Fitness

Hey,

Congratulations on deciding to get healthier!

You have one very critical flaw in your train of thought:

All calculations are based on averages or standard humans and so on.

And all calculations you're doing are within 20% of each other, even slight deviations in any of the theoretical figures to your non average body would screw you over.

That means something simple though: no, don't skip cardio. You will get more hungry the higher your calorie deficit would become. And cardio is simply healthy if it's not overdone!

You seem quite similar to myself in so much as you seem to have a very analytical and theory driven approach to things. Here is how you can use that to your advantage: track.

Base all your analytics on true "you" data instead of calculating theoretical figures.

This means heart frequency zones, body fat and muscle percentages.

Heart frequency is a direct proxy for training intensity, the other two for how your body composition changes.

The kcal are just a bonus on top to adjust your total mass. That will follow with a better muscle to fat ratio anyway (usually!).

Good luck! ❤️

Don’t overthink the “calories burned in cardio”. Once you subtract your resting metabolic rate you’re going to come up with a number that’s probably disappointing. The additional fatigue may cut down on your non-exercise energy output as well.

You don’t need to do cardio to lose weight. Do cardio to make your life better and live longer.

All these numbers are estimates. There are ways to calculate your actual total daily energy expenditure using spreadsheets, inputting your caloric intake and weight on a daily basis. Personally, I find it a lot easier to use MacroFactor. No relationship, but it is really a great app. It starts with an estimate and with daily tracking will give you weekly updates to adjust caloric intake to meet your goals.

If you haven’t trained before, and given your weight which isn’t terribly high, you don’t really need to adjust calories significantly to gain muscle 100-200 calories is reasonable, at first at least. But you need to adjust the macronutrient composition to ensure that you’re getting enough protein.

You don’t need to do cardio to lose weight.

Spend 30 min a day doing some straight compound lifts (strong lifts 5x5 is a simple starting point) and 30 min doing some low impact cardio. Really, that could be walking at first. Optimally, you want to separate your cardio from lifting, but that’s a bit more towards the top of the pyramid of priorities than the base. Similarly, isolation exercises (like a bicep curl) is less of a priority than compound movements like a pull-up (or a lat pull-down).