I am 55 years old, have been working out for 3 years and I am trying to lose weight. I've been doing an hour of cardio per day about 6 days a week. Today a trainer told me that I should only be doing 30 minutes of cardio a day because anything over 30 minutes and I'm burning muscle and not fat. Any other opinions as to his advice?
Is 60 minutes too much cardio?
- Thread starter jimk022
- Start date
Seems like a very oversimplified and garbled version of the idea that if you do only cardio, your weight loss will include both fat and muscle, perhaps more muscle than you really want to lose (particularly muscles not used in the cardio exercise).
Now, a marathon runner may not object to having little upper body muscle (after all, it is just more weight to carry around), but if you are not trying to optimize your body for a specific sport or activity, you may want to include general strength training in order to maintain (or even gain) as much muscle as possible while losing fat under calorie deficit and exercise conditions.
Now, a marathon runner may not object to having little upper body muscle (after all, it is just more weight to carry around), but if you are not trying to optimize your body for a specific sport or activity, you may want to include general strength training in order to maintain (or even gain) as much muscle as possible while losing fat under calorie deficit and exercise conditions.
wha? :sad2:
If your goal is to lose weight, and your caloric deficit is right, then no, it isn't too much. If your caloric deficit is too low, yeah you maybe losing muscle too.
I do believe like tjl you may want to balance it with strength training.....
Hmmm... 60 minutes is too much cardio, huh? wtf.
Do you have any medical condition that stops you from doing 60+ minutes. If not, then go for 2 hours. According to the show "The Doctors," the most dangerous thing in the gym is underqualifed Staff. It takes the body like 15 minutes of cardio before you enter into fat burning stage (for most people) so doing 30 minutes is only 15 minutes in fat burning... Personally, I try to go for as long as I can but then again I am in my mid-30's.
Good luck and keep up the effort to get into shape.
Stay healthy,
--Tic
Do you have any medical condition that stops you from doing 60+ minutes. If not, then go for 2 hours. According to the show "The Doctors," the most dangerous thing in the gym is underqualifed Staff. It takes the body like 15 minutes of cardio before you enter into fat burning stage (for most people) so doing 30 minutes is only 15 minutes in fat burning... Personally, I try to go for as long as I can but then again I am in my mid-30's.
Good luck and keep up the effort to get into shape.
Stay healthy,
--Tic
So 45 minutes would be reccomended for each session when cutting?
Ps.I go to the gym 4x a week
again it depends,on pre and post fuel,and intensity of cardio,also on your conditioning ie a conditioned athletes body might not release cortisol for an hour or more,an unconditioned athlete less time.
The opinion part is definitley true. I get confused sometimes expecially with the cardio or weights first as so many people say different.
You didn't say if you were doing any strength training/lifting weights. Adding muscle will increase the number of calories you burn even when resting. So if your goal is weight loss and you are only doing cardio, then you are missing out on a great way to boost your metabolism and lose weight. You may want to re-balance how much cardio you do as compared to strength training. Also, as the others have said, make sure you are properly fueled or you will start to burn muscle after too much cardio.
Hi Jim,
If your trainer made the statement as absolutely as you stated it, he/she is without support. It just ain't so.
There are many athletes and fitness buffs who train in cardio modes LONGER than 60 minutes with no loss of muscle mass. As already stated by our knowledgable family here, the cardio training mode, nutrition and strength training are certainly factors but there is no reason to categorically limit your cardio training to 30 minutes per day.
Rick DeLorme M.A., M.S.
Author of Fitness and Fallacies
[removed]
If your trainer made the statement as absolutely as you stated it, he/she is without support. It just ain't so.
There are many athletes and fitness buffs who train in cardio modes LONGER than 60 minutes with no loss of muscle mass. As already stated by our knowledgable family here, the cardio training mode, nutrition and strength training are certainly factors but there is no reason to categorically limit your cardio training to 30 minutes per day.
Rick DeLorme M.A., M.S.
Author of Fitness and Fallacies
[removed]
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..........!
Give me that trainer's phone number, i have a few words i'd like to share
Give me that trainer's phone number, i have a few words i'd like to share
Great Job!
