Is Too much Cardio Bad??

[mikelog]

My friend told me he read that too much cardio can actually increase fat by lowering testosterone levels? Is there any truth to this? I have increased my cardio to an hour a day and my lifts have actually gone down. I also feel like my middle is getting softer. This is very discouraging when you push harder and don't see the results. My diet it clean still. Is an hour everyday of jogging/running 6-7 miles too much. Thanks for any advice.

[Jamie94]

As long as you keep your calories/macros up to keep up with the extra burn, you should be fine i expect.

[Golip]

Very interested in responses to this as I also run 6k a day albeit in 2 sessions x4 a week and can't see much fat reduction since starting this regime on my current cut , mind you i'v stalled for 7 or more weeks now ):

[nlite2000]

Too much of anything is bad, otherwise it wouldn't be "too much."


For a non jerky answer---Just make sure you don't undereat.

[AdamAntony]

Calories in vs calories out. If you are eating below your maintenance and hitting your macros you will not gain fat, the science of that is undisputable. Too much cardio is only bad if it is negatively affecting your weight lifting sessions or if your damaging your joints. Both can be fixed with slight tweaking.

[mikelog]

Calories in vs calories out. If you are eating below your maintenance and hitting your macros you will not gain fat, the science of that is undisputable. Too much cardio is only bad if it is negatively affecting your weight lifting sessions or if your damaging your joints. Both can be fixed with slight tweaking.

Thanks for the responses. I guess I will decrease the cardio a bit because my lifting is going down a bit. I thought I might adjust in time to the increased cardio, but it doesn't seem to be working as planned. Back to the drawing board I guess.

[AdamAntony]

Thanks for the responses. I guess I will decrease the cardio a bit because my lifting is going down a bit. I thought I might adjust in time to the increased cardio, but it doesn't seem to be working as planned. Back to the drawing board I guess.

Keep on experimenting bud, that's how you'll find what's best for you.

[alex2363]

i ran all my life, i also lifted but never kept my gains.. now i havent cardio in 6 months and have kept my gains and still losing fat. it depends on how u feel about cardio..i would do it for 20 minutes at hiit level 3 times a week.

[StacksItRich]

My friend told me he read that too much cardio can actually increase fat by lowering testosterone levels? Is there any truth to this? I have increased my cardio to an hour a day and my lifts have actually gone down. I also feel like my middle is getting softer. This is very discouraging when you push harder and don't see the results. My diet it clean still. Is an hour everyday of jogging/running 6-7 miles too much. Thanks for any advice.

6-7 miles every day is 600-700+ Calories being burned every day. If you are also dieting you may be under eating which is causing your lifts to go down. However, I don't see how weight wouldn't be lost in such amount of a deficit but I tend to see a correlation between too much of a deficit causing people to stall easier or cause worse off problems in people and I see people have better success with 500 or lower deficit losing weight slowly and have better bodies in the end. Idk just take a look at threads that pop up and you will slowly notice what I am. Just my view, don't knock me for it.

Don't go higher than 1000 calorie deficit unless you are morbidly obese and can afford to lose weight faster without causing too much damage.


I'm sure your maintenance Is at least 2,300 without activity/Lifestyle+Job+cardio/lifting.

[DevilsOrchard]

It depends on what your goal is. If you're looking to lose weight, cardio is the most efficient way to do so in terms of calories burned per minute. At the same time, to avoid losing muscle, make sure you're not on too great a deficit, do heavy compound lifts, and keep your protein intake up.

[TheRoadIsLong]

Too much 'cardio' can certainly be harmful. It depends largely - as most things do - on your diet and current fitness level. In general, however, when you push yourself physically your body will respond with an increase in stress hormone(s). This is, for the most part, detrimental (although obviously a necessary evil for bodybuilding).

IMO, unless you are training in particular to increase your stamina for distance running, it might be better to divide your cardio up into multiple sessions if you aren't already doing so. Your body will release less cortisol, but - provided you maintain a good intensity - you should burn the same number of calories.

I can't yet post links unfortunately, but look up some research on exercise and stress hormone levels.

Good luck,

[whitedwarf]

Jogging has no place in bodybuilding.

HIIT or low impact.

[roybatty6]

Why is it that Marathon runners have hardly any muscle mass

Yet, sprinters look in awesome shape?

Too much cardio perhaps?

[ZMan45]

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...-fat-loss.html

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...o-much-qa.html

These two articles should help out. Do yourself a favor and browse all the categories and get as much info as you can from there. It's a good site with extremely detailed info.

[Sinister110]

Thanks for the link above!