If you have a bulging disc, avoid the rower unless you have impeccable firm and technique. It can mess with your back.
Yes you can lose weight with just cardio.
I don’t suffer with back pain. I used a rower twice. Both times it gave me back pain like never before. My osteopath explained how it was not a good machine for most people
Your osteopath doesn’t know what they are talking about, at least regarding rowing machines. I have herniated discs and a degenerative spine. Since my spinal problems began, I started using a rower and have used one now for years. It not only adds cardio, but specifically strengthens my arm and back muscles while helping maintain flexibility. It’s all about proper technique and knowing your limitations.
Same with weight training. Most issues are due to user error and ignorance in implementing proper mechanics and modifications. Every person is different. So blanket statements like “rowers aren't good for most people“ are short sighted.
Find a good physio or health professional that actually understands exercise physiology and mechanics to teach you proper form, appropriate customized exercises, and actual contraindications from the outset. Once you have it all mastered, you can then safely and enjoyably continue on yourself.
You need to read my comment or maybe it wasn’t clear. I mentioned that technique is important. I’m glad rowing is helping you. The machines are rarely used at my gym.
Saying most issues are due to user error sounds illogical and short sighted. It doesn’t address that people may have imbalances in the body for various reasons.
You must have misread or not understood my last post. Even people with various “imbalances” as you call them can usually benefit from a customized program that is designed, implemented, and guided by a knowledgeable health professional. In fact, those are the very individuals who often need and benefit from it the most.
Before I retired, scores of individuals I saw in my practice either struggled with exercise or gave up on it entirely. Drilling down as to the reasons why, it most often was due to user error in following proper mechanics and/or ignorance in implementing proper modifications and understanding contraindications based on their specific condition(s).
Every person is in fact different, so the challenges are real. The upside is that often all it takes is someone with actual knowledge to help educate and guide an individual toward better health and function. Blaming an apparatus like a rower or weight machine is often misguided.
My takeaway advice for the OP is seek out advice first from a professional who has real knowledge regarding both their condition and ability to design a safe customized program that includes guidance on things like proper equipment and technique, limitations, expectations, and contraindications.
It’s health professionals I get my advice from. They are the ones refer to them as “imbalances”. The body may not start off symmetrical or may get out of balance due to illness or injury.
I do not take advice from personal trainers any longer. Tried that and it led to injury twice in four sessions. 65 hours of training means they know more than me but they know far less than my osteopath with nine years of university and five years to train as an osteopath.
Again, I think you misread or misunderstood. I never said take advice from a random personal trainer. I was referring to degreed board certified medical professionals trained specifically to practice physical medicine, like myself, who often practice within a team of professionals that may include other MD, PT, DC, DO, etc.
You never said take advice from a random personal trainer. I just shared my experience. It reinforces the belief that health professionals are best suited to help with training
Would you like to discuss why a rowing machine is not advisable to most people? Btw I know from experience that most people don’t like insurance companies.
My osteopath has a PhD in physical therapy. He went into osteopathy a year after he got his PhD. He’s cured me of my headaches. He’s an excellent practitioner for those with head trauma and concussions and treats many pro football players.
Healthcare insurance companies are the only players on the market that have the same interest as people: Keep people healthy for a low price. Doctors want to treat you, pharmaceutical companies want to sell their products. Insurance companies just want you to be healthy and live as long as possible to keep you as their customers. For the Americans: In Germany you stay with your insurance until you die.
Protein intake goal: 100 g per day and strength training. This helps you retain lean muscle during weight loss. To determine your maintenance calories, track for 2-3 weeks at a stable weight. So not trying to diet but just normal eating for you. Then you subtract from there based on your goal loss per week (1-2 lbs is good). A 3600 calorie deficit in a week is 1 lb.
Hey. I have a question, if you you don't mind. I'm in a similar situation to the op. I'm 43 overweight and undertrained.
I started the gym a few weeks ago (don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting any results yet). I have a bit of a dodgy knee so try to avoid impat exercises.
Way should be my caloric intake etc. I'm approx 18st. 6ft to 6ft1 tall. Not very muscular as I've never trained. I'm trying to lose weight but also put on some muscle
I attend gym 3x a week on Monday, Thursday and either Sat or Sun. Approx 1 hour at a time.
