How much cardio exercise do I need to lose weight?

It is not how much cardio you need to do to lose weight but where your deficit is at.  Bottom line you have to burn more calories than you take in.  Cardio is not the only thing that will help you lose weight.  You also have weight training and proper meal planning to help you out as well.  Cardio is only one part of the puzzle to help you lose weight.  Remember to lose 1 pound of fat you must burn 3500 calories or have your deficit at 500 calories per day.  How much cardio you want to do is up to you and your body.  You want to start out by doing what the body can handle at first and then build from there.  So if you can handle 2 days of cardio then that is your starting point.  Eventually you can do cardio on average 3-5 times per week. 

The bottom line to lose weight weight is you need to burn more calories than you take in.  I always tell patients you can out eat exercise any day of the week.  The bottom line is to lose weight you need a healthy diet and regular aerobic exercise

First, if you are doing no exercise the best amount is "more than that."  For people starting out a cardio exercise prpogram for weight loss, one of our biggest concerns is too much too fast.  If you are too sore, or don't have enough time or energy to sustain an overly ambitious program, it will backfire.  Once you have progressviely increased your workout, and you are enjoying it, most weight loss research indicates that 250 minutes is optimum for weight loss.  Exercise is also exceptionally effective to help people mantain lost weight.

Start by attempting to do at least 10 minutes of cardio every day.  You could walk around the neighborhood at a moderate pace, climb the stairs in your home, or jump on the stationary bike at your local gym.  Gradually increase your duration from 10 minutes per day to 15 minutes, then to 20 minutes, and so on.  Once you have reached 35 minutes per day, change up your activities.  Jog instead of walking, swim laps instead of climbing stairs, or try the elliptical machine instead of the stationary bike.  Make it really interesting by doing multiple activities for 35 minutes - walk for 5 minutes, jog for 5 minutes, run for 5 minutes, and repeat for a total of 35 minutes.  You can even make it a social activity by inviting your family members to join you, or by joining a local organized sport league.  As you build your stamina and increase your level of endurance, you can increase the duration and intensity of your cardio activities.

There is no magic amount of cardio exercise when it comes to losing weight. Losing weight is about burning more calories than you consume. Begin with a sensible reduced calorie diet and increased activity, including cardio and strength training.

Cardio can be an important component of burning more calories. If you are new to cardio, begin working out at 60% of your maximum heart rate for 20-30 minutes 2-3 days per week and increase intensity once you master that. To find a rough estimate of you maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. Then multiply your answer by 0.60 to calculate the heart rate for 60% intensity.

To lose weight, you will need to burn more calories than you consume on a regular basis, and cardio exercise is one way of burning calories. The amount of calories you will burn is dependent on your level of intensity, frequency, and duration of the exercise. If you're just starting out and not accustomed to performing cardio for very long, or very hard, try working at a moderate pace for 15-20 minutes, 2-3 times per week, then increase your frequency and duration as your endurance improves. The most important thing is that you do get started. Remember, the more you do it, the more calories you'll burn, and the faster your weight loss results will come.

To lose weight you must be in a caloric deficit.  Half the battle is just watching what you eat.  Cardio is just one way to help you burn more calories throughout the day.  To burn the most calories possible you must consider resistance training as well.  A combination of cardio and resistance training can help increase excess post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).  This means you will be burning calories not only when you are working out but the remaining 23 hours of the day.  Just remember to start slow and create a program that you enjoy.

30 minutes is enough for adults. If you're not losing weight you need to check your eating habits. The rule of thumb is "calories in, calories out". Most of us eat way more then is nessecary.

Weight loss is the difference between calories in (food) and calories out (exercise).  About 80-90% of weight loss is going to come from your diet.  You really can't exercise off bad eating habits.

The Move It/Lose It program is great in that you can track your intake and your exercise so you can see where your daily calorie deficits (or surpluses) are each day.

If you are currently sedentary, I like to see you start moving each day.  Start with 5 minutes, and work up to 30.   Once that is comfortable and is a habit, work on increasing that.  If you eat a whole foods, lowfat, plant-based diet, and are moving 45-60 minutes, 5-6x a week, you will lose weight.

To lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume. Participating in regular cardio exercise is a great way to help burn those extra calories necessary for weight loss. Cardio exercise refers to any activity that involves and places a stress on the cardiovascular system. In other words, any type of activity that increases your heart rate and breathing rate can be considered cardio exercise. Activities such as walking, running, swimming, jumping rope and cycling are common forms of cardio activities. However activities of daily living can also be included as cardio exercise. Activities such as mowing the lawn, working in the garden, dancing, taking the stairs, all contribute to our daily cardio exercise.

