Do you need cardio for weight loss? And how much cardio should you actually do? Some say you don\u2019t need any cardio for fat loss,\u00a0whereas others say you gotta do a cardio workout every day. I was determined to find the truth. After reviewing the latest science, interviewing the smartest experts in the world, and speaking to some of the top natural bodybuilders in the industry, here\u2019s what I found about using cardio to lose weight.<\/p>\n
Special thanks to our guests for their valuable insight:<\/p>\n
ALBERTO NUNEZ:
\nhttps:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nunez3dmj\/?hl=en <\/p>\n
LEE LEM:
\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@l_eel_em <\/p>\n
DR. ERIC HELMS:
\nhttps:\/\/www.instagram.com\/helms3dmj\/
\nhttps:\/\/massresearchreview.com\/ <\/p>\n
Need more guidance? Click below to create a step by step science-based plan that shows you what to eat and what workouts to do to get you into the best shape of your life:
\nhttps:\/\/quiz.builtwithscience.com\/<\/p>\n
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\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/jeremyethier\/?sub_confirmation=1<\/p>\n
Do you need cardio for weight loss? Cardio isn\u2019t nearly as effective as most people think when it comes to losing weight and fat because of the constrained energy model.\u00a0Most research has shown that people who start doing cardio without any changes to their diet tend to lose 20-50% of what they\u2019d expect from the calories they\u2019ve burned. <\/p>\n
What about doing more cardio to lose weight? Without changing your diet,\u00a0you\u2019ve probably got to do a whole lot of cardio for it to have a meaningful effect on fat loss. Which isn\u2019t a very efficient or realistic approach for most people.<\/p>\n
The takeaway is that should think of cardio as a supplemental tool that you can stack on top of your diet to speed things up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But how much cardio, exactly, should you \u201cstack on top\u201d? I sought the opinions of Alberto Nunez, an extremely knowledgeable coach and lifetime drug-free pro bodybuilder who\u2019s known for getting into insane levels of leanness, and Lee Lem, a natural bodybuilder just a few weeks out from his show. Surprisingly, both said that by using either a longer or more aggressive diet, they didn’t really need cardio to lose weight or get into crazy shape.<\/p>\n
But including cardio had its benefits. Alberto and Lee say maintaining a high daily step count helped them burn more calories and make sure they don\u2019t get lazier as they get leaner.<\/p>\n
But now I wanted to find out, on top of daily steps, how much actual \u201ccardio\u201d is required to get really lean? Here’s Alberto’s take: “Usually the smaller the athlete, the more cardio we will have to do. It helps so they can eat a little bit more, which is obviously gonna help with the mental component to some extent.\u201d But he also emphasized it\u2019s lifestyle-dependent: “I’ve had people do nothing. Nothing. And usually, this has to do with the occupation that if they don’t move, they just get fired. So servers, personal trainers, labor-intensive jobs, things like that.”<\/p>\n
But for most of his clients, “7,000 steps on average as our baseline you have that set. I’d say most people, per week, are going to require 4 to 5 days of cardio to lose weight, ranging anywhere between 30 to 45 minutes.\u201d This seemed to line up with Lee\u2019s protocol as well. On top of 10,000 steps a day and lifting weights 4 times a week, he\u2019s also doing 5x 30 minutes of cardio to lose weight.<\/p>\n
But remember, this isn’t just to get \u201csix-pack abs lean\u201d. We\u2019re talking shredded. And they don\u2019t do this much cardio right away. Whenever fat loss has stalled, and they\u2019re not making progress, that\u2019s typically when they decide whether or not they should add more cardio.<\/p>\n
Now as for how much cardio per week YOU should aim for? What I\u2019d recommend is start with Alberto\u2019s recommendation of walking 7,000 steps a day as a baseline. Once you\u2019re consistent with that, try adding in 2 to 3 20-minute cardio workouts per week. And although Lee and Alberto recommend cycling or the elliptical, you have plenty of other options when it comes to the type of cardio to lose weight. The key is to choose things you actually enjoy and can recover well from.<\/p>\n
Now, from here, once your body adapts and you reach a stall in your progress using your current routine, you can choose to either eat a little bit less or add a little bit more cardio or steps to continue losing fat.\u00a0You basically repeat this process for as long as it takes for you to reach your desired level of body fat.<\/p>\n
But the last thing you want to do is start doing a bunch of cardio to lose weight during your diet and then stop cold turkey as soon as it\u2019s over. Dr. Eric Helms says keeping some level of activity (7,000 to 9,000 steps per day and strength training 2-3x weekly) seems to prevent fat regain. This is why for long-term success, when choosing the type of cardio to lose weight, it\u2019s so important to choose activities you can actually stick to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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