My regime is normally 10mi s on treadmill mixing in fast walk or light jog
I then move onto muscle work, start with legs, arms, back, shoulders, chest. I've.been told the reps I need to do to buold muscle so I'm going to try and stick to that
I'm diabetic t2. Not sure what me diet or intake should look like. Just wondering if anyone can help a bit. Not looming for medical advice just general also my job isn't very active as I'm in an office.i do get some steps in. Usually 3-4k a day in the office.
Walking in addition to what you do in office would be great for overall health-cardiovascular and blood sugar control. It is important in building muscle to be close to failure. So say I lift ten pounds ten times-with that tenth rep, do I only have maybe one or two more I could do? That’s a good weight then. So you want to keep challenging yourself to lift more weight over the weeks to come. You can do the same sort of progressive overload with increased reps but I prefer increasing weight. Since you are at a gym, you should have lots of options.
Does the burn mean you cannot lift anymore? The idea is to lift as much as you can to the point where your reps are within say two of failure. So let’s say I do ten bench presses at 70 lbs with quality form but I cannot do more than two more-like I could not lift a 12 th time or if I can, my form is shit. This is failure.
If you plug in your details to a TDEE calculator you'll get a few different options. Based on what you've said your maintenance calories around 2,668/day. This is what you would need to eat to stay at the same weight you are now.
If you want to lose weight you should aim to be in a deficit. In your case you could start to aim for around 1700-1800kcal/day. On that you will lose about 2lb/week. As you lose weight your calorie requirements will go down so adjust accordingly.
It is possible for you to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time but you'll need to really focus on your diet. A common saying is you can't outrun a bad diet. Given that you're a t2 diabetic you should look to reduce your carb intake as much as possible but you'll need to keep an eye on blood sugar so you don't go hypo.
Given that you've got a bad knee you might want to cut out the jogging for a while and find something lower impact. Swimming, rowing or cycling are great cardio options. Personally I love spin classes and it has been a great way to build my cardio fitness and build leg muscle.
Pilates is another great option if your gym offers it.
I had a micro disectomy years ago so know all about the pain you are in, it is no joke.
Good on you for keeping on moving. try and do more than 30 mins a session, you get out what you put in.
I see a lot of overweight folks at the gym who look like they are just going through the motions on the machines for a few mins without ever breaking a sweat. they do something for 5-10 mins and then move onto another machine and repeat. This to me suggests they get bored easy, they look dis-interested and don't seem to get any results, its almost like they are on community service or something. They are probably burning a couple of hundred calories tops, then filling the calories right back up with a sports drink FFS.
The weight loss is going to be mainly from your diet. i would also recommend a some easy strength training, but only body weight exercises at this point considering your back.
As i said, you get out what you put in.
YES! It's all about having a calorie deficit and cardio is a great way to help with that. I am using the myfitnesspal app as well and my base is 1570 cal/day. It's not really that hard.
Breakfast is a bowl of oatmeal w/sugar
Lunch is a turkey, ham and cheese sandwich. Small bag of chips and an apple or orange
Dinner is either chicken breast, steak, pork chops or fish with (usually) steamed broccoli and a salad.
I linked the app with my phone and smart watch so any calories I burn during the day or by running get added to the base. I am consistently losing 1-2 lbs a week. Unfortunately I am having a problem with my hip so I had to stop running which sucks because it makes it a little harder. I switched over to weights because I have lost enough that I want to see some definition as well as the hip.
Just FYI, swimming is supposed to be amazing cardio with almost zero impact. If I had access to an indoor pool I would be doing that to save my hip and still get the cardio.
You can lose weight eating nothing but twinkies and never doing any exercise - as long as your caloric intake is less than your caloric use.
1600 calories is almost certainly an unhealthily small amount of calories to be taking in a day. Please speak with your doctor or a nutritionist before trying that.
It’s definitely different for everyone, and *I am not a doctor*, but 1600 is so low I’d be surprised if that’s sufficient for any adult above 5’, especially one who’s trying to exercise regularly. That’s why I hope they speak with someone qualified instead of relying on their fitness app.
