how long does it take for cardio to lose fat?

[Gregatron15]

i was just wondering how long it takes after a really long intense cardio workout to actually get results. like if i run on the elliptical for like 3 hours would i notice a difference right away or would it take a few days to actually look different at all?

[Ryanmcd]

Hmm, engrish?

[mattkilla420]

i was just wondering how long it takes after a really long intense cardio workout to actually get results. like if i run on the elliptical for like 3 hours would i notice a difference right away or would it take a few days to actually look different at all?

takes 3500cals to burn 1lb of fat, thats more cals than you can probably run. and as i understand it once you have burned the fat, the fat cells could/will still be there without the fat inside it, build water in it then go away after an x amount of time. but running 3 hours will make you lose water weight. so to answer your question, its gonna take some time on cardio if your just maintaining cals before you look like you lost fat.

[Gregatron15]

takes 3500cals to burn 1lb of fat, thats more cals than you can probably run. and as i understand it once you have burned the fat, the fat cells could/will still be there without the fat inside it, build water in it then go away after an x amount of time. but running 3 hours will make you lose water weight. so to answer your question, its gonna take some time on cardio if your just maintaining cals before you look like you lost fat.

thanks for the help

[defury]

takes 3500cals to burn 1lb of fat, thats more cals than you can probably run. and as i understand it once you have burned the fat, the fat cells could/will still be there without the fat inside it, build water in it then go away after an x amount of time. but running 3 hours will make you lose water weight. so to answer your question, its gonna take some time on cardio if your just maintaining cals before you look like you lost fat.

You can actually never get rid of fat cells, they just deflate

[Bandah07]

You can actually never get rid of fat cells, they just deflate

Damn, really? Do they always exists in everyone's body or do you gain them but cant lose them?

[bhspud]

You can actually never get rid of fat cells, they just deflate

Not entirely true... you can get rid of them through liposuction (I wouldn't suggest that though)

[Maddrox]

It takes awhile for the fat cells to shrink away..

My bodys been full of the "Marbles" for over a week, as of today I feel like some shrunk finally but have already created new ones ;P

I feel covered in bubble wrap

[Leon2006]

i was just wondering how long it takes after a really long intense cardio workout to actually get results. like if i run on the elliptical for like 3 hours would i notice a difference right away or would it take a few days to actually look different at all?

Where do people get all this broscience???!!! You should not do 3 hours of Cardio! You will ruin your metabolism and lose muscle. If all you're are doing is lifting and cardio then I suggest 3 days of HIIT and 2 days of low intensity to burn fat. 20 mins of HIIT and 35 to 45 mins of Low Intensity.

[defury]

Damn, really? Do they always exists in everyone's body or do you gain them but cant lose them?

Once you create a fat cell it will never leave your body unless you get liposuction, it will simply deflate.

[maaks]

Damn, really? Do they always exists in everyone's body or do you gain them but cant lose them?

Yes, at least where i can tell[and i guess science do so], to at most 20 years people's weight determines the number of fat cells. But a incredible high weight can also increase this number, even if you are older than twenty years.

[GregTR]

Where do people get all this broscience???!!! You should not do 3 hours of Cardio! You will ruin your metabolism and lose muscle. If all you're are doing is lifting and cardio then I suggest 3 days of HIIT and 2 days of low intensity to burn fat. 20 mins of HIIT and 35 to 45 mins of Low Intensity.

ROFL! Hey kettle, I'm pot and you're black!

3 hours of cardio will not catabolize muscle. Calories burned during cardio will also depend on intensity. So 3 hours of running at 10 minute/mile pace will burn vastly different amounts of calories than running the same 3 hours at 7:00 minute/mile.

Knock yourself out and do as much cardio as you can handle. FWIW I'm running 40 miles a week, some of my runs are 25 minutes long, some of them are 1.5+ hours. Some are ran at 70% VO2Max some are ran at 90%. Some are at a steady pace some are intervals. None of that matters in terms of calories, I will burn around 110 calories per mile ran regardless of intensity, variance or pace. Now the composition of the calories I burn will change. The more intense the workout the more glycogen and the less fat you burn. But after you're done with the exercise, you will burn fat to convert it back to glycogen to replenish your glycogen stores. Fat cells are triglycerides. Your liver is very efficient in converting it back to glycogen as needed as long as there is an abundance of oxygen available. When you're doing high intensity workouts there is not enough oxygen available to make the process worth while but as soon as you stop the process will keep on going and it doesn't matter whether you lost fat or glycogen, you have burned calories.

