In a previous post we looked at the first critical error people make when they go on a fat loss diet – volume overload, now, it’s time to look at another critical error that many people frequently find themselves making, cardio overload.
The Fat Loss-Cardio Mindset
Many people when starting out on their fat loss diets get in this cardio mindset where they believe that if some is good, more must be better.
After all, if they can burn 300 calories a day with a 30 minute jog, why not bump that up to 60 minutes a day – 600 calories!
That means you can either eat 300 more calories each day and maintain the same rate of fat loss, or you will lose fat twice as fast.
Bonus!
Not quite.
The Issue With Fat Loss Cardio
There are two important points to keep in mind here. When selecting the methods you will use to perform your fat loss cardio, you’ll usually choose between either higher intensity sprints, or you will opt for a more moderate paced, steady-state form of cardio.
Each has benefits and drawbacks.
Steady State Cardio
If you opt to go the steady state cardio, either because you don’t like the intensity of sprints, you don’t want to risk overtraining, or simply because you aren’t in the kind of shape necessary to do sprints, then you’re at risk for a whole other set of problems.
Muscle mass loss.
Too much steady state cardio tends to be catabolic on the body, which means your body will start using muscle tissue for fuel, rather than strictly relying on body fat stores.
To see an example of this, look at the many long distance marathon runners out there. Don’t have much muscle, do they?
That’s why.
When you combine that much steady state cardio (1 hour+ five times a week for example), you’re looking at risking muscle mass loss when you’re eating fewer calories than the body takes to maintain weight.
Interval Training
Moving on, if you opt for the interval training route, you’ve got another set of problems.
With this one, the big issue is going to be overtraining, as now you’ve got both your sprint sessions and your weight lifting workouts stimulating that CNS.
While some stimulation the body can handle, too much and it’s going to shut down. When it does, you will not be feeling well.
Unless you carefully balance your lifting and interval sessions, problems are ahead.
Since many of those on fat loss diets, as mentioned above, get into the ’some is good, more is better’ mindset, many try and perform far too many interval sessions than their body can handle.
So, if doing more cardio is not going to be a good option for fat loss, what is?
Getting your diet in line.
Most people hate to hear this because let’s face it, we like to eat. BUT, it’s far easier to slash a couple hundred calories from your day (look for pesky places excess calories creep in), than to add hours of cardio per week.
The one exception to this may be those people who are already eating a very low calorie diet (defined as less than their body weight in pounds multiplied by a factor of 9 per day).
In that case, more cardio may be an option, but even still, it might be time to look at other issues that could be going on with that dieter in particular, as most people should be losing weight on such an intake.
So, have a look over your program. How many hours of cardio are you doing per week with your fat loss diet?
It may be time to rethink this.
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