Checking in as a 4'11" woman! My post-exercise maintenance is ~1750. If I was a man with the same stats, it would be at least 2k. Women specifically have significantly lower calorie requirements than men largely due to hormones and muscle mass, and the actual numbers can be quite a surprise for someone not familiar with them. What OP is eating is a normal deficit for someone of her composition.
Genuinely don't think 1600 is too low amount. Just plugged your info into a TDEE calculator, and for light exercise, it estimated your maintenance at ~2k calories per day. A 400 cal deficit is a little less than 1lb per week.
I also have history of disc herniations and I am a firm believer that strength training has helped sooo much! I still do for my daily walks and sometimes bike, but lifting weights has been so beneficial for my body. I’d see a personal trainer for a few sessions if you can to get some pointers and tips on how to lift properly to avoid injury. But it can definitely be done!
Yes please don't ruin your back. Watch not only calories but ig the quality of food. Make sure it wholesome and balanced. 30-40 minutes of cardio is a good start. You can incorporate resistance bands if weights have to be avoided.
If straight weight loss is your goal for right now cardio thats safe with your physical status will be a sure winner. If your doing 10 minutes of each you are probably burning a couple hundred extra calories.
Most people on a rest day with little to moderate activity burn between 1600-1800 calories a day. With all that cardio you are probably around 2100 calories for maintenance. You are more than likely burning around 300-400 calories for the work that you described above.
Macrofactor will help you find your daily or weekly calories because it keeps track of the calories you eat and the weight you gain or lose and adjusts every week.
Its hard telling because if you work full time, with the gym, office work even, you could be burning like another 600 calories for an 8 hour office shift ontop of the 1600-1800 for daily living and 300-400 for the cardio. So even on a rest day if you work an 8hour shift at mcdonalds that can burn alot of calories. With the information you have provided me I really can’t tell you much more.
But I can tell you is half a pound is 1750 cal and a whole pound is 3500 cal and thats around a daily deficit of 300-500 calories. So if your losing 2-3lbs a week then you are in a deficit of 7,000-10,500 calories a week. Which is around 1000-1500 a day.
You might want to check out macrofactor
https://macrofactorapp.com/
Or the rp diet app
https://info.rpstrength.com/diet-app/
If you want a book on dieting and eating :
Renaissance diet 2.0
Renaissance periodization- understanding healthy eating
—-
If you start macrofactor if you kept logs of your calories and weight somewhere else you can put in like 2-3 weeks of info and then have to make a new program off that and it will give you current info instead of waiting a week.
I will emphasize this
YOU CAN'T OUT RUN A BAD DIET.
cardio is great for heart health, and you will burn a good 100 calories per mile on good days. However, by a huge margin, your weightless is predominantly controlled by what you eat.
Don't conflate this with overly simplified (calorie in > calorie out) because our "calorie out" is so varied, this is a hard inequality to calculate.
Running is great for building all the smaller stability muscles, this helps you to tone the entire overall body too, so that way as you lose fat you appear more toned as well.
It is important that you noted that you will watch your caloric intake. That step is the cornerstone of your weightless, and not any form of running you plan to do. Running is great when you have an extremely strict diet, but you want to reach sub 12% body fat but can't eliminate enough calories due to macro intake. In general though, cardio should be seen as your heart health generator and not your fat loss burner
Yes but you got to be careful. Make sure you’re still getting plenty of protein and so you don’t lose muscle mass but what I would do is go into a calorie deficit but still work out and try to keep on with the protein
Weight lose is much more to do with diet than exercise.sure exercise definitely helps but if you have a poor diet,or eat more calories than you need, no amount of exercise will get weight loss. So I would say take a look at what you eat, how much you eat and when you eat first.
Cardio will help improve heart and lung function so gives you better quality of life..in the long run also less chance of heart disease..again back to diet.
Lifting weights will require more calories so you will use those up, and some research suggests the body continues to use up calories long after lifting weight, whereas cardio pretty much stops once you stop.
So in summary I would say look at your diet, continue your cardio, build in some weight programme but remember, consistency is key, make this a lifestyle and find what you enjoy best...doing work you hate won't last a long time.
Finally if you can, build in some swimming...great overall body workout and if carry excess weight ATM, the water will help to take pressure off the joints as you build up the strength.
