseases of aging, protect your heart, skeletal muscle, and bone, prevent cancer, increase libido, and promote a general sense of well being. You almost certainly could benefit from HRT/AAS.
7. You should see a mental health professional. Even the very best of master athletes don't train at the level you say you do. It's sounds like you have issues of OCD, or self esteem (the pictureless and lack of profile give it away.).
Understand, all this is sports science. The body is a machine. What works on a GM, may, or may not, work on a Ford, but, there are some general rules. For now, you're training like an idiot.
Now, go use the computer to learn everything you can about sports science.
Now, go eat.
Now, go get the SR21 food calculator from the USDA, and get your food intake tabulated and analyzed.
Now, go get a body fat composition test done.
Now, go get the tests done I mentioned above.
Now, go get your pictures, profile completed.
Now, go get to lifting some weights, or doing some from of resistance exercise (they can be body weight if need be).
Now, go see a pro about why you're obsessed about training.
Now, go see a prof about why you're to lazy, to dumb, or to scared to show yourself, and complete your profile.
Memorize this: anything worth doing should be worth doing well.
After you've done the above, check back, and we'll look at what's going on.
Stop training like an idiot. Study. Learn. Make a plan for success. Execute it. All my workouts are HIIT. My stamina is insane. What you could do for 12mins i can do for 30. |
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Jun 25, 2009 12:01 AM GMT
Aznewbie saidAll my workouts are HIIT. My stamina is insane. What you could do for 12mins i can do for 30. I can eat two tubes of pringles. My stamina is insane. It is not necessarily ideal to do even if you can. |
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Jun 25, 2009 3:32 AM GMT
Lostboy saidAznewbie saidAll my workouts are HIIT. My stamina is insane. What you could do for 12mins i can do for 30.
I can eat two tubes of pringles. My stamina is insane. It is not necessarily ideal to do even if you can. tushay |
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Jun 26, 2009 8:01 AM GMT
maybe your working out so much you forget to take a dump every day!!  |
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Jun 26, 2009 8:15 AM GMT
hell I am busting my ass with our new house remodeling project and I feel like I am not loosing any either
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Jun 26, 2009 12:11 PM GMT
You seem to have a routine. You know the numbers down pat. 30 minutes of this, 12 minutes of that, blah blah blah.
You need to learn how to workout. Not numbers and charts and this intake and that. Workout. Sweat. Breath hard. Lift till you can't, hit a heavy bag until you can't.
Numbers and charts and food intake mean nothing. Unless you are working out at just the bare minimum to meet some number, it means nothing. If you are really working out you would not even need to think about caloric intake and such.
You need a gym or at least a gym buddy that knows how to workout. Not pump and pose. A real workout when you walk out of the gym saying I left it all. Not to be mean but I doubt you have ever done a real workout. You would worry about calories and such.
Sample beginner exercise:
All done without a break:
Pick a weight on a barbell, or just the barbell:
Do each for 8 reps:
Bent over row
Upright row
Shoulder press
Good mornings
Lunges each leg
Squat to a press
Stiff-leg deadlifts.
8 reps of each, 3-5 sets of each, one minute break in between. Add weights as you can. All done as one set. No break in between each exercise. Great all around strength and cardio builder.
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Jun 26, 2009 1:07 PM GMT
[quote][cite]All my workouts are HIIT. My stamina is insane. What you could do for 12mins i can do for 30. [/quote]
Clearly, you're not doing what we're doing then. You're not working hard enough....if you can do it for 30 minutes, then it's not enough. What Chucky was saying is you have to work SO HARD for 12 minutes that you literally can't go any further. It's not a question of if you're working harder than anyone else...it's a question of are you working hard enough for YOU?! That's the principle of HIIT. 12 minutes of incredibly intense work to the point of failure.
Remember that phrase..."point of failure". It's very important in achieving results.
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Jun 30, 2009 9:45 AM GMT
My first thought was that you might have plateaued but that is a very rigorous workout to plateau on. So I am agreeing with earlier posters and thinking that you just might not be giving your body that time it takes to heal and condition, but even if that was the case your body would be sore in a lot of cases. If the weight lifting and bodybuilding does not help then I would suggest finding foods to increase your metabolism.
