Jump to content

Too much Cardio?


Recommended Posts

I lift and strength train 6 days a week, and I've been running 6 days a week, with an absolutely spotless diet, and my weight just goes up or stays the same (on a 750 calorie deficit not counting exercise losses!)

Yes I know I'm a freak, and I have an appointment with a doctor to figure out WTF, but that's not until late march.

So, would going up to 7 days of cardio a week be a problem? (I do about 1 hour of sprint/jog intervals, on the recommendation of my personal trainer.)

I just want to know if it's detrimental to run too much, negating risk of injury.

Thanks VBBF!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're on a 750-calorie deficit diet, NOT including the weight training and running you're doing 6 days a week? That sounds like you're easily surpassing 1,000 calories of deficit a day...which is more aggressive than most people recommend for weight loss (a true 1,000 calorie deficit would mean 2 pounds of fat lost per week).

 

Are you overweight? If you have a good amount of fat on you, it may be possible that you're building muscle faster than you're losing fat - which could cause your weight to go up. When you say your weight goes up or stays the same...are you doing any measure of body fat %? Because you might be changing the composition of your body, increasing lean mass and losing fat without realizing it if your only measure is weight. If you were doing cardio without weight training, weight might be a fair gauge because you wouldn't be building muscle...but right now you have two competing activities - weight training, which increases weight (by building muscle), and cardio, which decreases weight (by losing fat). So unless you are measuring body fat, your scale might be misrepresenting the changes in your body.

 

As for running more...I'd be worried about overtraining. 1 hour of cardio 6 days a week plus 6 weight training sessions is a lot of exercise. Depending on how long you've been doing this/what level you're at, it's tough to say whether the extra cardio session is really a bad idea or not. For the average person, I'd be worried about overtraining and injury. Even when training for a half-marathon, there are days I take off and/or do reduced mileage/intensity for that reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you think there's a possibility you're not getting enough calories? If your body isn't getting enough it may be storing what it is getting because it thinks it's in starvation mode. Have you considered upping your intake a little and see if that helps?

 

Just a thought.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you both for your feedback.

My body fat hasn't changed measurably in one direction or the other, so the gain might be a little muscle.

And I tried increasing my calories by about 500 and I gained quite a bit in a short amount of time.

I will say it again: I'm a freak. You can't even imagine how frustrating this is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

not gonna lie, when I first started working out seriously I was deeply afraid of flab and I would run on the daily. Full incline for 35 minutes or so just dumping calories. I was a noob back then and I am still afraid of getting another muffin top. I do a little less cardio and eat more now, giving it a real good shot. I figure if it doesn't work out for me I can always eat less.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Id like to see some before and after pics HD. This will paint a more accurate picture than a subjective self description of what you THINK might be happening.

 

I knew a lady that was hating the programme cos she didnt drop much weight. But when asked how many dress sizes she had dropped, she was like 'Oh yeah thats fine im like 3 sizes smaller!'.

 

Put up some pics and peeps can give you the better quality info you deserve and need to reach your health goals.

 

Above all, persistance in the right direction and a sustainable pace is key.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
I do about 1 hour of sprint/jog intervals, on the recommendation of my personal trainer.

How long have you been doing this? The thing you need to remember is that no one here can tell you what you should do, all we can do is give you suggestions so you have a few to try. That includes your personal trainer. Everyone's body is different. What's "too much cardio" for one person might be too little for another and just right for another. That's why I asked how long you've done this program. That is one thing you didn't state: the time frame of all this. There's a possibility that you haven't done this enough for your body to dump anything, but at the same time, there's a possibility that the sprinting/jogging you're doing isn't enough. Now, I'm not talking the hour...I'm talking the intensity. One thing I like to say is, "If you can do anything for an hour, you're doing it wrong." Unless you're training for endurance, you can seriously cut that hour WAY down and kick the intensity WAY up and find that's far more beneficial. I lost about 100lbs in about 10 months, and the last 35lbs to lose I was doing a significant change in cardio. First, I did it on the pavement after realizing the treadmill was absolute shit for me (I could go an hour on the treadmill with no problem, but as soon as I tried it on the pavement, I was dying after just 2 minutes). In addition, I seriously raised the intensity and, consequently, lowered the duration. Except for my endurance days, which were 45-60 minutes, my workouts were 25 minutes or less for cardio. I ditched the 35lbs in just 3 months, by the way. I, too, had a spotless diet and was doing heavy weight training (and got stronger, despite losing weight, so I know it was fat weight lost), as well as some ab stuff and 2-4 yoga sessions a week.

 

That means I was working out 6 days of hard cardio, 6 days hard lifting, 5 days abs, and 2-4 days of yoga. Most people were like, "OMG UR OVR TRANINNNG" but the reality was that I was juuuuust fine doing that. The weight also stayed off, which is something that people who dangerously lose weight can't boast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
Thank you both for your feedback.

My body fat hasn't changed measurably in one direction or the other, so the gain might be a little muscle.

And I tried increasing my calories by about 500 and I gained quite a bit in a short amount of time.

I will say it again: I'm a freak. You can't even imagine how frustrating this is.

 

Nah, you sound like me. A few questions:

 

1) Are you at least losing inches?

 

2) How much water are you drinking? How much salt?

 

3) How balanced is your diet?

 

Whenever I hear this, my guess is it's one or more of the following:

 

1) Too little variation in exercise. Your body adapts quickly to what you're putting it through. Provide more variety in what you're doing in order to exercise, and don't just do a lot of any one thing.

 

2) Water retention. Drink at least 10 cups a day and watch your sodium intake.

 

3) Not burning as much calories as you think you are. Everyone burns differently depending on metabolic rate, age, body type, gender, et cetera.

 

4) Eating more calories than you think you are.

 

Were it me, I'd vary up the exercise and try reducing the calorie intake a bit to see what happens. The way to know if you're not getting enough is if you get too tired to exercise. THAT'S a warning sign. You need fuel to burn fuel, kinda like spending money in order to make it.

 

Hope this helps, even if a little bit....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...