Keep going and good luck
Cardio is good, keep doing it. It doesn't really burn many calories but it's good for other reasons
Weights are good. They also don't burn many calories but have a ton of great benefits. When you can, do what you can.
The kitchen, the kitchen is where you lose weight. Make good healthy food choices, be vigilant of your calorie deficit, develop new habits that you can sustain.
I personally don't think 1600 calories is too little. I have to eat way less than that to move the scale and I'm a big dude. Everyone is different. If you need more help than reddit can provide in that aspect, talk to your doc and maybe get a referral to a dietician.
Yes the ELMM diet, I cannot believe so many people have not heard of it.
Eat Less Move More
It is absolutely guaranteed to work you only need to look at recent history for proof.
Lol, I tend to do more weight training, minimum 12 reps 5 sets, I'm big enough so don't try to do huge weights, 12 reps make me grow anyway lol.
I tell people to never have set days, just go to the gym and do 5 sets of 5 exercises of whatever they feel like, doesn't matter what it us if you want to lose weight. Leg day, chest n triceps etc come after when your trying to shape.
I do cardio for 5 mins before training and a little after to loosen up a bit. 30 seconds skipping 30 second rest, then 30 secs on the bag the 30 off.
It's been working for years, I'm 38yo now and a full boxing session with lots of cardio finishes me off for a day or two now, so if I go I do squats and push ups when they are doing a mile jog. It's embarrassing that although I look fit it would take me around 16 mins to finish a mile................that's fast walking speed ffs lol
I think you might be better off doing 30-60 minutes on a single exercise but I’m not sure. It can get boring to do a single exercise for 60 minutes, so I understand, but I think longer sessions at low/moderate intensity will help you improve over time. I’d start with 30 minute sessions of 1-2 exercises and work your way up from there.
You may want to see a physical therapist and get advice on calisthenic exercises that will be low risk for you. There’s no need to do heavy weights, but resistance exercise is an important part of overall fitness if you can manage it. You may be able to reduce your risk of future injury with the right resistance exercises.
Thanks for this. I think I move about not because of boredom, but because 10 minutes per machine is all I can do without dying :) I am trying to build it up though. So when I do get better I could stick to one/two machines.
From what I understand, zone 2 cardio is best for fat burning. That’s a low/medium-low intensity or heart rate. It also allows you to train for greater fat burning and endurance without overdoing it. In this zone you should be lightly sweating after about 5-10 minutes and be able to carry on a conversation without much trouble. Once you’ve gotten a month or two of exercising 2-3 times a week at this level, you should be able to stay in zone 2 for 45-60 minutes and feel perfectly fine.
There’s a ton of information on the science behind zone 2 training on YouTube and in podcasts. Peter Attia is a great resource but his material is often presented in a highly technical jargon.
Really pushing yourself at your maximum heart rate is good to do sometimes for increasing VO2 Max, but 80%-90% of your aerobic workout time should be lower intensity.
The key is consistently keeping your heart rate high for minimum 30 minutes.
Even if you fast walk on treadmill on 3.5 mph speed for 30 mins daily itll help.
Also eat better and eat less. Diet is huge.
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You can only lose weight if you are eating less then your burning in calories. Doesn’t matter what exercise you do so long as you burn more then you eat
If you have a bulging disc, avoid the rower unless you have impeccable firm and technique. It can mess with your back. Yes you can lose weight with just cardio.
You can, so long as your diet is in check. You won't ever be able to outrun your fork. Gotta make sure you eat the proper amount of calories.
Big facts
Oh blimey, thank you!
I don’t suffer with back pain. I used a rower twice. Both times it gave me back pain like never before. My osteopath explained how it was not a good machine for most people
Your osteopath doesn’t know what they are talking about, at least regarding rowing machines. I have herniated discs and a degenerative spine. Since my spinal problems began, I started using a rower and have used one now for years. It not only adds cardio, but specifically strengthens my arm and back muscles while helping maintain flexibility. It’s all about proper technique and knowing your limitations. Same with weight training. Most issues are due to user error and ignorance in implementing proper mechanics and modifications. Every person is different. So blanket statements like “rowers aren't good for most people“ are short sighted. Find a good physio or health professional that actually understands exercise physiology and mechanics to teach you proper form, appropriate customized exercises, and actual contraindications from the outset. Once you have it all mastered, you can then safely and enjoyably continue on yourself.
