Wow, it’s been a little too long between posts and I apologize!
I’ve had a crazy week of re-organization and reshuffling. I now primarily train out of Work. Train. Fight. on Bleecker and Broadway and Equinox. I am available to train in other locations in lower Manhattan and reasonably beyond, with an additional travel fee. Please contact me for details if you are interested.
I’ve had several posts brewing in the back of my mind at this time and rest assured, I’m working on them and I’ll be posting a lot more over the coming week.
What I’ve been thinking about a lot recently is cardiovascular activity for weight loss and how to strike a good balance between what is enough and what is too much. Most people who are trying to lose weight do way too much and hamper their efforts, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been one of those people in the past.
The first thing you have to remember is that weight loss is primarily a function of your DIET. There is no weight loss without a calorie deficit and the easiest way to create that deficit is through your diet.
You get on the treadmill and try to burn off a burger and fries and get back to me with your verdict 3 – 5 hours later.
A lot of women fall into the trap of thinking more is more, and for most of us, that isn’t the case. There may be the random person that you know who does 2 hours of cardio per day like a fiend and looks amazing, but 1) you have no idea what their diet is like, they are likely eating to sustain that level of activity 2) they probably have great genetics and can get away with poor programming and/or poor diet. Either way, you shouldn't blindly copy anyone in an attempt to emulate their look or their results. It will probably backfire on you.
Too much cardio and too few calories put your body in a state of stress which can mean starvation level daily calories, inflammation, overtraining, muscle catabolism or all of the above.
It certainly doesn’t produce the usually desired results of being lean, healthy and full of vitality. Instead you run yourself down, you look tired, possibly bloated, zapped of energy.
So how do we know what is too much? Well, that could be an article in and of itself.
I keep it simple for my clients and I will keep it simple for you – fat loss should primarily be a function of your diet, cardio is merely “extra”. My advice is to do at least 20 minutes 4 – 6 times a week for optimal results. And stick to your diet.
Stick to your diet!
Stick to your diet!
Stick to your diet!
On the upper end of what is an acceptable amount of cardio, I advise no more than 1 hour, 4 – 6 times per week. That is only if you’re super motivated and you love your cardio, well knock yourself out. Do an hour up to 6 days a week, but no more. And stick to your diet.
Can you lose weight without doing any cardio? Absolutely. But there are definite health benefits to regular cardiovascular activity, one of which is increased circulation, and increased circulation is beneficial for fat loss, so it is always my recommendation for you to do SOME cardio. But unless you’re training for an ironman or a marathon, there is certainly no need for hours and hours of running/ellipticalling or anything else per day.
A topic for another day is high intensity intervals, the most time efficient cardio that will give you the most bang for your buck.
For another day my pretties!
PS: summer is coming! I am so excited :)
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