20 or 60 minutes of Cardio????

Question

Hi, I'm female, 5'3" and I weigh around 120 lbs. I'm not fat, but I'm definitely flabby and I do have excess body fat that I need to lose. I'm always hearing different things about how to lose weight. One article says to do 45-60 mins of cardio a day, and others say to do only 20 mins of cardio and both recommend weight training. I've already lost some weight by doing 60 mins of cardio every other day, but I find this is very difficult to keep up with. Is it possible to lose body fat with only 20 mins of cardio a day? And does anyone have any other suggestions for losing body fat and/or toning up?

Answer 1

20 minutes is nothing i do 90 minutes of cardio

Answer 2

A combination of cardio and muscle training is ideal for losing flab and maintaining shape. Since you are not generally fat or obese, weight distribution should be your aim, not just weight loss. Muscle toning is a good solution and helps you maintain your body weight since muscle burns more calories than fat on a per gram basis. So, if two people are weighing same and are of the same height but one is more musuclar, the more muscular person will be able to eat more and still maintain the weight in the long run.

So, reduce your cardio to 20 - 30 minutes and take up some muscle building/toning exercises in the gym.

Answer 3

A minimum of 20 will provide NO results except for heart strength. The first 20 minutes of a cardio workout is carbohydrate burning. After 20 minutes on the average, you will have depleted your carbohydrates which then, the body will tap into the fat for energy. This is where you start burning fat. Therefore, the longer you exercise past 20 minutes at your target heart rate of 60 to 80%, the more you benefit with fat burning. If you exercise for only 20 minutes, you will never tap into your fat cells and the results will be unsatisfactory.

TO enhance fat burning, weight training is important. The more muscle mass you obtain, the more you burn fat. Muscle helps in assimilating fat.

Answer 4

Many years ago, I reached my goal weight doing 15 minutes of cardio a day (stairmaster, at a time when I enjoyed stairmasters). I cut back on food and consistently exercised at least 5 days a week.

Yes, based on my own experience you can lose weight with as little as 15 or 20 minutes of aerobic exercise a day, but you have to eat in a way that is likely to result in weight loss.

Exercise alone won't result in weight loss -- but it does help your cardiac fitness and your muscle tone in the muscles you're using. As you build muscle, that muscle also needs more energy to sustain it, so you've increased your metabolism.

By the way, it's very worthwhle to exercise even if you're not losing weight. Keep it up! The best exercise plan is one that works for you. If an hour of exercise is impossible but you can do 20 minutes, 20 minutes is GREAT.

Answer 5

cardio isn't the way you lose weight. You lose weight by keeping your heart rate at 60% of the max level, not 80% lol also, strength training helps, because it builds muscle, and muscles burns calories pretty fast, so the more muscle you have, the faster you'll burn calories and fat. If you do aerobic exercises for 60 minutes 3 times a week while keeping your heart rate at about 131 (I'm an inch shorter than you are, and that's what mine is), and eat a balanced diet (carbs, fruits and veggies), you should lose 1-2 pounds per week. That's the healthiest.

Answer 6

minimum of 20min 60 max