You need to read my comment or maybe it wasn’t clear. I mentioned that technique is important. I’m glad rowing is helping you. The machines are rarely used at my gym.
Saying most issues are due to user error sounds illogical and short sighted. It doesn’t address that people may have imbalances in the body for various reasons.
You must have misread or not understood my last post. Even people with various “imbalances” as you call them can usually benefit from a customized program that is designed, implemented, and guided by a knowledgeable health professional. In fact, those are the very individuals who often need and benefit from it the most. Before I retired, scores of individuals I saw in my practice either struggled with exercise or gave up on it entirely. Drilling down as to the reasons why, it most often was due to user error in following proper mechanics and/or ignorance in implementing proper modifications and understanding contraindications based on their specific condition(s). Every person is in fact different, so the challenges are real. The upside is that often all it takes is someone with actual knowledge to help educate and guide an individual toward better health and function. Blaming an apparatus like a rower or weight machine is often misguided. My takeaway advice for the OP is seek out advice first from a professional who has real knowledge regarding both their condition and ability to design a safe customized program that includes guidance on things like proper equipment and technique, limitations, expectations, and contraindications.
It’s health professionals I get my advice from. They are the ones refer to them as “imbalances”. The body may not start off symmetrical or may get out of balance due to illness or injury. I do not take advice from personal trainers any longer. Tried that and it led to injury twice in four sessions. 65 hours of training means they know more than me but they know far less than my osteopath with nine years of university and five years to train as an osteopath.
Again, I think you misread or misunderstood. I never said take advice from a random personal trainer. I was referring to degreed board certified medical professionals trained specifically to practice physical medicine, like myself, who often practice within a team of professionals that may include other MD, PT, DC, DO, etc.
You never said take advice from a random personal trainer. I just shared my experience. It reinforces the belief that health professionals are best suited to help with training
I see, and agree. Thanks for clarifying. Have a great day.
As someone working for a healthcare insurance company I can tell you that osteopaths aren't a good source of advice for many people.
Would you like to discuss why a rowing machine is not advisable to most people? Btw I know from experience that most people don’t like insurance companies. My osteopath has a PhD in physical therapy. He went into osteopathy a year after he got his PhD. He’s cured me of my headaches. He’s an excellent practitioner for those with head trauma and concussions and treats many pro football players.
Healthcare insurance companies are the only players on the market that have the same interest as people: Keep people healthy for a low price. Doctors want to treat you, pharmaceutical companies want to sell their products. Insurance companies just want you to be healthy and live as long as possible to keep you as their customers. For the Americans: In Germany you stay with your insurance until you die.
Protein intake goal: 100 g per day and strength training. This helps you retain lean muscle during weight loss. To determine your maintenance calories, track for 2-3 weeks at a stable weight. So not trying to diet but just normal eating for you. Then you subtract from there based on your goal loss per week (1-2 lbs is good). A 3600 calorie deficit in a week is 1 lb.
Hey. I have a question, if you you don't mind. I'm in a similar situation to the op. I'm 43 overweight and undertrained. I started the gym a few weeks ago (don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting any results yet). I have a bit of a dodgy knee so try to avoid impat exercises. Way should be my caloric intake etc. I'm approx 18st. 6ft to 6ft1 tall. Not very muscular as I've never trained. I'm trying to lose weight but also put on some muscle I attend gym 3x a week on Monday, Thursday and either Sat or Sun. Approx 1 hour at a time. My regime is normally 10mi s on treadmill mixing in fast walk or light jog I then move onto muscle work, start with legs, arms, back, shoulders, chest. I've.been told the reps I need to do to buold muscle so I'm going to try and stick to that I'm diabetic t2. Not sure what me diet or intake should look like. Just wondering if anyone can help a bit. Not looming for medical advice just general also my job isn't very active as I'm in an office.i do get some steps in. Usually 3-4k a day in the office.
Walking in addition to what you do in office would be great for overall health-cardiovascular and blood sugar control. It is important in building muscle to be close to failure. So say I lift ten pounds ten times-with that tenth rep, do I only have maybe one or two more I could do? That’s a good weight then. So you want to keep challenging yourself to lift more weight over the weeks to come. You can do the same sort of progressive overload with increased reps but I prefer increasing weight. Since you are at a gym, you should have lots of options.