[Webber91]

So much broscience ITT.

I don't think people realise just how long it actually takes before a significant amount of catabolism sets in.

You're worried about doing 3 hours of cardio because its "catabolic", but smashing weights for an hour is also a very catabolic time for your body.

Now I'm not saying I condone long duration cardio. I do 3 HIIT sessions a week with 5 days of intense, heavy resistance training, but that's just my preference.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't gain muscle overnight, so how can you lose it just as quickly?

[cheeseandrice]

cardio creates a calorie deficit

the more you do the bigger your deficit is. dont worry about the anatomy / physiology aspect of it

its simple math. calories burned = fat gone

[mr_ben]

no difference right away, but got difference in a week or two.

[Backus24]

Where do people get all this broscience???!!! You should not do 3 hours of Cardio! You will ruin your metabolism and lose muscle. If all you're are doing is lifting and cardio then I suggest 3 days of HIIT and 2 days of low intensity to burn fat. 20 mins of HIIT and 35 to 45 mins of Low Intensity.

The irony you bring up broscience..

[CHRIS925]

lol.

Everything is "broscience" to everyone now.

Nobody knows what to take seriously.

This site just amuses me

[eLiTe_J_]

ROFL! Hey kettle, I'm pot and you're black!

3 hours of cardio will not catabolize muscle. Calories burned during cardio will also depend on intensity. So 3 hours of running at 10 minute/mile pace will burn vastly different amounts of calories than running the same 3 hours at 7:00 minute/mile.

Knock yourself out and do as much cardio as you can handle. FWIW I'm running 40 miles a week, some of my runs are 25 minutes long, some of them are 1.5+ hours. Some are ran at 70% VO2Max some are ran at 90%. Some are at a steady pace some are intervals. None of that matters in terms of calories, I will burn around 110 calories per mile ran regardless of intensity, variance or pace. Now the composition of the calories I burn will change. The more intense the workout the more glycogen and the less fat you burn. But after you're done with the exercise, you will burn fat to convert it back to glycogen to replenish your glycogen stores. Fat cells are triglycerides. Your liver is very efficient in converting it back to glycogen as needed as long as there is an abundance of oxygen available. When you're doing high intensity workouts there is not enough oxygen available to make the process worth while but as soon as you stop the process will keep on going and it doesn't matter whether you lost fat or glycogen, you have burned calories.

/thread

[gooseguy312]

i was just wondering how long it takes after a really long intense cardio workout to actually get results. like if i run on the elliptical for like 3 hours would i notice a difference right away or would it take a few days to actually look different at all?

The above poster is right in a sense about it kind of ruining your metabolism, but it doesnt happen directly, more indirectly.

If you run 3 hours at medium-high intensity just 1 time, you probably wont notice it. But if you keep doing that youll be on the fast-track to getting a marathoner type physique (beer gut, high bodyfat, very low muscle).

The less muscle you have, the less calories you burn overall, decreasing your metabolic engine so to speak.

It takes less energy to run a 120 pound person then a 180 pound person.


And make no doubt about it, you WILL burn muscle doing that much cardio for a lot of reasons.

oxygen is needed to burn fat, im not sure if you knew that or not. the faster intensity you run at , the less oxygen is available for fat-burning synthesis... once this happens your body has 2 choices, use carbohydrates or proteins from digested food to fuel this cardio session, or break down existing muscle for energy. Your body simply has no choice, this will happen if nutrients arent available, its ESPECIALLY bad if your cutting (low on carbs) and doing a lot of this kinda cardio. Now this might seem silly, but the best thing you can do is eat a LOT of carbs before cardio to make sure muscle gets saved and not used for energy, remember the only thing that effects fat loss is cals in VS cals out, this will make no difference in anything. You dont need to eat protein before cardio like a lot on this forum suggest, completely pointless if ur taking in carbs, but either will work.



