Cardio

Good day just read about this, I know I am quilty but I always do cardio before hand so it can just get over and then I can enjoy weights.


2007 study demonstrated that when trainers
did cardio immediately after a weight workout,
they burned approximately twice as much fat as
when they did cardio in a separate workout. This
was due to the subjects’ elevated growth
hormone levels after hitting the iron. Research
has also shown that when subjects do cardio
before weights, their growth hormone levels are
significantly lower during the weight workout
than when they started right off with the
weights. Lower GH levels when you are lifting
means limited muscle growth and strength gains.
SOLUTIONS
Do the bulk of your cardio immediately after
weight training. Research has shown that the
fat burning is at its greatest during the first
15 minutes, although we recommend at least
20.
If you need to crank up the cardio and hit
it twice daily, as in the final weeks before a
contest, do one of those sessions in the
morning before eating any carbs, but have
10-20 grams of fast-digesting whey protein
first to prevent muscle loss and actually
burn more fat (see mistake #5).
Toney Freeman is among the bodybuilders
who include some cardio action as a warm-
up, especially on leg day, to loosen up and
prime the pump. Like T-Free, keep your
preworkout time on a stationary bike or
StepMill to 10 minutes or less.

Post those studies please bud.

fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archiv...y-damage-heart.aspx# !

That link is definately for an article I can tell. Would you mind please just posting the direct link to the study as I don't want to search through the entire article.

Hertzzz wrote: ... do one of those sessions in the
morning before eating any carbs, but have
10-20 grams of fast-digesting whey protein
first to prevent muscle loss and actually
burn more fat (see mistake #5)...

Haha, no. Unless you're aerobic exercises are becoming anaerobic (a jog vs. sled pulls), and you aren't getting in protein for a some time after, you probably don't have to worry about muscle wasting

Sorry guys I just quoted that from flex magazine , what are your views on this then, is those wrong or are there better ways to do the cardio for less time and most affective?

I know it is purely anecdotal.

I was doing 30 minutes of various cardio before weights. My weight loss plateaued. One of the guys who's a veteran ex-competitor suggested I do xardio after weights. He said by doing weights first I exhaust the glycogen supplies and the when I do cardio it hits the fat stores.
By only changing that I dropped 4kg in a month.

After that I'ma firm believer in cardio after weights.

He also stressed the importance of changing the cardio exercises and not only do eg treadmill over and over and to mix HIIT with plain boring crunching time stuff

Hertzzz wrote: Sorry guys I just quoted that from flex magazine , what are your views on this then, is those wrong or are there better ways to do the cardio for less time and most affective?

No worries bud the study would have been an interesting read though. The thing with cardio is that there is no real scientific backing that properly support its claims. It is all just theories. The evidence is over-whelming that being in a caloric deficit is responsible for most if not all fat loss at the end of the day. Yes there is support for cardio leading to fat loss, but the data mostly points to the fact that cardio causes fat loss only for the fact that it puts you in a caloric deficit. It could also be argued that you do not need cardio at all- just intense weight training with a proper diet.

Why do people the want to eat more than their maintenance calories (bulking) and still do cardio to go into deficit, isn't that just waiting food because it would have been easier just to eat maintenance and don't have to do cardio just throw in some super sets with their workouts. Better to just bulk with no cardio and at end of cycle you can cut away unwanted fat. At my gym there is alot of guys bulking all the time and on gear eating way over their maintenance and I see them do cardio more than weight training, at the end of cycle they blame the gear for not picking up weight with some excuse that it was cheap or they got sick and had to stop using for a couple of weeks.

I think some cardio is essential for cardio vascular health and getting rid of toxins. Besides meal composition and timing is also going to play a big role.
If your eating clean, on cycle and have a decent amount of muscle you can eat well in surplus and maintain a low BF by doing cardio 3 times a week. The people who don't do cardio are generally lazy or don't mind high BF.

You will always build more muscle eating maintenance + X calories and then burning X calories with cardio, than just eating maintenance calories. It's the hormonal response to the extra food that makes you grow muscle.

Right so MA. A good question here is to ask how much more muscle you will build? If i had to guess I would say that cardio + more calories is far into the zone of diminished returns. For fat loss it will make you more anabolic (again probably not much) but again there are other strategies that work extremely well without spending 10 days a week in the gym. Cardio is not worth all the hype it is cranked up to be i.m.o. For professionals who compete a different story, but is it necesary for amateurs? Thoughts?

Why for the professionals? Why not leave the hour of power walking or jogging and do some HIIT rather , I have found it responds much better to me for burning fat and it really helps get those muscles defined , only reason I can see for cardio is to get better breathing and blood circulation in the body.

I have always be a big fan of 40 min or more more steady state Fasted Cardio, and then about 20 min HIIT in the afternoon after each workout session! Really helps me get in shape, and drop that unwanted fat, and use up all the fat stored!