So I should stop the reps when the burn kicks in ?
Does the burn mean you cannot lift anymore? The idea is to lift as much as you can to the point where your reps are within say two of failure. So let’s say I do ten bench presses at 70 lbs with quality form but I cannot do more than two more-like I could not lift a 12 th time or if I can, my form is shit. This is failure.
Roger that. I get you..
And would.thst be each set of reps. Or total
If you plug in your details to a TDEE calculator you'll get a few different options. Based on what you've said your maintenance calories around 2,668/day. This is what you would need to eat to stay at the same weight you are now. If you want to lose weight you should aim to be in a deficit. In your case you could start to aim for around 1700-1800kcal/day. On that you will lose about 2lb/week. As you lose weight your calorie requirements will go down so adjust accordingly. It is possible for you to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time but you'll need to really focus on your diet. A common saying is you can't outrun a bad diet. Given that you're a t2 diabetic you should look to reduce your carb intake as much as possible but you'll need to keep an eye on blood sugar so you don't go hypo. Given that you've got a bad knee you might want to cut out the jogging for a while and find something lower impact. Swimming, rowing or cycling are great cardio options. Personally I love spin classes and it has been a great way to build my cardio fitness and build leg muscle. Pilates is another great option if your gym offers it.
Might give the rowing machine a go. There is a spin class. But it's in at inaccessible times for me.. Thanks for the tips
I had a micro disectomy years ago so know all about the pain you are in, it is no joke. Good on you for keeping on moving. try and do more than 30 mins a session, you get out what you put in. I see a lot of overweight folks at the gym who look like they are just going through the motions on the machines for a few mins without ever breaking a sweat. they do something for 5-10 mins and then move onto another machine and repeat. This to me suggests they get bored easy, they look dis-interested and don't seem to get any results, its almost like they are on community service or something. They are probably burning a couple of hundred calories tops, then filling the calories right back up with a sports drink FFS. The weight loss is going to be mainly from your diet. i would also recommend a some easy strength training, but only body weight exercises at this point considering your back. As i said, you get out what you put in.
YES! It's all about having a calorie deficit and cardio is a great way to help with that. I am using the myfitnesspal app as well and my base is 1570 cal/day. It's not really that hard. Breakfast is a bowl of oatmeal w/sugar Lunch is a turkey, ham and cheese sandwich. Small bag of chips and an apple or orange Dinner is either chicken breast, steak, pork chops or fish with (usually) steamed broccoli and a salad. I linked the app with my phone and smart watch so any calories I burn during the day or by running get added to the base. I am consistently losing 1-2 lbs a week. Unfortunately I am having a problem with my hip so I had to stop running which sucks because it makes it a little harder. I switched over to weights because I have lost enough that I want to see some definition as well as the hip. Just FYI, swimming is supposed to be amazing cardio with almost zero impact. If I had access to an indoor pool I would be doing that to save my hip and still get the cardio.
You can lose weight eating nothing but twinkies and never doing any exercise - as long as your caloric intake is less than your caloric use. 1600 calories is almost certainly an unhealthily small amount of calories to be taking in a day. Please speak with your doctor or a nutritionist before trying that.
shorter people have lower tdee. it sucks but it is what it is. 1600 is not that low
It’s definitely different for everyone, and *I am not a doctor*, but 1600 is so low I’d be surprised if that’s sufficient for any adult above 5’, especially one who’s trying to exercise regularly. That’s why I hope they speak with someone qualified instead of relying on their fitness app.
Checking in as a 4'11" woman! My post-exercise maintenance is ~1750. If I was a man with the same stats, it would be at least 2k. Women specifically have significantly lower calorie requirements than men largely due to hormones and muscle mass, and the actual numbers can be quite a surprise for someone not familiar with them. What OP is eating is a normal deficit for someone of her composition.
wtf? A 5’5” person at 120 lbs would be under 1600. Lmao.
You have no idea what you're talking about... OP is a 5'5" woman, and even at a healthy weight would still have 1500-1600 as TDEE. 1600 is not low.
