Can you overtrain on cardio?

[penguinsfan]

I'm talking purely short-term fat loss here. Can you do too much cardio to where it will slow down the fat loss? If so, what is the standard?

 

[longstretch]

I'm talking purely short-term fat loss here. Can you do too much cardio to where it will slow down the fat loss? If so, what is the standard?

Definitely yes. Depending on your level of fitness it is very easy to overdo cardio to the point where your body is catabolizing the protein in your muscles for a fuel source.

The standard these days are 30-60 minutes of continious cardio but through the research I've done the best way I found to lose fat is to do interval training (or Fartlek for you Swedes). I recommend a recumbrent bike because it takes low skill (no chance of falling, or tripping) so you can concentrate on the work of the cardio. I would do 16 minutes of interval training on the recumbrent bike at about 85% of your best effort and at the end of the session write down the resistance level, the distance, the speed and the cal. burned. Next time you do cardio try to beat one of those, and each time after that progressively beat the new stats. This makes your body a fat burning machine trust me.

 

[penguinsfan]

Definitely yes.

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Depending on your level of fitness it is very easy to overdo cardio to the point where your body is catabolizing the protein in your muscles for a fuel source.

My fitness level is mediocre at best. Actually, when it comes to cardio activity, I can outlast most. It's strength where I'm lacking.

Out of concern that I would lose too much lean muscle, I did start 2 days per week of upper body weight training (about 45 min. sessions) and have seen strength gains throughout this short time.

The standard these days are 30-60 minutes of continious cardio but through the research I've done the best way I found to lose fat is to do interval training (or Fartlek for you Swedes). I recommend a recumbrent bike because it takes low skill (no chance of falling, or tripping) so you can concentrate on the work of the cardio. I would do 16 minutes of interval training on the recumbrent bike at about 85% of your best effort and at the end of the session write down the resistance level, the distance, the speed and the cal. burned. Next time you do cardio try to beat one of those, and each time after that progressively beat the new stats. This makes your body a fat burning machine trust me.

My norm is about 75 minutes on an elliptical crosstrainer at a fairly relaxed pace in the "fat burn" heartrate zone. Then, most nights I follow that up with interval running on a treadmill, alternating from 3.5 MPH (a brisk walk) to 5.5 MPH (a decent jog), for about 3-4 miles. During this time, my heartrate will be around 125 in the fat burning zone, then shoot up around 150-160 when I speed up the treadmill.

Weighing myself daily, I have seen the following weekly results for simplicity, from the start:

8/21 246.2
8/28 241.8
9/4 241.8
9/11 239.0
9/18 234.4
9/23 233.6

On 9/5, I started recorded the calories burned from my elliptical and treadmill:

1069
1146
1825
1827
0
1544
2122
1429
1956
1112
2067
913
1538
1563
2763
769
910
2166

The last figure is through yesterday, as I haven't worked out yet today, but will be heading out shortly.

If you would, give me your opinion on how bad I'm overdoing it, the consequences, and recommendations. Bare in mind, my cardio fitness probably is above average, in terms of endurance. Many will tire out long before I do.

 

[BillyMan]

Hydromaxmm. If you were just trying to lose weight you are kicking ass at it. But if you are doing cardio AND weight lifting I think you're supposed to stay roughly the same weight with muscle mass making up in weight for lost fat. You use a protein supplement? That helps a lot.

 

[penguinsfan]

Hydromaxmm. If you were just trying to lose weight you are kicking ass at it. But if you are doing cardio AND weight lifting I think you're supposed to stay roughly the same weight with muscle mass making up in weight for lost fat. You use a protein supplement? That helps a lot.

I basically lift weights a couple times a week to keep from losing any lean mass during calorie reduction and, of course, I see some strength gains and a little size increase, but I'm still dropping weight.

I don't eat all that much protein. My breakfast and dinner are typically vegetarian, although I have a sandwich with some meat at lunch. I eat a bar for an afternoon snack that usually has about 15 grams of protein and sometimes I get one with 25 or 30 on lifting days. I think the impact of protein for building muscle is very overrated, for a person that doesn't get seriously involved with weight training but just views it as one aspect of his fitness. As I mentioned on the other thread, people have gained strength and mass on the Rice Diet which only has about 5% of calories from protein.

 

[BazookaJoe]

I've overtrained on cardio. I use to RUN 3 miles sometimes twice aday for a year,and then oneday i was running and i got 1.5 miles and my legs felt like the shifted into a low gear and i lost all of my juice.

I never really lost more then 30lbs running because to do a lot of cardio you get really hungry and need to eat a lot of foods to restore the enegry back to the muscle.

I lost the most fat by bodybuilding and eating egg,whites,peanutbutter,oatmeal,turkey,chicken,veggies ,and swicthing from low to moderate carbs intake,( you need carbs are fuel) and moderate fruit consumption and a hell of a lot of water. With a cheatmeal and snacks moderate consumption.

. high caI also just made sure the mojority of fats i put into my body came from natural food soruces, like advacodoes,and peanuttbutter,just to name two.

 

[BazookaJoe]

Oh,sorry to answer your qestion . I can't tell how many miles you've gone based off the calories chart you posted.

You could be trying to lose weight too fast.
Maybe if you could post the miles and pace your going ,then I for one could get a better idea of what your talking about.

 

[BazookaJoe]

^^^ never mind that post i see where you posted your mileage and times. I don't think your overdoing it.You'd have to really check with your body in reguards to if your overdoing it or not.