Am I doing too much cardio?

[totathon]

Hey there. I've been consistently lifting, dieting, and dedicating incredible amounts of effort to cardiovascular activity over the past 5 months. I started at around 130 lbs. of flab, almost no muscle at all, and have worked down to 110 lbs. and my 6 pack is starting to show itself unflexed. However, over the past few weeks I've noticed myself not just plateauing, but also losing muscle mass. I noticed this at first right after I upped my daily cardio. I changed my routine from 45-60 minutes per day to 90-120 minutes per day, 7 days per week. My diet has remained the same and my lifting routine has included steady increases in weight. So essentially, nothing has changed other than approximately doubling my daily cardio.

I can't figure out what it is that's caused my gains to disappear; could it really be the extra cardio? This is all steady state cardio of course.

oh and I probably should've mentioned I'm 18.

 

[dispatch]

and why are you doing so much cardio? how tall are you. 110lbs is incredibly small for an 18 year old. im 19 and consider myself small at 160lbs. are you training for a marathon or something?

 

[totathon]

I'm 5'6. I was under the impression that the amount of time spent doing cardio could be increased without any loss of muscle, until I started reading into it further. I'm not training for anything particular, my only serious sports are skiing and snowboarding (I'm also a lifeguard, so I end up doing a fair amount of swimming 5-6 days per week). I really just assumed, "hey, I have time to kill and it's better than just watching TV *without* doing any sort of activity..." so I gave it a try. Starting today, I'm back down to 45-60 minutes of cardio per day. So I'll try this out again for a while and see what happens unless I get some solid advice telling me to continue with the 90-120.

 

[EFFORT]

How much muscle mass did expect to maintain at 110lbs running that much?

 

[totathon]

I didn't expect to lose any at all really. I thought I would just continue to burn off more fat. I'm obviously not an expert but I didn't think it would even be possible to lose mass with my body weight already so low.

 

[Cure]

Mate im not an expert by any means, but I know the basics.

Calories in> calories out = build muscle and gain weight. assuming you are exercising and lifting properly.

Calories in< calories out = weight loss and muscle loss.

yes, you are doing WAY to much cardio! everything you are eating that could be used to build muscle, is being used to fuel your cardio, to the extent that your body is actually forced to burn muscle as a fuel to keep you going.

I am 5'10, a little taller than you, but I consider myself skinny at 150lbs, Im aiming to get to around 180 minimum.
If you are not marathon training, you can do 45 minutes of high intensity cardio, 3 times a week maximum, you just don't need to do any more than that unless you are training for a specific sport like Triathlon.

I suspect you have an image problem, If you've gone from 130lb to 110lb, with all that cardio, you do not have ANY fat on you, I cant imagine it.

Forget about losing fat, focus on building strength and muscle, when you are big, THEN think about losing a bit of fat to get the 'cut' look.

You should be aiming to hit 150lbs, my personal opinion. reduce your cardio, research beginner weights programs, and EAT EAT EAT!

Good luck mate.

Cure.

 

[Perry]

when you dont have much fat remaining, your body uses your muscle to fuel itself. way too much cardio dude. i personally wouldnt do ANY cardio until you gain some serious mass or unless your on a team

 

[The Muscle Guy]

110lbs is small at any height.

You need to focus on weight lifting. Stop obsessing over your 6 pack, bulk up first. You can cut after you get some size.

 

[totathon]

Thanks very much for the advice guys. Just what I needed to hear!

 

[blinkwatt101]

Focus on quality over quantity,make sure your heart is going 2-3 minutes into your cardio otherwise your not trying hard enough. I'd suggest no more then 30 minutes of cardio in a given day,trying giving yourself more time on the weights.