? for Maribeth about cardio time..

[ebh87]

On the thread about Oprah, you wrote:

most exercising people do waaay too much cardio to meet their goals.
Too much cardio can lead to decreased muscle mass, which in turn, can lead to increased fat mass.

If someone has 60-90 minutes/day to spend exercising, how much of that time would you recommend spending on cardio vs strength? I generally focus on cardio because I want to lose weight and figure that it will burn more calories. So, on a day that I have 90 minutes to exercise, I will do an hour of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training. I was wondering what you consider too much cardio.

Thanks for all of your great advice.

Hope you have a great time on your cruise!

Erica

 

[Maribeth]

Erica,
I would recommend spending the bulk of the time on resistance training at least 4 times a week. Yes, a given cardio session may (not always, though) burn more calories than a resistance training session, but resistance training ups the caloric expenditure for a much longer period following the workout. It also increases lean muscle mass, which will increase your metabolic rate at all times.

For long term weight loss, resistance training is essential. There are benefits to cardio, my suggestion is to give the strength training the priority.

I'm looking forward to the cruise, BTW! Sounds wild!}>
Maribeth

 

[ebh87]

Thanks Maribeth!

We'll miss you!!
Erica