Just the other day, I got off the phone with a friend I’ve know for years. He told me how many times per week he’s doing cardio (spin, zumba, etc) and does some weight training but not much. He’s frustrated that his fat loss seems to have come to a complete halt.
In fact, in the last month, he’s fluctuated about two pounds!
I tried to explain cardio as a tool that he could use to put himself further into a calorie deficit but that his main goal should be to focus on weight training and building muscle. As usual, the advice I willingly gave was met with endless debates about the necessity of cardio. After which he told me he thinks he’s been in a 50% deficit! (that’s 50% below what he needs to maintain his current level of activity).
My advice was simple.. reduce the cardio, start eating more and focus on the weights. Maybe even consider eating at his maintenance level for a bit or even go into a surplus! He wouldn’t hear of it. He was willing to consider less of a deficit but there wasn’t a chance he’s ever think of eating too much more as it might put on fat.
To give you some perspective, he’s a 201 lb male eating about 1600 calories a day.
To give you some perspective, I’m 190 lb male eating about 4000 calories a day and I do one “cardio” session on Sunday for about 30 minutes. It’s nothing more than a warm up for 5 minutes, followed by 6 all out sprints and a cool down. Not much but it keeps me as lean as I need to be right now.
Why do I dislike cardio!
I don’t. Not at all. In fact Tom Venuto of the Burn the Fat Inner Circle says it best.
“Fat Loss is not a function of cardio. It is a function of a calorie deficit.”
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So, what do you think?