Some Cardio Question for my new Cutting plan...

[AbsolutelyLethal]

I think Im gone start cutting again starting Sept 8th...I know I have to do cardio in the morning on an empty stomach which I plan to do most of the time. Now the questions....

1. Twice a week, Monday and Wedensday I have class at 8, and there is no way I can get up early enough to do cardio, shower, eat, and drive to class. I was planning to do it AFTER the first class at like 9:30. My problem is I dont think I can make it from the time I wake up, 6:45 AM, until I eat after cardio, like 10:30, with out food. I will be too starving and it will be killing me. Is it alright, i.e. worth it, to do the cardio with food in my stomach, purely protein/fat from the eggs I'll eat for breakfast? These are my off days workout wise btw

2. Should I do the cardio every day or do I need a rest?

[GetPsycho]

cardio on an empty stomach is not a good idea in my opinion. you are already in a catabolic state from the nightly fast. doing cardio in this state causes more harm than good in my opinion.

at minimum get some whey\water down to ensure you have some bcaa's in your blood stream to help prevent breakdown of lean tissue. glutamine helps here too.

cardio is best on off days in my opinion as well.

use your diet to control body fat and use cardio as only a tool or an extension of your diet to help create a caloric deficit.

do not soley rely on cardio for cutting, doing so will more than likely result in more loss of muscle tissue than fat

in my opinion hiit cardio is the best. cardio activity in itself is catabolic, the sweet thing about hiit is that it is short and sweet. high intensity cardio raises your metabolic rate and puts you in a fat burning state once the session is finished; it is for this reason you do not eat for 1 hour after the cardio session.

your first meal after cardio should be protein, fat and fiber to ensure insulin stays idle. carbohydrates after cardio will cause an insulin release and completely stop the fat burning process.

that being said... those on AS can get away with cardio on an empty stomach b/c AS blocks androgen receptor sites and cortisol has little to no effect

[AbsolutelyLethal]

I definitely plan to diet with the cutting...Im gonna follow a Swolegenix, the diet guru trainer guy, style plan that I followed before. He suggests cardio THEN have

• Protein and fat for breakfast
• Protein Shake with flax oil for midday snack
• Protein and fat for lunch
• Protein and Flax Shake
• Protein and a small portion of complex carbs for dinner (on an off day)
• Protein Only shake a few hours later

On a workout day you have the first four "meals" workout, have protein and dextrose, and then finish the day with protein and more carbs for dinner to replenish glycogen in the muscle.

I did this in the spring and went from 215 to 195(dehydrated/post-cardio weight) and lost a size off my waist but I "balooned" to 205 this summer studying for my MCAT and eating crap.

Cant I avoid catabolism by keeping my intensity low, 70-85% of max heart-rate.

Doing cardio on off days will only result in 2-3 cardio sessions a week....That doesnt seem enough to me...

[GetPsycho]

you cant avoid catabolism at all on an empty stomach. it is a natural thing when you wake up after not eating for several hours.

i prefer cardio on off days, but thats just me. my current cut i was able to diet down to 8% with only 2 hitt sessions per week. the key for me was eating clean, lowering calories correcly and manipulating p/c and p/f meal timing

everyone is different though, if it worked for you in the past then do it again. you know your body better than i do.

[GetPsycho]

also, the protein shake for your last meal... is this whey protein? just protein by itself, not fat?

if it is the protein will be absorbed rapidly which means you will catabolic even longer than you thought.

protein\fat\fiber is a great bed time meal to slow digestion. personally i use 1 scoop of blended protein, 1\2 cup cottage cheese, 1 tbsp udo's oil blend and 2 tbsp flax seed meal