How much cardio do I need to lose fat?

Hi Ariane,

Thanks for the great workout this morning. My legs are already hurting! 

This month, I am going to refocus again on my diet--but I also want to make sure I am doing the right cardio to help me lose the weight and gain muscle. Also, I really want to target my trouble areas (hips, butt, thighs) to get trim and lose as much fat from there as possible. Does the cardio I do impact the results I get in fat loss across my body? Or is that just something that is genetic and it comes off evenly? 

In the past 2 weeks or so I have really gotten into spinning, attending a ton of classes--I love the feeling of just getting in that room and sweating the day out. Also, I am on a masters swim team so I practice with them 1-2 days a week (its actually pretty hard) usually for an hour or hour and a half. Not just doing laps--interval training with intermixed speed work and long distance.

What kind of cardio would you recommend? Also--should I be lifting weights outside of class? I do leg press, abductor, and adductor machines on the weekends after I spin (machines only one of the weekend days) but would you suggest doing anything else/not do these?

Thanks so much in advance! I really appreciate all of your feedback.

Emily

Hi Emily,

you definitely do a lot of cardio and I would not add any more. The more cardio you do, the greater the chance of muscle loss. Plus, over the long run you're not building muscle, but rather burning through it. If you want to add more workouts, then please spend one workout a week in the gym lifting heavy weights, especially the legs. They are among the biggest muscles in the body and if you work them hard you're not only changing their shape faster, but you're also creating a huge afterburn effect - the amount of calories you burn in the 24-48 hours after your workout. Go for the leg extension machine (3 sets at a heavy weight with good form), hamstring curl, adductor (hips and outside butt muscles) and abductor (inner thighs), and leg press (entire lower body and butt) at least once a week in addition to your other workouts.

Focus this coming month of Slim & Strong on proper post-workout nutrition. Within 30-45 minutes of finishing your workout make sure you eat about 20 grams of protein with about 20-30 grams of carbs. The carbs will help produce a little insulin, which is key in getting the protein into your muscles. A protein shake made with almond milk is great or you can eat your meals right after your workout.

Fat loss is in large part genetically determined. Most people who have ongoing weight struggles, lose fat from their face, arms, chest and abs first and then the lower body changes. The calves and inner thighs are usually the last thing to change and you just have to be patient and keep a clean fat burning diet while you’re keeping your muscles working hard.

Don't be fooled into thinking that cardio equates weight loss. Most people who train for a marathon stay at their weight or even put on weight because they get hungrier, they crave more carbs and they lose muscle with long-distance running. After the running training period it's often tough to get the metabolism going again and fat piles on even more readily. 

Yes, it's true that cardio burns more calories per hour of workout but what matters is what happens after the workout. Within 2 hours of finishing your cardio workout your metabolism returns to normal levels. However, your metabolism stays elevated for up to 48 hours after a strength training workout because your muscles have to repair and recover. Plus, muscle is much smaller than fat and takes up much less space, so people who strength train lose inches much faster than those who do cardio only. 

Please focus your extra workout time on strength training and lifting heavy weights with good form. It will transform your body much faster than cardio.

See you tomorrow! Ariane