excessive cardio = bad?

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Just wondering if doing excessive cardio work... can it be a bad thing?

I only ever used to do 10 minutes a time, but now ive worked my way up from regaining fitness and now I can do an hour easily on a crosstrainer machine, I slipped it onto fat burn yesturday, and burnt a monsterous 1000 calories in one go :eek: Although it stupidly good exercise, are there any drawbacks? There normall are, too much of a good thing being a bad thing, or is it Ok do burn 1000 calories in a session, 3-4 times a week?

Also theyve started selling a new drink at the gym with 'added carbazine' I think it was - claims to help burn off bodyfat during a workout... does anyone know what this chemichal is, if it actually works and probably more importantly, is it good for you?
 
An hour 3-4 times a week seems healthy. I use to go with 20 minutes of running 4 times a week and that worked for me. I'll be using 45-60 min walking sessions when I go back to cardio.

I guess you could compare excessive cardio to sports. If you play football everynight of the week for a couple of hours you may not think of it as a bad thing cause you love it.

I think aslong as you dont feel lethargic during the week then your fine. And if that happens then looking at what you eat can help you.
 
It's quite possible to burn 1000 calories in one hour on the cross trainer, I've done it myself before, you need to be fit to achieve it, but it's quite possible by the average person who has been doing cardio for a while.
 
Agree. I can blast off about 250 cals in a 15 mins session easily so a 1000 in an hour is doable.

Depending on what your goals are (long term stamina increase or bodyfat loss) you might wish to consider high intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT will burn off bodyfat faster than a long steady state cardio session.
 
BrenOS said:
Unless you're on the cross trainer for 4 hours at a time there is no way you are burning 1000 calories. It's wrong.

Ive just got back from the gym, did 50 minutes on the x-trainer and burned 800 cal, so burning 1000 calories is rather possible
 
#Chri5# said:
How long did you do to burn 1000 cals?

It was an hour, well, 65 mins, 60 mins + 5 mins cool down so I dont get a heart attack :p I sweat like nobodies business by the time I'm finished and I just thought whoa, 1000 is a big number, might not necessarily be a good thing

It doesnt really seem like hard work (Well, too much) to burn off 1000 calories, as In half an hour on a rower I struggle to hit 350, and after that I find it hard to move :( On a cross trainer I could just go all day
 
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No I'm not having it. You'd have to be superhuman to burn 1000 calories in an hour on a cross trainer. The things are rubbish. Running, swimming, rowing are all much harder.

Have a look here. From that list I'd put a hour wiffy waffy around on the x-trainer at around 400-500 calories, and thats for the 190lb group.
 
BrenOS said:
No I'm not having it. You'd have to be superhuman to burn 1000 calories in an hour on a cross trainer. The things are rubbish. Running, swimming, rowing are all much harder.

Have a look here. From that list I'd put a hour wiffy waffy around on the x-trainer at around 400-500 calories, and thats for the 190lb group.

Promise you it is gospel mate. I would take a photo of the workout readout in the gym but am scared of being accused of being a perv!

Cross trainer on a high level of resistance is a great excercise. Like I say, I do 250 cals in 15 mins averaging 160 strides a min and weigh 90kg...not sure of the maths but the readout says circa 17 cals per min.
 
The readout is wrong.

I did the GNR in 90 minutes. For someone to say they could burn half the calories in 2/3 of the time on a cross trainer is absolutely ludicrious.

A little trip computer on a redundant piece of gym equipment is no proof in my eyes.
 
must be wrong in all the gyms and machines i have used then bud... :confused:

I imagine it isn't a particularly accurate measurement on the machines but the base comparison seems to vary from site to site. The one I just visited says if you do 9 min miles jogging you can burn 520 cals in 30mins weighing 90kg

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/cal...ym&minutes=30&highcal=0&order=CalsBurned+DESC

I am keen to somehow confirm this though as I am looking for the most efficient fat burner/time ratio and have definately found cross trainer to expend the most calories in my cardio routines in the past based on the machine readouts
 
1 hour four times a week is not overtraining. On the other hand If u were running 100miles a week, depending on your own body u may be overtraining slightly and need to cut back to 80miles. Those calorie counters are not accurate, everybody burns calories at different rates.
 
I'm not meaning to be hostile about it.

In my experience of training on the x-trainer opposed to anything else I've done cardio wise, it ranks bottom. In my early days at the gym I did cardio there, and did use the cross trainer for extended periods. This was when I was just starting out too, nowhere near the level of fitness I was in 03/04. I was conning myself I'd made progress yet I felt hardly tested. I'm not one to not push myself either. I've exercised a lot with fitness, not leisure, in mind. Running, rowing, swimming, cycling I'd rate them all above the x-trainer. I won't use a x-trainer now. I can see it's benefits as a non impact form of cardio if you have joint problems, but then again there are better options in the bike and rower.

If you lined up four top athletes, put one on a treadmill, bike, rower and x-trainer, wired them up with proper scientific gear and challenged them to see who could burn the most calories in an hour I'd have the x-trainer as coming last everytime.
 
The_Judge said:
Those calorie counters are not accurate, everybody burns calories at different rates.

That is true but is irrelevant. The machine will need "X" amount of energy exerted on it to make it run one cycle/revolution in "Y" amount of time. This will give you a value of energy spent neccessary to move the machinery.
 
BrenOS said:
If you lined up four top athletes, put one on a treadmill, bike, rower and x-trainer, wired them up with proper scientific gear and challenged them to see who could burn the most calories in an hour I'd have the x-trainer as coming last everytime.

Well thats rather odd you would say that, as a treadmill and cross trainer ultimately uses the same action. ie running with your arms pumping.
 
If you burnt 1000 cals in the fat burning zone I cant see it being too much of a worry seeing as its a lot easier than cardio.

I'd say do what feels comfortable, your hearts not going to explode unless you seriously over exert yourself, so watch your heart rate and keep exercising
 
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