I'm New - How Much Aerobics is Considered Too Much?

L

lorajc

Cathlete
Hi Cathe,
I'm fairly new to your site, but not exercise. I need to lose about 5 pounds, but I really want to flatten my stomach, slim my legs and get really good muscle definition. I saw you mention in one of your posts to someone "don't do too much aerobics". How much is too much? How many heavy weight days, endurance days and aerobic days would you say someone like me needed to achieve my goals? I would really appreciate your advice. I'm 45 and carry all of my weight in my lower belly, thighs and butt. I am not overweight, but I need to lean out my legs and get definition overall. I'm 5'7" and weigh 123 pounds, but I'm super small boned.
 
I'm trying to keep this question in there because we get so many questions it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. So please can we get an answer to this one, thanks.
 
I would love to hear Cathe's response to this, especially with everything I have been hearing lately about weights being more beneficial for weight loss than cardio. I've also read that too much cardio can acutally make you LOSE muscle.
 
According to how fit you are perhaps?

My 250 pound mother can only handle 20 mins....I have been working out with Cathe for 5 yrs. and can handle upwards of 70mins.

Depends, right? dmd
 
We mean ...how many days a week should you do it that is not too much, but enough for our goals of definition and weight loss, but not loss of muscle.
 
>I, too, would appreciate a definition of "too much cardio".
For that matter, how many days do you work different muscle groups? If you are doing an IMAX workout, do you need to weight lift your legs that day or do you skip????
 
Elaineyue, Thanks so much for the article! It really helped a lot! I was wondering if running on my treadmill 5-6 days a week for up to 60 minutes was too much. I was afraid I was reversing my weight training efforts and this article answered all my questions! I really appreciate you providing me with this information! THANKS!:*
 
You're welcome! I always try to find articles written by this guy, Tom Venuto. I even have his e-book, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. It's probably the best $40 I've spent. It has such common sense information about diet and exercise, and he really emphasizes that no single eating/workout regimen will work for every person. He will show you how to eat and workout if you're a beginner or if you want to be as cut as a bodybuilder. And he doesn't lie to you and tell you it's easy! It's refreshing to get all the info you need from one source when there are so many fads out there.
 
Definitely, it was totally worth the $39! You'll learn everything you'll ever need to know about how to eat. But check out his website: http://www.fitren.com/ Go to the Ask Tom section and you can search through the archives for a bunch of articles he's written. He's very straightforward.

Elaine
 
Not Cathe here,
But I have to question 7 days a week of cardio. I love cardio, but the heart is a muscle too. Doesn't it need a rest once in awhile. I like at least one rest day and feel like maybe I could use more, but my mindset keeps me doing lots of cardio. I read an article once that said over 6 hours a week can lead to osteoporosis. It was talking about gymnasts. Maybe Cathe will have some insight on this.
Diane Sue
 
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