The part where you say that you swim 72 laps (almost a mile). Where do you do that at and are you counting your laps right? Across the pool and then back to the beginning is a good 1 lap. That would place you doing 144 lengths of the pool a day. I do not see how someone swimming that much everyday could not see results. The ironman only do 2.5 miles and that is a very long way. You are doing half of the swimming part of the ironman a day, you should see much better results.
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Jul 03, 2009 12:58 AM GMT
each lap is 25 yards. I have a pool at my club. I have lost another 3 pounds since last posting this thread, but I just injured my groin, so I'm out of commission for a week. I have swam my whole life, after the 72 laps I'm not even tired. I feel like I could swim all day.  |
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Jul 03, 2009 1:46 AM GMT
Can someone explain how overtraining would prevent weight loss if the activity level is maintained with a calorie deficit?
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Jul 04, 2009 7:22 AM GMT
Serious? Are your parents or grandparents heavyset?? What will happen when you age and can't keep up that level of activity?? |
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Jul 04, 2009 6:43 PM GMT
I follow a similar regimen (swim-bike-run) but I have more than enough time to recover. Also, I do it for fun (more leisurely versus hard training) so I don't come across issues of overtraining that often. It's just part of my daily activity expenditure. Personally, I prefer huge amounts of cardio to strength training. Although, I do maintain a regular resistance program, but at the bare minimum because I absolutely hate lifting anything - I even avoid lifting the remote control for my TV. So, I'm afraid to say that the only effective way to "get thinner" with this sort of "all-day" cardio regimen is if you eat very little (starvation mode be damned!) - which is not something that is recommended if you want to maintain muscle mass. You can maintain the muscles but you would have to make the cardio harder and eat more - but then you can't keep that up for long periods - hence the overtraining. You would then get hungry, but still not training as smartly as you would expect since you've got a full day planned. It depends on what you want and what sort of lifestyle you prefer. For example, I can do what you do everyday and not eat for 5 days - during which time I will lose weight (I've never experienced the so-called starvation mode - but that's just me). I also have experience leaning out with what everyone else has suggested. So, either work out hard/smart (following Chucky's advice), or do all that cardio and eat little. Frankly, all that cardio will only benefit you if you enjoy it. |
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Jul 05, 2009 3:36 AM GMT
MikemikeMike saidSerious? Are your parents or grandparents heavyset?? What will happen when you age and can't keep up that level of activity?? Nope. |
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Jul 05, 2009 7:20 PM GMT
Dish out a little cash, hire a personal trainer at your gym, get them to set you up with a 3-month plan. If you don't knon whow to tackle it yourself, or if what you're doing isn't getting you the results, or you've plateaued, get a professional to help you out - they'll be able to work directly with you, at your current level, and develop a plan to strengthen and build properly where you need it.
There's a lot of great advice up here, so definitely keep it all in mind. Changing up the cardio is always a good idea - your body adapts quickly. Do things in different orders. Hit the pavement rather than the treadmill, your body will respond differently to it.
Personally, I enjoy my 10km runs, and I do them 5x a week - but it's not just for fitness, it's my meditation time, relaxes and destresses me, gives me time to think and clear my thoughts.. which is why I do it. So if you enjoy doing an hour of cardio a day, because you feel it has benefit to you, there is no harm in that.. if you're only doing your hour of cardio trying to get physical results and it's a chore, and it isn't doing what you need it to do, then change it up!
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Jul 05, 2009 8:45 PM GMT
There are three things I always tell people that do a lot of cardio and focus on scale weight.
The first is to focus less on the scale weight and more on your bodyfat%. As you probably already know, muscle gain leads to your scale weight increasing. However, this doesn't mean that you are getting fatter. It simply means that you are putting on lean muscle, which is a good thing. The best way to track your progress is by getting your bodyfat% taken, along with other measurements like waist, etc.. Then get new ones done every few months or so. These numbers in combination with how your clothes are fitting are the best way to judge overall progress. That is why the best mindset to have is 'I want to lose bodyfat" and not 'I want to lose weight".
The second is that you need to focus more on weight training and do it at least three times per week. Weight training is what leads to body transformation and overall loss of bodyfat. Doing a lot of cardio will burn calories and keep your heart healthy. However, it won't really do much for losing bodyfat. The only way to truly lose bodyfat is through gaining lean muscle.