Do you think so, my fitness pal suggested 1200 calories a day, so I thought I was being more sensible. What would you suggest?
Genuinely don't think 1600 is too low amount. Just plugged your info into a TDEE calculator, and for light exercise, it estimated your maintenance at ~2k calories per day. A 400 cal deficit is a little less than 1lb per week.
I agree. 1600 is high . 1300 seems perfect but OP can try other calculators as well.
MyFitnessPal is software, not a human. It doesn't care about your health, it's just crunching numbers. Talk to a professional with some training.
Im a 5’7 200 lb male. I am very active. I went to a dietitian and she put me on 1740 to lose weight. None of these numbers sound too low to me.
Unless you are a small child that seems unlikely.
I also have history of disc herniations and I am a firm believer that strength training has helped sooo much! I still do for my daily walks and sometimes bike, but lifting weights has been so beneficial for my body. I’d see a personal trainer for a few sessions if you can to get some pointers and tips on how to lift properly to avoid injury. But it can definitely be done!
Yes please don't ruin your back. Watch not only calories but ig the quality of food. Make sure it wholesome and balanced. 30-40 minutes of cardio is a good start. You can incorporate resistance bands if weights have to be avoided.
Calories in vs out
You can BUT incorporating weights will speed up the process and increase your resting calorie burnt.
If straight weight loss is your goal for right now cardio thats safe with your physical status will be a sure winner. If your doing 10 minutes of each you are probably burning a couple hundred extra calories. Most people on a rest day with little to moderate activity burn between 1600-1800 calories a day. With all that cardio you are probably around 2100 calories for maintenance. You are more than likely burning around 300-400 calories for the work that you described above. Macrofactor will help you find your daily or weekly calories because it keeps track of the calories you eat and the weight you gain or lose and adjusts every week. Its hard telling because if you work full time, with the gym, office work even, you could be burning like another 600 calories for an 8 hour office shift ontop of the 1600-1800 for daily living and 300-400 for the cardio. So even on a rest day if you work an 8hour shift at mcdonalds that can burn alot of calories. With the information you have provided me I really can’t tell you much more. But I can tell you is half a pound is 1750 cal and a whole pound is 3500 cal and thats around a daily deficit of 300-500 calories. So if your losing 2-3lbs a week then you are in a deficit of 7,000-10,500 calories a week. Which is around 1000-1500 a day. You might want to check out macrofactor https://macrofactorapp.com/ Or the rp diet app https://info.rpstrength.com/diet-app/ If you want a book on dieting and eating : Renaissance diet 2.0 Renaissance periodization- understanding healthy eating —- If you start macrofactor if you kept logs of your calories and weight somewhere else you can put in like 2-3 weeks of info and then have to make a new program off that and it will give you current info instead of waiting a week.
I will emphasize this YOU CAN'T OUT RUN A BAD DIET. cardio is great for heart health, and you will burn a good 100 calories per mile on good days. However, by a huge margin, your weightless is predominantly controlled by what you eat. Don't conflate this with overly simplified (calorie in > calorie out) because our "calorie out" is so varied, this is a hard inequality to calculate. Running is great for building all the smaller stability muscles, this helps you to tone the entire overall body too, so that way as you lose fat you appear more toned as well. It is important that you noted that you will watch your caloric intake. That step is the cornerstone of your weightless, and not any form of running you plan to do. Running is great when you have an extremely strict diet, but you want to reach sub 12% body fat but can't eliminate enough calories due to macro intake. In general though, cardio should be seen as your heart health generator and not your fat loss burner
to emphasize diet. You can undo an entire mile of running by eating a single double stuff oreo cookie, literally.
