Does Cardio Help You Lose Weight?

Many women want to know the answer to the question, does cardio help you lose weight? The answer isn't as clear as some of the advertisers on TV may want you to believe. There is a great amount of debate over whether or not cardio will help you lose weight. Some studies have shown it might help you shed a little bit of fat. Others have found that if done in excess it actually makes you gain weight!

Cardio has long been thought to promote fat loss. A lot of people exercise and diet to try to lose weight. When you exercise and diet you are taking steps to "fat burn". Cardio helps you do this but in small steps.

Exercise speeds up your metabolism, which converts stored fats into more usable energy. When you exercise your body will naturally attempt to burn this stored fat for fuel. When you do this your body "stores" the extra calories as fat. The key is to do this exercise and weight training enough so your body can burn through this fat. You also need to be careful not to overdo it-the more you do it the more your body will burn through calories and you will end up with weight gain.

It is very difficult to get rid of stored fat completely when you are in any type of physical activity. This is where cardio comes in. Cardio helps to raise your heart rate to a higher rate which forces your body to work harder. In addition to raising your heart rate your muscles will be stretched and oxygenated which helps your body burn more calories. This means that the more cardio you do the more fat your body will burn.

However there are some limitations to cardio. It can only help you lose fat if you do it at a very low intensity. At a high intensity your body will use its fat burning reserves to boost your energy. At this point any extra calories you take in will be burned through your normal metabolism.

So, when you do cardio you are really trying to replenish your body's reserves rather than using them. So the bottom line is that although cardio may help you lose weight it is not the way to go for weight loss program. You need a diet plan that teaching you healthy eating and moderate exercise. Cardio is just one of the ways to do this. Diet and exercise are the key to losing weight and keeping it off.

So does cardio help you lose weight? Only if you do it at an intensity that does maximum impact on your calories and allows you to burn through those calories. If you do it at a high enough level then your body will burn all the calories you take in, but only at that rate.

This is why a weight loss program that includes cardio should include both strength training and endurance training. Your cardio workout should be designed for speed and recovery. This does not mean you should spend three hours at the gym working up a sweat. You can have intervals with your cardio workout and pace yourself. You'll be doing less total cardio and you'll be burning more calories.

What does cardio do for you? It helps your heart pump, which helps your heart and lungs work more efficiently. It also helps you become a better athlete because your stamina will be greater. Cardio helps you build muscles, which also helps you lose weight.

So does cardio help you lose weight? It depends on your fitness level. If you are working out at a low intensity level then it might help you to lose weight, but it would be at a very low rate. In fact, it would be ineffective for losing weight if you do it at all.

If you want to burn calories then you need to eat right and make sure you are getting plenty of good nutrition. Adding some cardio to your diet is a great way to ensure you get the most calories and fat burned. If you add it at the end of your workout then you can really pack on the pounds. The speed, intensity and duration will determine how much you lose.