Last but not least, is that you should cut back on the cardio. Cardio is a component of fitness. However, it has become one that people put way too much focus on. The main goal of doing cardio should be cardiovascular fitness. To maintain a healthy heart, you only need to do 90-120 minutes per week. When you are doing hours and hours of it everyweek, it tends to lead to muscle loss. So while you may be losing weight on the scale, you are losing the wrong type of weight. A good number for cardio is four days per week broken up by doing two days of steady state cardio after lifting sessions for 20-30 minutes a session, and two days of HIIT cardio on non lifting days to attack bodyfat and speed up metabolism. This will be enough to keep your heart healthy, and you won't sacrifice muscle in the process.
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Jul 05, 2009 9:13 PM GMT
Anto saidCan someone explain how overtraining would prevent weight loss if the activity level is maintained with a calorie deficit? Overtraining is problematic as your body fails to acheive recovery and you can risk injury - further as was already mentioned if your calorie deficit is too great then your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolic rate actually slows hence no more weight loss. How to do it better has already been stated. I was 176 lbs when i started a workout cycle 3 months ago - I was on about a 2500 cal diet - did 3 days of moderate to high cardio for 45 min to 1 hr. and 3 resistance days and I lost 18 lbs. Workouts were about 600 -800 cal burns. When I was eating like 2K calories I was "bonking" and wieght loss was not happening. Ate more and lost... go figure. |
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Jul 06, 2009 7:40 PM GMT
Probably already been said...
Eat more and lay off so much cardio. Doesn't that get annoying?
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Jul 06, 2009 8:04 PM GMT
Sometimes, ignorant folks are just ignorant, choice, and choose to remain ignorant.
Sometimes, stubborn folks are just stubborn.
Eating MORE often brings folks out of metabolic lag.
You can tell them, but, if they choose to continue in their failed methods, there's not a lot you can do; just continue to watch them fail.
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Jul 06, 2009 9:49 PM GMT
pjp201 saidAnto saidCan someone explain how overtraining would prevent weight loss if the activity level is maintained with a calorie deficit?
Overtraining is problematic as your body fails to acheive recovery and you can risk injury - further as was already mentioned if your calorie deficit is too great then your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolic rate actually slows hence no more weight loss.
How to do it better has already been stated. I was 176 lbs when i started a workout cycle 3 months ago - I was on about a 2500 cal diet - did 3 days of moderate to high cardio for 45 min to 1 hr. and 3 resistance days and I lost 18 lbs. Workouts were about 600 -800 cal burns.
When I was eating like 2K calories I was "bonking" and wieght loss was not happening. Ate more and lost... go figure. Right, but injury is different. If your metabolism slows down or your body goes into starvation mode it still has to burn calories to accomplish whatever task you are forcing it to go through, even if it means pushing it to failure or getting sick. It's still going to be calorie loss if the work is the same and you have a calorie deficit. It might be really bad for your health/body but I don't see how overtraining would prevent weight loss. |
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Jul 07, 2009 1:14 AM GMT
Anto saidpjp201 saidAnto saidCan someone explain how overtraining would prevent weight loss if the activity level is maintained with a calorie deficit?
Overtraining is problematic as your body fails to acheive recovery and you can risk injury - further as was already mentioned if your calorie deficit is too great then your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolic rate actually slows hence no more weight loss.
How to do it better has already been stated. I was 176 lbs when i started a workout cycle 3 months ago - I was on about a 2500 cal diet - did 3 days of moderate to high cardio for 45 min to 1 hr. and 3 resistance days and I lost 18 lbs. Workouts were about 600 -800 cal burns.
When I was eating like 2K calories I was "bonking" and wieght loss was not happening. Ate more and lost... go figure.
Right, but injury is different. If your metabolism slows down or your body goes into starvation mode it still has to burn calories to accomplish whatever task you are forcing it to go through, even if it means pushing it to failure or getting sick. It's still going to be calorie loss if the work is the same and you have a calorie deficit. It might be really bad for your health/body but I don't see how overtraining would prevent weight loss. But, you're not seeing the forest for the trees here. Yes, you will probably continue to lose weight if overtraining has set it. But, this weight is the wrong kind of weight. Your body has entered a catabolic state and will begin to consume muscle. That weight you're losing? That's muscle, my friend. |
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Jul 07, 2009 2:27 PM GMT
My point is that you still lose weight. It's misleading to say or imply that overtraining prevents weight loss.
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Sep 02, 2009 5:12 AM GMT
You need to learn how to workout. I guess I agree with what most of the people say here: you are probably overdoing it. Remember that your body is not a machine.
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