too much cardio?

[sliced]

Hey guys, yet another quick question. How much cardio is too much, and when should I drop it? (I'm 3 wks out) Right now I'm doing 2 days on 1 day off on the treadmill (3.5 mph @ 15% incline for 35 min) in the morning on an empty stomach. Cardio definitely is the best method of burning fat, but I'm noticing my quads are getting flatter. What's up?

[MIKE_XXL]

Try walking on flat surface from now on, i am pretty sure you are very lean already, go for 45 min. but no incline...see how that works...other then that i do not think you are doing too much, stop all cardio 1 week out of the show, and do not train your legs atlease 10 days out of the show, that should insure your legs won't be flat at the show day...hipe that helps...XXL

[sliced]

Thanks XXL, I'll try that from now till 1 week out. Workouts are getting tougher, but its all part of the game. How many grams of carbs/day are you usually at 3 weeks out?

[dangit]

I did the treadmill till I was 5 days out. I agree that you should bring the angle down so that you don't pump your legs up too much. I also brought my cardio up to 6 days a week and did 50 minute sessions.

This year, I didn't train my legs from about 3 weeks before the show and it worked alot better than last year when did a leg workout less than 2 weeks before a show. It seemed like every day coming into the show, my legs look better and better.

Make sure that you flex them every day to try and bring out the cuts. The more you practice, then the better they'll get. It seems that way too many guys forget about their leg development and come into a show with smooth little legs and huge upper bodies. I was flexing my legs every morning when I'd first get up for 5 mins and then I'd make sure to flex them after my posing at night.

I wouldn't lower your carbs too much if you're body fat is low. Last year, I carb depleted twice before a show and came in looking real flat. This time around, I kept my carbs around 150-200 grams a day right until 4 days before the show and then upped them way up. I ended up real vascular and looked better than the last time around.

Everyone is different though and the whole carb depleting and loading does seem to work for some people if it's timed out just right.

[Shredz]

bump for a good bro!

[BIG R]

My legs are not my strongest point so I say away from IMPACT cardio like running......it will make them even skinnier. Sprints made them big but only on a periodical basis. I like Stairstepper or the Bike (prefer a real Bike) IT worked good for me last year.


R

[saboudian]

Don't know how i ever missed this thread, but i think i could be a candidate for too much cardio.

I do an hour on an empty stomach in the morning. A couple hours later i have my weight training workout and i do 20 minutes of walking at the end of that workout. At night, i will do another hour of cardio. And i still fuckin can get my bf down (i'm a true endomorph).

I know it can't be diet. I go 3 low carb days(less than 15g carbs) than a high carb day, then repeat. Fuckin sucks to be me.

[sigrabbit]

saboudian, are you having any carbs after your workouts? That might help keep them muscles and a higher metabolism.

[redrock]

Originally posted by saboudian
Don't know how i ever missed this thread, but i think i could be a candidate for too much cardio.

I do an hour on an empty stomach in the morning. A couple hours later i have my weight training workout and i do 20 minutes of walking at the end of that workout. At night, i will do another hour of cardio. And i still fuckin can get my bf down (i'm a true endomorph).

I know it can't be diet. I go 3 low carb days(less than 15g carbs) than a high carb day, then repeat. Fuckin sucks to be me.

What's your intensity look like? Lots of people suggest using a heart rate monitor and doing cardio at 70-80% of your max. Then at night, do a quick session of high intensity. Just a suggestion. REDROCK

[saboudian]

Originally posted by redrock


What's your intensity look like? Lots of people suggest using a heart rate monitor and doing cardio at 70-80% of your max. Then at night, do a quick session of high intensity. Just a suggestion. REDROCK

Its always a brisk powerwalk (if on treadmill,usually i go between 4.0-4.3 mph). I used to do an incline, but i found that doing such a hi volume of cardio with an incline was too taxing on my quads after a while, especially on a low carb diet.

[saboudian]

Originally posted by sigrabbit
saboudian, are you having any carbs after your workouts? That might help keep them muscles and a higher metabolism.

Actually i used to have carbs afterwards. On my low carb days, I USED to have a 1/3 cup of quinoa a half after my morning cardio. And then a couple hours later when i did my weight training workout, i would have ~50g of dextrose in my postworkout shake and then an hour later i would have a 1/3 cup of quinoa for my postworkout meal. Then rest of day there would be no carbs in my meals. This actually worked great for a while, but i hit a plateau at about 7-8% BF or so, so i had to cut carbs out completely.

This allowed me to break that plateau and now i'm about 6% BF i beleive, but my recovery rate is much slower now. I have 3 Low carb days in a row, then i have a hi carb day and repeat. I should also note that i do not do any cardio at all on hi carb days, i really try to do as little as possible on hi carb days so i can recover. All carbs are complex on hi carb days.

I know you guys are probably thinking my diet is shit right now, because there's no way my BF can be that high and do that much cardio, so i'll toss out a sample diet schedule of what a low carb day might be like.

11:00 A.M- wake up, 1 hour of cardio, just before i hit the treadmill i have 10g of glutamine

12:30- ~50g of protein from fresh fish (salmon, marlin, swordfish,etc)
afterwards, i have a 1/2 tablespoon flaxseed oil mixed in with 5g
Whey protein, i also have a few pieces of cauliflower or broccoli

1:45- weight training workout plus 20 min of cardio at end

2:45- Immediately post workout, 45g whey protein, keep it in my locker

3:45- ~60g of protein from fresh fish, I'll have a couple peice of brocoli or cauliflower here too

4:15- 20g of whey protein plus a 1/2 tablespoon flax seed oil, i'll have a couple peice of cauliflower or broccoli here also

7:00- same as meal one

8:30- 1 hour of cardio

10:00- same as meal one

12:15- ~30g protein from fresh fish, 4 egg whites, couple peice of broccoli or cauli flower

2:00 am- 20g whey with 1/2 tablespoon of flax seed oil, this is just as i go to bed

Weight training split is:

Thurs: Chest/tris
Fri: Back/hams
sat: off
sun:quads,calves,soleus
mon: shoulder,traps,bi's
tuesff
wedff



Note: If you don't know what quinoa is, i'll toss out a link. Its a complete protein naturally so you can count all the protein in it and it has a GI of 35. Its kinda like rice if you've never seen it.

http://www.quinoa.net/Nutrition_Fact...ion_facts.html