[vassille]

Originally Posted by MaggioMuscle

Hi everyone! I am new to these forum but have really enjoyed helping others with advice. Now I have a question for you.

Determined to reduce body fat, I have for the past six months, pursued an aggressive workout schedule, which has included hours on end of moderate intensity aerobics. I am a distance runner, presently running up to 13 miles as I train for a marathon in June.

I know you gotta do moderate cardio at three to five times a week for about 45mins to loose fat. So I figuered, since I love doing it and am an endurance athelete and am interested in speeding up fat loss, why not do, say, 2hrs of cardio five days a week. My experience has been less than positive.

I have enjoyed these long sessions, which include running for 30-45mins, elliptical, biking and swimming, one right after the other and in different orders and combinations. I have lost fat BUT have decided that such a schedule, along with weight training, is not sustainable. I got a cold after my first 2hr session last week. I felt nearly 100% this past Monday and did two of these cardio workouts Monday and Wed. I felt like crap on Thurs and slightly better today. Specifically, I felt lethargic and very weak. I rested all day. I felt paralyzed with fatigue, as if my illness returned.

I think that in addition to increased cortisol, immune suppression is part of the catabolism associated with endurance training. I have not experienced this with my long run on the weekends but I think its because I rest the next day. In this case, I am doing long endurance workouts along with lifting everyday. Bad idea.

Anyone else have any experience with this?

Long distance running can only go along with very light weight lifting if any lifting at all, IMO. You can either tone down your running and add 2 days a week of weight lifting(light I might add) or just run. YOu are going to end up in the hospital. No long distance runner has muscle on them, unless I need glasses.
Like you said, BAD IDEA!