Number one congratulations for exercising 6 days a week. For most people this would be a tough thing to do. I think the opinions on this forum were great. Especially the one that told you to make sure you feel healthy. This was a great post because ultimately people workout to feel and look better. As a trainer and physical education teacher I would like to offer some advice also. To help with your exercise program you must determine what your goals are. I am not only talking about goals in terms of in the gym, but in terms of functionality and everyday life. Looking strong is one thing, but actually being strong and capable of multi-planar movements in reality is the best. I like to educate my clients on how to safely and effectively reach their goals while leading a healthy and BALANCED lifestyle. I think you are on the right track as far as your level of determination.
Number one congratulations for exercising 6 days a week. For most people this would be a tough thing to do. I think the opinions on this forum were great. Especially the one that told you to make sure you feel healthy. This was a great post because ultimately people workout to feel and look better. As a trainer and physical education teacher I would like to offer some advice also. To help with your exercise program you must determine what your goals are. I am not only talking about goals in terms of in the gym, but in terms of functionality and everyday life. Looking strong is one thing, but actually being strong and capable of multi-planar movements in reality is the best. I like to educate my clients on how to safely and effectively reach their goals while leading a healthy and BALANCED lifestyle. I think you are on the right track as far as your level of determination.
recent research from the University of California shows that concurrent training can improve endurance and strength (Journal of strength and conditioning research 22(5), p1487-1502, 2008)
Some studies have proved that training in one area will automatically interfere with the development of another. I can remember this being the 'gospel' according to McKardle, Katch and Katch! The flaw is we believe this to be true for whatever type of fitness there is. The fact is a lot of studies used untrained subjects and did not provide adequate recovery for their subjects. However, research on trained subjects with adequate recovery tells a different story (again published in JSCR: 2001, 15, p172-177; 2003, 17, p393-401; 2006, 20, p541-546).
The findings from the latest research, 2008, suggests that for 'well conditioned athletes concurrent training can develop both the endurance and strength of the trained subject, in particular integrated training, where the sequencing of training has a major impact on the results, is more effective than serial training'.
In a nutshell, if you are well conditioned, weight training and aerobic training can be done in the same training cycle and even in the same session. Alternating sets of resistance exercise with brief intense aerobic work is more beneficial for developing both strength and endurance at the same time than starting with a block of resistance and ending with a block of cardio. The only drawback for the 2008 study that i can see is that the subjects trained for 1hr and 50mins so adequate rest is a must or fear overtraining!
Is there a case for circuit training?
Some studies have proved that training in one area will automatically interfere with the development of another. I can remember this being the 'gospel' according to McKardle, Katch and Katch! The flaw is we believe this to be true for whatever type of fitness there is. The fact is a lot of studies used untrained subjects and did not provide adequate recovery for their subjects. However, research on trained subjects with adequate recovery tells a different story (again published in JSCR: 2001, 15, p172-177; 2003, 17, p393-401; 2006, 20, p541-546).
The findings from the latest research, 2008, suggests that for 'well conditioned athletes concurrent training can develop both the endurance and strength of the trained subject, in particular integrated training, where the sequencing of training has a major impact on the results, is more effective than serial training'.
In a nutshell, if you are well conditioned, weight training and aerobic training can be done in the same training cycle and even in the same session. Alternating sets of resistance exercise with brief intense aerobic work is more beneficial for developing both strength and endurance at the same time than starting with a block of resistance and ending with a block of cardio. The only drawback for the 2008 study that i can see is that the subjects trained for 1hr and 50mins so adequate rest is a must or fear overtraining!
Is there a case for circuit training?
OK, so, I'm sorry for bringing this up again, but I've got plenty of questions:
How does one properly fuel the machine pre/post workout to minimize muscle loss with cardio activity? I mean macronutrient-wise. What does the body need for me to get the most out of my cardio sessions? I'm guessing protein post-workout, as always.
I do full body strength training on Mon, Wed, and Fri. And cardio on Tues, Thurs, Sat. Does my eating routine have to be different depending on the type of workout I'll put my body through?
Thanks a bunch
How does one properly fuel the machine pre/post workout to minimize muscle loss with cardio activity? I mean macronutrient-wise. What does the body need for me to get the most out of my cardio sessions? I'm guessing protein post-workout, as always.
I do full body strength training on Mon, Wed, and Fri. And cardio on Tues, Thurs, Sat. Does my eating routine have to be different depending on the type of workout I'll put my body through?
Thanks a bunch
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