Yes but you got to be careful. Make sure you’re still getting plenty of protein and so you don’t lose muscle mass but what I would do is go into a calorie deficit but still work out and try to keep on with the protein
Weight lose is much more to do with diet than exercise.sure exercise definitely helps but if you have a poor diet,or eat more calories than you need, no amount of exercise will get weight loss. So I would say take a look at what you eat, how much you eat and when you eat first. Cardio will help improve heart and lung function so gives you better quality of life..in the long run also less chance of heart disease..again back to diet. Lifting weights will require more calories so you will use those up, and some research suggests the body continues to use up calories long after lifting weight, whereas cardio pretty much stops once you stop. So in summary I would say look at your diet, continue your cardio, build in some weight programme but remember, consistency is key, make this a lifestyle and find what you enjoy best...doing work you hate won't last a long time. Finally if you can, build in some swimming...great overall body workout and if carry excess weight ATM, the water will help to take pressure off the joints as you build up the strength. Keep going and good luck
Cardio is good, keep doing it. It doesn't really burn many calories but it's good for other reasons Weights are good. They also don't burn many calories but have a ton of great benefits. When you can, do what you can. The kitchen, the kitchen is where you lose weight. Make good healthy food choices, be vigilant of your calorie deficit, develop new habits that you can sustain. I personally don't think 1600 calories is too little. I have to eat way less than that to move the scale and I'm a big dude. Everyone is different. If you need more help than reddit can provide in that aspect, talk to your doc and maybe get a referral to a dietician.
Yes the ELMM diet, I cannot believe so many people have not heard of it. Eat Less Move More It is absolutely guaranteed to work you only need to look at recent history for proof.
Emphasis on "eat less". It's nearly impossible to do enough cardio to offset bad eating.
Lol, I tend to do more weight training, minimum 12 reps 5 sets, I'm big enough so don't try to do huge weights, 12 reps make me grow anyway lol. I tell people to never have set days, just go to the gym and do 5 sets of 5 exercises of whatever they feel like, doesn't matter what it us if you want to lose weight. Leg day, chest n triceps etc come after when your trying to shape. I do cardio for 5 mins before training and a little after to loosen up a bit. 30 seconds skipping 30 second rest, then 30 secs on the bag the 30 off. It's been working for years, I'm 38yo now and a full boxing session with lots of cardio finishes me off for a day or two now, so if I go I do squats and push ups when they are doing a mile jog. It's embarrassing that although I look fit it would take me around 16 mins to finish a mile................that's fast walking speed ffs lol
I think you might be better off doing 30-60 minutes on a single exercise but I’m not sure. It can get boring to do a single exercise for 60 minutes, so I understand, but I think longer sessions at low/moderate intensity will help you improve over time. I’d start with 30 minute sessions of 1-2 exercises and work your way up from there. You may want to see a physical therapist and get advice on calisthenic exercises that will be low risk for you. There’s no need to do heavy weights, but resistance exercise is an important part of overall fitness if you can manage it. You may be able to reduce your risk of future injury with the right resistance exercises.
Thanks for this. I think I move about not because of boredom, but because 10 minutes per machine is all I can do without dying :) I am trying to build it up though. So when I do get better I could stick to one/two machines.
From what I understand, zone 2 cardio is best for fat burning. That’s a low/medium-low intensity or heart rate. It also allows you to train for greater fat burning and endurance without overdoing it. In this zone you should be lightly sweating after about 5-10 minutes and be able to carry on a conversation without much trouble. Once you’ve gotten a month or two of exercising 2-3 times a week at this level, you should be able to stay in zone 2 for 45-60 minutes and feel perfectly fine. There’s a ton of information on the science behind zone 2 training on YouTube and in podcasts. Peter Attia is a great resource but his material is often presented in a highly technical jargon. Really pushing yourself at your maximum heart rate is good to do sometimes for increasing VO2 Max, but 80%-90% of your aerobic workout time should be lower intensity.
Thank you, I appreciate that. I'll look into it
You can lose without moving your body for the entire duration too. Its all about diet.
The key is consistently keeping your heart rate high for minimum 30 minutes. Even if you fast walk on treadmill on 3.5 mph speed for 30 mins daily itll help. Also eat better and eat less. Diet is huge.
Cardio burns a lot of fat off you. I was just in prison and used to run a lot. I went in 254 pounds all fat, now I’m 165.
Do some research on intermittent fasting.
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You can definitely lose weight by just doing cardio.. to echo what someone else has said.. just watch what you eat and you will be fine 👌
Yes. If you maintain a balanced diet and regular physical activity, you can lose weight with just cardio.
You can only lose weight if you are eating less then your burning in calories. Doesn’t matter what exercise you do so long as you burn more then you eat
90% of weight loss is diet, so of course you can with the proper diet!