Cardio endurance and metabolism

[CathydsRNA]

Hi,
I have noticed that I get acclimated to cardio workouts fairly quickly(difficult to get my heart rate up to where it was when I did workout for first couple times)My question: if it takes less energy expenditure on my part to do a workout(s) after I have built up my cardiovascular endurance/conditioning...am I also using less energy to do everything else I do during the day and hence burning less calories. If not, why not? I do strength training workouts also.Thanks for any light you can shed on this topic.

 

[Bobbi]

With regular endurance training, the body becomes better in converting fat to energy. The longer you exercise, the more efficient the proteins that store fat in the muscle become, making fat more readily available for energy.
See this article which explains what happens when you become trained.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/12190/96649

You might end up requiring fewer dailey calories, not because you have increased endurance levels, but because you may drop fat stores and lose weight. The less you weigh, the fewer calories you require. When distance running was my main focus, I stayed at 125 pretty easily. Now that I give strength training and cardio more or less equal time, I weigh in between 115 and 118 because I am more lean. Using a basic calculator, I can determine that I require about 65 more calories per day at 125 than I do at 115 but an increase in activity, say an extra mile here or a longer step workout there, will cause the caloric requirement to go up and more advanced exercisers tend to exercise more because they are often exercise junkies, LOL!

And here's one more interesting fact, an increase in muscle mass increases the calories you burn at rest. For each pound of muscle you gain you require approximately 35 to 50 additional calories a day to maintain your weight. An increase of three pounds of lean muscle allows you to enjoy 100 to 150 more calories a day or, if you're trying to lose weight, to do so at a much quicker rate. Beginning exercisers see greater gains but that's because because they have more fitness goals to reach.

So, getting quickly acclimated means you have got it going on!

I hope this helps!
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver

 

[t_jania]

Bobby, thanks so much for posting that link!! Great explaination, too.