quote:
I feel like I should be doing more cardio to achieve my goals but I'm trying to work smart about it. Do I just need to be patient and continue with the amount I'm doing?

First off, and I assume you know this, you cannot spot reduce fat. So while you're not specifically referring to a particular area to lose fat, by saying you'd like to lose a "large portion of fat mass" makes me think you're looking for a way to efficiently shrink down parts of your body - multiple parts perhaps at the same time.

Cardio isn't the key to that. Neither is lifting. Those are great for body composition and satisfying that athletic instinct to compete. They do aid in fat loss but only in the sense that you are burning more calories with the activities.

Steady state cardio burns (on average) 100 calories/mile. So if you go for a 30 minute run (let's say you're at a 10:00/mile pace), you're burning 300 calories 4-5 times a week. That's a good number, but is it enough to make up for your diet?

Your diet is the most important part of losing fat mass. As a personal example, I trained for and ran a half marathon and hit 20 miles per week for a month and gained pounds, gained fat mass, and stayed chubby. I justified my unhealthy food choices with my running.

quote:
I've read that doing too much cardio can put you in a catabolic state to where you are no longer burning fat and start chipping away at muscle gains

You're no where near this. Your muscle gains won't be affected by ~12 miles/week. Think about how much running football and basketball players do.

I would continue doing the amount you're doing and track those calories. Be strict with it and you'll see results over the course of a few months.

This post was edited on 4/25/18 at 7:51 pm

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Posted by Powerman

Member since Jan 2004

176800 posts

Posted on 4/26/18 at 6:28 am to StringedInstruments

quote:

First off, and I assume you know this, you cannot spot reduce fat. So while you're not specifically referring to a particular area to lose fat, by saying you'd like to lose a "large portion of fat mass" makes me think you're looking for a way to efficiently shrink down parts of your body - multiple parts perhaps at the same time.

Yes I understand that

Perhaps "portion" was the wrong word. I'm looking to reduce a large AMOUNT of fat would be more appropriate

quote:
Steady state cardio burns (on average) 100 calories/mile. So if you go for a 30 minute run (let's say you're at a 10:00/mile pace), you're burning 300 calories 4-5 times a week. That's a good number, but is it enough to make up for your diet?

Your diet is the most important part of losing fat mass. As a personal example, I trained for and ran a half marathon and hit 20 miles per week for a month and gained pounds, gained fat mass, and stayed chubby. I justified my unhealthy food choices with my running.

This makes perfect sense to me. It's very easy to "eat your cardio" for lack of a better phrase. 300 calories as you mentioned in the example above can be very quickly consumed.

quote:
I would continue doing the amount you're doing and track those calories. Be strict with it and you'll see results over the course of a few months.

Thanks. I might bump this thread in a couple months to do a progress update.

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Posted by lsu777

Lake Charles

Member since Jan 2004

39254 posts

Posted on 4/26/18 at 8:34 am to Powerman

The amount you do and the type you do should be the least amount as possible at the lowest intensity until you stall if your goals are purely of the aesthetics side of things.

What I mean is that you should start with 20 min of fasted walking. Once you stall at that caloric level and cardio level, bump that to 30 min to restart fat loss. So on and so fourth until you reach 360 min weekly.

From there adjust caloric levels for the next two stalls.

From there add one 10-12 "conditioning" session after your lifting session. From there add these until you reach 4-5 sessions per week.

Then from there, lower your caloric levels as needed when you stall.

You can add a second low impact session at lunch especially if you do IF. It should be walking also.

This works 100% of the time. Its the same concept as progressive overload.

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Posted by Hu_Flung_Pu