Choose activities you enjoy and start out slow, especially if you are new to working out. Begin with just 10 to 30 minutes of low intensity exercise three to five days a week. These sessions can also be split into two or three 10-minute sessions per day. Research has shown that three 10 minute sessions are just as effective as one 30 minute session of cardio exercise. As you become more fit, increase the duration of your chosen activities until you are able to perform 30-60 minutes, 5-7 days a week.

The next step is to then work toward increasing the intensity of your workout. Interval training is a great cardio exercise for losing weight. Alternating between periods of lower intensity exercise and higher intensity exercise is a great way to increase the overall intensity of your workout and help you burn even more calories. However, it is very important to first build a strong cardio foundation before attempting interval training.

When it comes to weight loss, cardio is only one component of a successful weight loss plan. Strength training and a healthy diet are also essential components. You can work out and do as much exercise as you want but if you are still fueling your body with fast food and other poor nutritional choices you will not lose weight.

 

If you are trying to lose weight, then the National Academy of Sports Medicine recommends, 3-5 days of cardio per week, 20-60 minutes at a time, at 60%-90% of your maximum heart rate. Though, given our busy lives, it may be more realistic to go with 5-7 days with 30 minutes of cardio at a given time.

However, it is important to note that weight loss occurs when there is a caloric deficit between what you eat and what you burn over a given day. So please make the cardio time you dedicate worthwhile and eat appropriately to lose weight. If you have any wquestions about cardio and nutrition for weight loss please feel free to contact me.

Also, remember to consult your doctor before starting any program to ensure your body can handle the stress of cardio workouts. To eliminate the guesswork when putting together a cardio program, please consider the F.I.T.T.E. principle, developed by NASM.  

Frequency: Depending on goals and capabilities, 3-5 days or 5-7 days per week

Intensity: Moderate for general fitness or 60%-90% to promote fat loss or athletic gains

Time: Minimum 30 minutes 5-7 days per week, 20-60 if time allows you

Type: Engage in activities that are safe, effective and are related to your goals

Enjoyment: You have to like what you do for it to be effective. So find an activity or a group of people with similar goals and GET MOVING!

ENJOY!

Losing weight is not a function of cardiovascular training, losing weight is a function of caloric deficit. Cardio training can help you create a caloric deficit but you could also choose to eat enough food to overcome your cardiovascular training.

A person that wants to lose weight, must on a daily basis, eat fewer calories than they burn off. Simply put eat less than you need and you will lose weight. Cardio training increases caloric burn rate so it will speed the process up but not if you eat whatever you want. First determine how many calories you need a day to stay the same and then eat 20% less than this number or 500 calories whichever is greater.

To determine how many calories you need to maintain your current weight consult with a trainer, nutritionist, dietician, or your doctor. If you want a quick and easy but not that accurate number if you are an adult woman you will probably maintain your weight on roughly 1800 calories per day and if you are an adult man roughly 2200. That means your goal intake for weight loss for a woman would be roughly 1300 calories a day and for a man roughly 1700 calories.

There is no on standard answer to this question as we are all different, so it will depend on how your body reacts to cardio exercise. For example, I may have to perform cardio exercise for at least 1 hour to see results where as my sister only needs 30 minutes. Other factors that play an important role is the amount of calories that are taken in and how active your day is. The more you eat may mean, reducing calories, more time spent exercising or an increase in intensity. One way to find the right amount of cardiovascular training that is right for you is to increase activity and record your caloric intake, and exercise expenditure. After 3-4 weeks see if there were any improvements. The best way to figure this out is to find a fitness training coach who can assist in the process and provide an objective perspective.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise (such as a brisk walk) or a minimum of 75 minutes of vigorous activity (such as jogging) to maintain health.  The key words here are "to maintain health", in order to see weightloss results more may have to be completed.  The SECRET to weightloss is not the amount of cardio one performs, or the number of hours they spend in a gym, it is merely the balance between the number of calories one consumes versus the number of calories one burns. 

I often find that people do not want to think it is this easy, but it is.  The challange with weightloss often comes with making the correct decisions as far as what type of food to eat and when to eat it.  To find out what foods may best serve your needs contact a local nutritionist or work with an HFPN Coach on proper nutrition tracking methods and setting up a DotFIT account.