Is steady-state cardio hindering your weight loss efforts?
Minute-for-minute, you might burn more calories on a piece of cardio equipment than you would lifting weights, but those calories will come from the carbs, fat and protein you overindulged in the night before. Alrhough cardio exercise may burn some of the calories you ate, it’s unlikely you’re going to burn the fat that is causing your love handles and poor self image.
What’s worse is that by doing steady-state cardio, you’re also going to burn your hard-earned muscle and muscle is not what you want to lose if your goal is to reduce your body-fat percentage.
Think about it like this: you have an almost unlimited supply of fat even if you don’t show it on the outside. In other words, even if you’re incredibly conditioned, you have an ample supply of fat to use as fuel. A person with as little as 20 pounds of fat (a 200 pound person at 10% body fat) has roughly fifteen billion fat cells! Those cells contain about 67,000 calories, which is enough to provide 2,000 calories per day for a month! In other words, you could go a month without food (not that it’s recommended.) Of course you’d need to drink water, but you could go an entire month without food! Admit it, that’s pretty amazing!
This is why you can’t outrun your fork! You can’t “run-off” yesterday’s cheat meal. You can’t do enough cardio to burn all the fat you’re eating and the fat you’re carrying around. But if you build muscle, your body will require more fuel (it can use your fat as fuel) on a daily basis and your body fat percentage will change!
So think twice before your next cardio session. Could your time be better spent with a weight training program that would help you build muscle ultimately changing your body composition?
Start lifting to build muscle and stop punishing yourself on cardio equipment trying to burn off the dinner you didn’t measure yesterday. This will help change your relationship with food too. You’ll stop feeding your emotions and start feeding your muscles, which will eliminate the guilt that forces you back to the treadmill.
If you need help designing a meal plan that won’t leave you feeling like a slave to your treadmill or if you want some guidance on weight training, reach out to us! We’d love to help you!
Call or text us at (386) 307-8207.
Minute-for-minute, you might burn more calories on a piece of cardio equipment than you would lifting weights, but those calories will come from the carbs, fat and protein you overindulged in the night before. Alrhough cardio exercise may burn some of the calories you ate, it’s unlikely you’re going to burn the fat that is causing your love handles and poor self image.
What’s worse is that by doing steady-state cardio, you’re also going to burn your hard-earned muscle and muscle is not what you want to lose if your goal is to reduce your body-fat percentage.
Think about it like this: you have an almost unlimited supply of fat even if you don’t show it on the outside. In other words, even if you’re incredibly conditioned, you have an ample supply of fat to use as fuel. A person with as little as 20 pounds of fat (a 200 pound person at 10% body fat) has roughly fifteen billion fat cells! Those cells contain about 67,000 calories, which is enough to provide 2,000 calories per day for a month! In other words, you could go a month without food (not that it’s recommended.) Of course you’d need to drink water, but you could go an entire month without food! Admit it, that’s pretty amazing!
This is why you can’t outrun your fork! You can’t “run-off” yesterday’s cheat meal. You can’t do enough cardio to burn all the fat you’re eating and the fat you’re carrying around. But if you build muscle, your body will require more fuel (it can use your fat as fuel) on a daily basis and your body fat percentage will change!
So think twice before your next cardio session. Could your time be better spent with a weight training program that would help you build muscle ultimately changing your body composition?
Start lifting to build muscle and stop punishing yourself on cardio equipment trying to burn off the dinner you didn’t measure yesterday. This will help change your relationship with food too. You’ll stop feeding your emotions and start feeding your muscles, which will eliminate the guilt that forces you back to the treadmill.
If you need help designing a meal plan that won’t leave you feeling like a slave to your treadmill or if you want some guidance on weight training, reach out to us! We’d love to help you!
Call or text us at (386) 307-8207.