Cardio for weight loss ??? page 2

[specsAreGrok]

I do cardio 5 days a week, in the mornings in fasted state. Yeah, the medium distance runs people (rightfully) advice against here. I have for almost a year. I definitely keep my calories in check, too. It has done nothing for my fat/weight loss. It makes me feel great, though and that's what motivates me to keep going.
I have come to the conclusion that heavy, moderate exercise, the type of exercise or the lack thereof make no difference for my weight and body comp. Seems like all that matters for me is the diet.

I do the same and experienced the same results. I consider the "cardio" more of a meditative excercise. Personally, I find it a good mental stress relief.

[MissJecka]

In my experience, cardio is only bad for fat-loss if it's the only exercise you do. I used to suffer from what Mark calls "chronic cardio". On Saturdays at my old gym I would do a 60 minute Zumba class followed by a 60 minute Spinning class followed by a 15-minute run on the treadmill (or 15-minute elliptical on high resistance). I didn't touch weights or do any strength training except for when I saw my personal trainer once a week.

I got very thin (relative to where I was) but I definitely wasn't strong and barely did anything to decrease my body fat %, despite spending stupid money on my weekly personal trainer sessions.

So, do cardio. Have fun. But do plenty of strength training, too. As Mark says... lift heavy things!

[Koobs]

I've read countless books on this subject and they all can be summed up in one sentence: "Exercise has no beneficial impact on weight loss and can add to weight gain."

All those books you read must have been written by fools. Of course exercise causes weight loss. You burn calories during and after exercise. That's how you lose weight (weight being fat in the context of this thread). Yes, if you are pounding tons of food and exercising you may gain weight (and by that i mean muscle). But pounding tons of food was going to make you gain weight anyway. Better off gaining muscle than fat. And once you have more lean mass your body will burn more calories at rest. Creating a nice snowball effect towards getting lean.

Stephanie, cardio, the slow steady type in particular, is not a bad choice for weight loss. But, it's certainly not close to your best one. Your best choice would be lifting heavy weights and sprinting along with following a healthy diet. I don't count calories anymore since getting on this diet, but for someone just starting out and trying to lose weight it could be helpful to do so to find your baseline.

You can lose weight with a good diet alone, but you will reach your goals so much faster if you exercise with some intensity.

[lyn c nito]

[QUOTE=Koobs;1086983]All those books you read must have been written by fools. Of course exercise causes weight loss. You burn calories during and after exercise. QUOTE]

Koobs, I would point you toward Sisson, Wolf, Taubes, Reynolds and Caulfield as authors to read. Gretchen Reynolds, in particular, does a good job of citing all of her evidence. Despite the Conventional Wisdom, studies done on exercise and weight loss show that exercise does not increase weight loss and, in some people, causes weight gain. Even when volunteers were on strictly controlled diets, exercisers lost no more weight (and sometimes less) than dieters alone. There are many theories and more work needed as to why this is so but that doesn't change the fact that exercise will not help you lose weight.

Exercise is important to health but not weight loss.

[cayla29s]

Cardio is not bad for you. Fatloss is mostly an issue of diet. It doesn't matter how much you exercise but if you eat more than what your body needs then you will put on fat. The best cardio in my opinion is doing interval sprints. I mostly do my sprints at a fasted state and I'll drink coconut water if I get thirsty. Again you have to dial everything in first before you even start manipulating your exercise program, ie; sleep and nutrition.

Lifting heavy with weights will benefit you in terms of changing your body composition. Adding muscle helps burn calories at rest while cardio alone burns calories while you are exercising.