Hertzzz wrote: Why for the professionals? Why not leave the hour of power walking or jogging and do some HIIT rather , I have found it responds much better to me for burning fat and it really helps get those muscles defined , only reason I can see for cardio is to get better breathing and blood circulation in the body.

HIIT is cardio dude. An hour of HIIT and you are burning muscle 100% certain.

I usually dp 20 min of fast pushups, jumping jacks, step ups and 100m sprint all with no rest between , when all is done I rest 1min and do all over again , I have always seen cardio more like jogging or cycling

That is not HIIT that is fixed state high intensity cardio. HIIT is about intervals normally with no rest in between. An example for you on the stepper machine:
1) 1min at level 5
2) 1min at level 8
3) 1min at level 9
4) 1min at level 11
Repeat 4x with with no breaks.

I have always understood HIIT as being being High intensity with intervals in between. Meaning that you split your cardio up into intervals of intensities. but never getting off the machine.

So for example, A light jog in the the treadmill for 3 min, then sprinting for 3 min. And repeating that. Or increasing the speed and incline.

The point is to get your heart rate elevated, and then down again. And repeat.
I personally love HIIT on a cycling machine.

Thanks for your help guys I've got the HIIT correct now and for me the bicycle is much better for this as well, now next subject under this topic.
Training fasted in the morning or with a good carb and protein breakfast to get your glycogen stores full , I see there is alot of guys and girls on the net and a few articles and they all seem to be agreeing on both is good or they are conflicting with each other with no exact conclusion. Have there been studies made on this subject?

Fasted cardio! That's one topic that you'll never find a consensus on.

I personally don't do it, I think the cons outweigh the pros you may burn slightly more fat but you'll also burn some muscle. I work on cals in vs cals out and it works for me so I'll at the very least have some whey before early morning cardio.
But then having said that I always keep my BF at 10 or below if you have a higher body fat and weight loss is your priority then it has it's perks.
And then again if your on a cutting cycle and are anabolic it'll have advantages.

The top and bottom of it I recon is that if your trying to gain lean body mass I'd either do my cardio in the morning on none training days but have a good amount of whey first or do it post workout.

And if you decide to do fasted cardio I wouldn't do HIIT I'd do steady state cardio on a treadmill

Mmmm Rhino, I would rather say do the Fasted cardio steady state. Exactly for the reason that you do not start to burn muscle away. Fasted steady state, and HIIT after workout

That's what I said :blink: (I wouldn't do fasted HIIT)

Hahaha sorry bud, apparently still waking up from this morning fasted cardio

HIIT or any cardio where heart rate is highly elevated in long durations or in too many sessions can cause central nervous system fatigue. its best to use High intensity cardio should be used in moderation during a dieting phase, 2-3 sessions of 15-20minutes maximum per week should be more than sufficient for decent fat loss, remember there is the after burn affect of cardio that happens through out the day,this applies to all forms of cardio.

you should treat any form of highly intensive cardio as you would any other work out otherwise u will end up burning out, this will make your work outs suffer. the main goal of any fat loss or cutting program is to :
1.) maintain/build muscle mass (building muscle mass during a cutting/dieting phase is possible with drugs)
2.) stimulate the metabolism (stimulate not destroy)
3.) increase energy expenditure ( this happens with the increased work load)

if you start getting low blood sugar symptoms during cardio this means you are going to burn out fast and the intensity of the cardio needs to be reduced. cardio is a tool for fat loss,not the be all and end all of the routine. the dieter should use the least amount of cardio for maximum result, the same goes with dieting, use the least amount of calorie defecit for maximum result.

if a guy or girl is loosing between 0.5kgs - 1kg a week just on diet and training alone, cardio does not need to be implemented, only once fat loss stalls (not weight loss,as we are all adding in chemicals here to aid in recovery and muscle buidling) do u need to add in cardio. its best to start with the least taxing form of cardio which is obviously lower intensity 3-4x a week for 20minutes with heart rate between 120-140bpm, i use a broad spectrum here as some guys are older than others,so heart rate requirements differ, on a piece of equipment like a cross trainer, cross trainer is the best option as it has all your limbs working together at the same time, so this too will save your legs from taking a beating and will not hinder them from recovering.

start small and only change the smallest thing in your routine when things slow down or stall. so if fat loss slows, either cut out 15-25g of fats from the diet or 50g of carbs from the diet, or 15g of fat and 25g of carbs, a little goes a long way. or increase your cardio by 5-10 minutes a session or add in another session during the week, remember to take a wholistic approach to your cardio,diet and training.

remember its a tool,not the basis of your routine. its best to keep your work outs intensive and cardio less taxing, we are all here to build muscle at the end of the day,and if u cant live big ass heavy weights because you are extremely taxed from doing your cardio, how are u gonna grow?