Does Calorie deficite and cardio really make you skinny fat?

[anonto]

So I've been looking a lot online and a lot of sources say that going on a calorie deficit (even with healthy foods) and doing a lot of cardio makes you lose a lot of muscle mass and results in skinny fat (or something along those lines)? It doesn't really sound convincing. Is this a myth or will restricting calories and running on the treadmill really make you skinny fat? (Sorry if it's a dumb question I'm just confused how this happens)

[bf527365]

So I've been looking a lot online and a lot of sources say that going on a calorie deficit (even with healthy foods) and doing a lot of cardio makes you lose a lot of muscle mass and results in skinny fat (or something along those lines)? It doesn't really sound convincing. Is this a myth or will restricting calories and running on the treadmill really make you skinny fat? (Sorry if it's a dumb question I'm just confused how this happens)

Losing weight have having no muscle mass makes you skinny fat. If you don't already have muscle mass( most people ) and you don't lift during you're cut you will be skinny fat. Has nothing to do with a cardio and a deficit. Just lift heavy too

[PBLift84]

You will almost always lose some muscle on a cut. Eating mostly carbs and no resistance work will make you skinny fat or just skinny weak.

Maintaining a calorie deficit, doing conditioning/ hi intensity cardio, lifting, and eating properly will keep 90% of your strength and cut bf.

[anonto]

Losing weight have having no muscle mass makes you skinny fat. If you don't already have muscle mass( most people ) and you don't lift during you're cut you will be skinny fat. Has nothing to do with a cardio and a deficit. Just lift heavy too

Sorry if I sound dumb, but doesn't high intensity cardio and calorie deficit make your body more toned?

[bf527365]

Sorry if I sound dumb, but doesn't high intensity cardio and calorie deficit make your body more toned?

No not at all, absolutely false. It has absolutely nothing to do with toning your body , lifting weights tones your body. All cardio does is burns calories , and has slight cardiovascular benefits.

[davisj3537]

As long as you lift while losing weight then you'll retain or might even build some muscle while losing weight. Retaining muscle is the key to avoiding skinny fat. Without lifting you will not retain muscle. As already stated above, the deficit with cardio has no relation to skinny fat.

Run a deficit, with or without cardio, and lift weights. It's that simple. Cardio has no appreciable affect on body composition. It's just burning calories and increasing cardiovascular health.

[anonto]

Sorry another thing that confuses me is that I've been doing cardio/calorie cutting for a year and started with minimal muscle but everything on my body is tight and I never really lift. I seemed to have lost more fat than muscle too. Like I'm not questioning you guys or anything I'm just trying to fully figure all this out and educate myself a bit.

[lmcfreekz]

It's proportionate... a little fat on a frame with no muscle gives the perception of skinny fat because of the proportions... the same amount of fat on someone that has a good 25 - 30lbs more muscle mass looks like next to nothing...

As far as the principle, it's pretty well described in what I'll post in the quotes here below. I'm not sure on the exact number here since I haven't seen the original article, but then the principle that they talk about cardio vs lifting for weight loss seems to well supported on these forums and elsewhere...

A study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition emphasizes the importance of PRIMARILY focusing on STRENGTH TRAINING, not cardio, methods while in a caloric deficit. The study looked at two groups of obese subjects put on identical very-low-calorie diets. One group was given a cardio-only protocol (walking, biking, or jogging 4 times per week), and the other was given a strength-only protocol, 3 workouts per week. In 12 weeks, both groups lost weight. The cardio-only group lost 37 pounds: 27 lbs of fat and 10 lbs of muscle. The strength-only group lost 32 lbs: 32 lbs of fat and 0 muscle. In other words, the strength-only group lost SIGNIFICANTLY MORE fat and didn't lose any muscle. When resting metabolic rate was calculated after the study, it was found the cardio-only group was burning 210 FEWER calories PER DAY. In contrast, the strength-only group had INCREASED their metabolism by 63 calories PER DAY.

[haikaldingle]

It's about proportions. When we talk about consuming your calories, the ratio has to be right as well depending on your lifestyle. For example, an athlete will do 50/30/20% of Carbs/protein/fat respectively. Obviously, if you were to go on a calorie deficit and not getting enough protein, you won't retain or build as much muscle. When it comes to training, depending on your goals, you should have a fair share of weight training to build and retain muscle and also cardio to slowly shed off body fat.

[davisj3537]

When it comes to training, depending on your goals, you should have a fair share of weight training to build and retain muscle and also cardio to slowly shed off body fat.

Clarifying again for anyone else reading that cardio does not shed off fat any better than simply eating less. Cardio is a tool for creating a calorie deficit. That is all.

[getbigordie18]

Depends on what your fitness goals are however liss cardio makes less and less sense if bodybuilding or strength is the goal.