Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Have you ever done cardio to lose weight?

If you want to get truly lean, zone 2 HR workouts over 45 minutes are super efficient at burning fat. But that's talking about going to sub 8% body fat from 10% body fat, not losing 25+ pounds. And, again, the data on endurance length cardio stuff isn't very good at all in terms of longevity of life, which, to me, is a huge red flag. I'm happy to do 30 minutes to an hour running or on the bike 5 times a week and strength stuff 4 times a week now.

This is a completely different discussion depending on where you're starting from. I'm 6 feet and consider myself obese if I get up to 200 pounds. Some people would be doing great getting down to 200 pounds from where they're at.

The bottom line is basically the same as it's always been: get off the couch and don't overeat.

In the gym I see lots of overweight people lifting weights and using resistance machines.

But not on the stairclimbers.

Being 55, losing weight has changed for me. Have lost 12 pounds in the last month and half. It takes a combination of everything, but simply put, you must burn more calories than you eat.

I can not exercise with the intensity I used to, but am doing 20-30 minutes of cardio 5 times a week. Stay between 70-80% of max heart rate. When weather allows I will walk for 60-90 minutes.

Core work is the same 5 days a week.

Weightlifting frequency has dramatically decreased as has intensity. Just plain hurts the joints. Building/maintaining muscle is important.

Diet is huge, have cut out alcohol, excess sugar, eating two meals a day. Any carbs are before my workout, with protein after. Trying to go at least 12 hours fasting every day.

following all this... good info from different perspectives

I see them doing both at my gym. But.... if I was to gather up all the people on the cardio machines and compare them to the folks on the weight equipment, the cardio folks are generally the more overweight and "soft" people. There are certainly some very round-ish guys lifting regularly, but odds are good that they are also eating and drinking a ton more calories than they need. They also tend to have a fair bit of muscle under the fat layer. I've seen folks get pretty lean and strong without much dedicated cardio, mostly by dieting right while still lifting regularly.

And yes, a good stairclimber machine is no joke, especially when you ramp up the speed or double-step it. Has whipped my tail on many occasions.

We do 6 days a week alternating running and lifting days.
30 to 40 minute workouts but weight loss has been a struggle.
I have cut out booze and chocolate, avoid sugar, no soda and still tough.
Cholesterol was high last test, I need to test again.
Diet is oatmeal for breakfast salad for lunch and dinner we rotate a meat with a vegetable.

this pretty much true....but if a person doesn't think exercising alone cant burn weight, look up Michael Phelps diet.

probably would not be considered healthy. just like when a person is young and busting your ass at a job...I know when I was framing I could and would eat what and when I wanted....never got fat.

got older activities went down and didn't change eating habits...weight gain.

as goalie said...eat less get off the couch...bob

For those avoiding sugar, it is important to look at the glycemic index of your food as many foods, particularly processed foods effect the body the same as sugar.

I challenge anyone wanting to lose weight to eat only meat, eggs, and greens and only drink water, black coffee, and unsweet tea for one month. The fatter the meat the better. You will likely feel low energy for 3-5 days but if you stick with it, without any cheating, and I mean not even a taste, I will bet money you drop 10-12 lbs. and still eat as much as you want.

I am 62.

I lost 60 lbs in about 2 - 2 1/2 months.

What I did was I started a vert strict intermittent fasting program. Quit drinking and sugar at the same time. I did drink a lot of sugar free electrolytes for my salts, potassium and hydration.

A lot of Cardio: I biked 7.5 miles, then walk for an additional 3 miles every single day.

Never felt better in my life!

KB

I do agree as a general principal, but I want to add that just eating less and exercising more is probably not the best strategy for anyone needing to lose more than 30 lbs. I feel it's better for those wanting to lose more to train the body to burn fat. If you adopt an extremely low carb diet for 3 months, the mitochondria of the cells actually change from carb burning optimized to fat burning optimization.

RH Clark shredded a whole human off himself with diet.

I would listen to him.

I no expert but I did get to 170lbs, having lost 180lbs. I did it by diet and exercise only in slightly less than 2 years, starting at age 50.

I can tell anyone what I did but the best advice I can give is to spend every extra minuet studying diet and exercise. I stopped watching any TV and all social media. Anything I watched or read had to do with diet and exercise. It was, more than anything else, the new information that caused me to make those new choices and motivate me to succeed.

Very interesting info/insight here.

Good job on you guys that lost bigtime bodyfat. Talk about a life-changer.....

That's awesome.

I got into it once with a friend while we were running around the lakes in Minneapolis. He made some smartass remark about a bigger lady "jogging" slowly that we passed.

That's not ok with me. Never, ever will you hear me say something about a fat person who's out trying to not be fat. Save the ridicule for the ones on the couch with Cheeto dust on their fingers......

It’s possible to consume large amounts of calories and not gain weight.

Michael Phelps is known for consuming 8000-10,000 calories per day. He weren’t fat.

But you are in too bad of shape to hunt now?

I am trying very hard to make this a lifestyle change with no drastic diets/exercise routines. If I can continue to drop weight at this rate, I will be in the 190's by August. 190's is where I have typically felt my best.

I am a solid 5'11" and do not have a thin body type.

Trifecta = 10 miles

Quadraphenia = 14 miles

Give or take.

Anybody trying to lose weight needs all the encouragement they can get. When I started trying to exercise it was rough. My first set of leg lifts, I managed 3. On my first bike ride, I didn't make it out of sight of the house before I had to get off and walk. My second year I could do 500 leg lifts and I rode my bike 360 days, averaging more than 100 miles a week. I didn't get much motivation from home, but I did watch a lot of videos on YouTube about older people doing amazing things. I figured I could do what someone else did and I know anybody could do what I did.