The second reason is if you do 3 hours of cardio, your body will eventually just be like Hey i think im gonna get rid of this dead weight (muscle) so itll be easier to run that long distance. Itll be especially bad since your body wont want to add on more muscle either.

The most obvious way to avoid this mostly, is make sure weights are done more often then cardio, and make sure the cardio you do is Low intensity to have complete access to fat stores for energy. i know the second reason sounds like bro science since ive given no scientific reasoning, but i assure u it isnt.

IMO the best you can do is like 4miles per hour jogging/eliptical for 45 minutes, 4-5 times a week, tops. That is pretty much what im doing on my cut and ive lost very little muscle so far.

[RepHeavy]

If you run 3 hours at medium-high intensity just 1 time, you probably wont notice it. But if you keep doing that youll be on the fast-track to getting a marathoner type physique (beer gut, high bodyfat, very low muscle).

Since when do marathon runners have beer guts & high bodyfat?..

[Invidia]

Yeah

Definitely don't do three hours of cardiovascular exercise every day, obviously this is BAD and can lead to MAXIMUM MUSCLE LOSS (/Broscience); in fact, try to get four to six hours of cardiovascular exercise in, and achieve lean-Zangief mode like me (Down 64 pounds of fat in 14 weeks and counting AND still going strong, LITERALLY)

[seifelbadrawy]

hey guys.. cardio can be catabolic.. but you have to take in account how conditioned you are to cardio.. if you've been running for years, then your body is more conditioned to the exercise and will be less catabolic. This can mean you can run for hours w/o having your metabolism eat in to your muscle. Thats why professional/college athletes, do hours of cardio during training (scrimmages, jogging, interval training) but are never concerned about losing power or strength. But if you are an unexperienced runner who's just started running to lose weight, then 45 minutes or more might end up being too catabolic. In the end,, no matter how much cardio you do, you have to make sure all your muscles get hit hard with weight at least once a week..

MARATHON RUNNERS ARE AN EXTREME CASE. Because they actually avoid bulking and aim to be as light as possible.. and they run for over 5 hours straight DAILY, when training. I dont think anyone on the losing fat section is running that much, and if they are, they're lifting and eating plenty of proteins.

and to the OP,,

how much cardio does it take to lose fat?! 3500 calories of it ='s a pound.. But as i was talking about before, conditioning is an important variable. An inexperienced 160 pound runner might burn 180 calories running a mile.But an experienced 160 lb runner who's been donig it for years might burn 110 calories running a mile. Don't trust calorie expenditure model/machine readings,, they're all bogus.

[karld39]

I usually work out (cardio) for about 4 - 8 hours a week,

If i have a good week of 8 hours mixed with a week of healthy eating i can see results the next week, in the form of weight loss of up to 5 lbs and feeling alot healthier. Fat loss is a equal mix of healthy eating and lots of cardio activity. I only use crosstrainer and bikes.

1 hour cross trainer on hill setting = 900 Calories

1 hour on bike on high hill setting = 500 Calories

The hill setting also works your legs out as well.

Good Luck,

[gooseguy312]

Yeah

Definitely don't do three hours of cardiovascular exercise every day, obviously this is BAD and can lead to MAXIMUM MUSCLE LOSS (/Broscience); in fact, try to get four to six hours of cardiovascular exercise in, and achieve lean-Zangief mode like me (Down 64 pounds of fat in 14 weeks and counting AND still going strong, LITERALLY)

LMFAO..... can i ask what your lifts are? I weigh 175 lbs right now, i bet im lifting almost twice what you are. And yet i weigh 60 pounds lighter then you? hahahahaha

Keto diet for zangief mode? ROFL i hope your happy to be left with no muscle or strength at the end of things. sure itll burn the fat but youll have NOTHING left with ur current physique if ur actually doing cardio on a keto diet.


Your a brainless idiot lol


WOW- i just checked out ur lifts, you cant even bench press ur own phkin bodyweight and ur sitting here criticizing my advice??? loooooooool

Zangief mode looooooool, dream on.

Look i have no problem when someone shares thier opinion, but dont sit here criticizing mine when u lift like a little girl, have a high bodyfat, and talk out of ur @$$ all day.