For those of you cardio queens and kings, yes unfortunately there is such a thing as too much cardio. I am a good example of it. I met with a dietitian/nutritionist the other day regarding my slow metabolism. I knew my metabolism has slowed down a lot because I had been logging everything that I had been eating and every workout that I been doing for a whole month or so. Looking at my calorie intake and cal.burned I knew that I had been burning more than I have been taking in, but I had just maintained the same weight instead of losing. My nutritionist who is also a personal trainer looked at my Fitday log carefully, did some calculations, asked me some questions and at the end informed me that I have messed up my metabolism by doing too much cardiovascular exercises. According to her based on my Fitday's cal. intake and burned graph, I should have lost about 8 lbs during last month alone!!!!!! It seems like by doing too much cardio during my training for triathlons, I put my body under too much stress, up to the point that my body is holding on to all its energy sources. I had been doing an average of 2 to 3 hours of cardio a day, burning an average of 800 to 1000 calories a day, eating a healthy diet, but hardly taking any days off. Mean while my metabolism could not get any faster since it was already working at its maximum speed, so at this point my body started conserving its energy. She suggested that I take few months off of training, mean while bumping up my calorie intake to 2,500 a day while doing minimal cardio during this time. She asked me to start weight training again instead. After few months when I gain some weight (yes, she wants me to gain weight!!!!!) I can cut back my calories to 1500 cal.a day for 2 days and then 2000 cal. for one day, for few months also. At that point I can gradually do more cardio in order to boost my metabolism again.
So it has been a week now that I have been on my new diet of eating more and exercising less. It is absolutely depressing. My body craves to go running. In the evening when I usually go jogging, my body goes through the exercise withdrawal syndrome(if there is such a thing ;o) where I feel a burst of energy that I don't know how to contain. I am getting depressed
So the moral of story is, too much of anything is bad for you.
Posted By: trigal
Comments to this post:
01/30/2008 10:44
Interesting
mabye thats what I'm doing wrong. Im so serious about losing weight this time that I've been exercising like crazy but only loosing inches. hmm. Might explain why I'm so tired too. Thanks for the blog. I think I might try going about it differently now.
I never knew that one could do too much cardio... I am only doing cardio for 30-60 minutes everyday and some weight training. I also take the weekends off(the gym is closed by the time I get off work) except for my 40 minute walk to work and home again...
You couldn't just do a short 20-30 minute run say 3-4 times a week just to help release the energy and make you feel better???
ممنون از راهنامييت.حتما به توصيه هات عمل مي كنمبا همون 10%هرچند وقت يك بار وزنه اضافه كردن موافقم.با مربيمم صحبت كردم وقرار شد فعلا اسكات رو هم با چوب برم.
راستي عكس هاتو ديدم.عاشق عكس پنجمت شدم واون عضله هاي پات كه خيلي به نظر من قشنگه.كاملا ورزشكاريه
فكر مي كنم مشكلت هم چيزي شبيه انار باشه.ورزش حرفه اي اين دردسرهارو هم داره.نگران نباش مطمئن باش بازم شروع مي كني به وزن كم كردن
akheyyyyyyyyyyyy. this is really agonizing. You have all the rights to be upset deary. Can't you have a less intense cardio like 2-3 times a week? How about dancing? Maybe that could help. Take a ballroom class in the evenings, it usually works on a slow pace, but it's lots of fun if you can find a good instructor. Perhaps you can push your hubby to come with you too, and it's valentine season ....:) and that should get you in a better mood.
آقا قبول نیست٬ آقا ما این همه منتظر دویدن نیمه ماراتن ات بودیم و درست وقتی که باید تبریک بگیم متوجه نشدیم که تو دویدن رو تموم کردی و با موفقیت٬ نیمه ی ماراتن رو پشت سر گذاشتی. با این که دیر رسیدم ولی با تمام وجود این موفقیت رو هزاران بار بهت تبریک می گم و ممنونم که حس و حالت رو با قسمت کردی
این ثابت موندن وزن ات هم فقط می تونم امیدوار باشم که با پیگیری های خوب ات به نتیجه برسه. هر چند که زمان می بره ولی تو نشون دادی که صبوری و منطقی باهاش کنار میای و از رو می بری اش. می دونی من کلا به این نتیجه رسیدم که ورزشکارهای حرفه ایی مثل تو به مراتب کارشون سخت تر هستش. چون اکثر راه حل ها برای شرایط عادی به راحتی قابل انطباق هستش و برای بدن پیچیده و عضلانی شماها به مراتب کار بیشتری رو می طلبه و باید خیلی اصولی تر باهاش برخورد کرد. از قدیم گفتن هر که بامش بیش برفش بیشتر
باز هم تبریک خالصانه ام رو نثارت می کنم و از اینکه پرچم انارستان رو به جلو بردی خیلی خوشحالم
دلبندان رو بناز و در عین حال مراقب باش که این چربی های موذی مزمن! زیاد اذیت ات نکنن.
شری جون الان عکس مسابقه ی آخرت با سوزان رو دیدم. چقدر لبخندهاتون به دل می شینه
برای این کاهش متابولیسم می خواستم بپرسم آیا تو هم مثل انار توی دوران اوج ورزشی و ظرف یه سال گذشته کم خوری داشتی و یه سری علائم رو شاهد بودی؟. از این نظر می پرسم که آن بالانس بودن هورمونها هم شاید این وسط بی نقش نباشه. حالا برات می نویسم
Thanks a lot for your comment and all the great points that you mentioned! I wish I could gain only 28Ibs like your experience. But unfortunately I'm gaining at a fast rate, since I have almost gained 23 Ibs till now and I am in the middle of sixth month:( You are right. I have to relax a little bit.
