Carbs directly after cardio?

[oker]

Doing cardio for an hour every morn on an empty stomach (I'm on a cutting diet). Breakfast is directly after cardio with half a cup of dry oats included. Question: if cutting should I be eating carbs for breakfast or cut the oats altogether and stick to a solid protien breakfast? Cheers all in advance

[D7M]

Carbs after cardio is fine.

Plan your diet, stick to it, and if meal 1 follows cardio and happens to have carbs in it, then so be it.

[oker]

Carbs after cardio is fine.

Plan your diet, stick to it, and if meal 1 follows cardio and happens to have carbs in it, then so be it.

Cheers bro, I asked as I recently read an article stating, "eating carbs directly after cardio defeats the purpose", yet I saw no research that backs this rather spurious claim.

[gbrice75]

Cheers bro, I asked as I recently read an article stating, "eating carbs directly after cardio defeats the purpose", yet I saw no research that backs this rather spurious claim.

You're paraphrasing something I said recently, and maybe you're being a little harsh to call it spurious?

Let me rephrase. Certainly not to undermine what D7M has told you, but in my opinion it's not the best idea if cutting/dropping bodyfat is a primary goal. I didn't provide research because it's kind of obvious in my eyes - you're not only burning fat/calories while you are performing the cardio, but there is that 'afterburn' effect. How could that effect not be compromised if you're flooding your body with readily available energy?

Again, I know there are people on here who do eat carbs after cardio. I'm not saying it's wrong, but in my experience it defeats the purpose. I would stick with a good protein/fat meal - at least the fat is a slow absorber and has little if any effect on insulin levels.

Don't take my word for it though. After all, I'm the guy who runs around the board giving terrible spurious advice.

[bigcwithane]

If your doing cardio in the am on a empty stomach then I would have carbs after because my am cardio is followed by a wheyabolic shake then 30 min later is breakfast. But if your doing it in the evening is say follow it up with a pro/fat meal like Gbrice said

[gbrice75]

I personally wait an hour after cardio, regardless of time of day. However, I rarely do cardio on an empty stomach because it's usually following my workout, in that case I obviously do eat carbs after cardio. Picking the lesser of 2 evils I guess.

[FireGuy]

I do empty stomach cardio every morning and always have carbs afterwards. Post cardio carbs dont cease the "afterburn" effect they just temper it a bit. Especially if you are doing 60 minutes as stated, the afterburn calories burnt are going to be a very small percentage of what you burnt during your session. I dont think 27 grams of carbs post cardio is going to hinder your fat loss to any measurable degree. I aim for 50-75 grams post cardio myself. Nothing wrong with doing a protein/fat meal afterwards either if that's what you want to do. I personally prefer a higher carb diet and shoot for around 50 grams per meal with a daily total of around 350.

[gbrice75]

LoL I knew you were gonna chime in on this one FG! We've talked about this before and I know you're a proponent of higher carb diets. I can only speak to what does or doesn't work for me... and carbs in general don't seem to be my best friend, unfortunately because I love em!

[FireGuy]

LoL I knew you were gonna chime in on this one FG! We've talked about this before and I know you're a proponent of higher carb diets. I can only speak to what does or doesn't work for me... and carbs in general don't seem to be my best friend, unfortunately because I love em!

Always the best advice to follow.

[Alvar17]

Doing cardio for an hour every morn on an empty stomach (I'm on a cutting diet). Breakfast is directly after cardio with half a cup of dry oats included. Question: if cutting should I be eating carbs for breakfast or cut the oats altogether and stick to a solid protien breakfast? Cheers all in advance

i recommend eating oats man, they provide slow burning fuel, and after cardio its a pluss, some oats with whey is always a good start to the day

[Lifeguard102]

Most of the advice given is bordering why we need/ don't need carbs PWO.

First we do not NEED them . It is fine to go carblessPWO or CPWO.
If your goal is simply to get lean. Nuff said.

However glycogen stores are going to be depleted significantly after 60min HIIT/cardio.

We need glucose to shuttle nutrients into the cells. Without it the protein from your shake or protein from egg white breakfast doesn't get there. Some may but most won't.

We NEED carbs PWO when we are trying to BUILD MUSCLE and burn fat.

HIT THE CARBS.

NOT the complex version either. Simple carbs, and sugar is fine.
I like 10 gummy bears, yes that is right. Gummy Bears
By the time I get home my glycogen stores are full and ready to use
glucose to shuttle my 90 g protein deep into the muscle bellies.

In summary, if you're trying to build muscle and burn fat HIT THE CARBS.
keep in mind this is a simple explanation without getting into the science.

[oker]

I do empty stomach cardio every morning and always have carbs afterwards. Post cardio carbs dont cease the "afterburn" effect they just temper it a bit. Especially if you are doing 60 minutes as stated, the afterburn calories burnt are going to be a very small percentage of what you burnt during your session. I dont think 27 grams of carbs post cardio is going to hinder your fat loss to any measurable degree. I aim for 50-75 grams post cardio myself. Nothing wrong with doing a protein/fat meal afterwards either if that's what you want to do. I personally prefer a higher carb diet and shoot for around 50 grams per meal with a daily total of around 350.

Agreed! It's great to hear someone back up what is actually working for me...to have this confirmed is even better...eating carbs after my one hour cardio every morn has had NO affect on fat loss as I've gone from 25% body fat to 13% in a very short period of time. Hence the reason I asked this question - I was trying to establish if there are others out there who do eat carbs after cardio and their experiences thereof (my motivation was to create discussion not to insult as I seem to have done). As with fireguy I am aiming for 40-50 grams of carbs per meal and the fat is dropping off, however, I should ad that I’m very disciplined when it comes to cardio - morn and evening cardio is not uncommon for me.

And I used the term spurious in a very general sense because I’ve heard the statement (“eating carbs after cardio defeats the purpose”) many times not only on the boards and in magazine articles, but never seen any research to back it up. I have, however, read research stating clean carbs are fine ’directly’ after cardio as long as cardio is a regular part of the exercise regimen.

Thus, my discourse was not a focus on you specifically GB. I used the term to refer to a statement that is widely used and believed, yet, should not be pinned to any one individual IMO as each person reacts differently to carbs, however, as stated above it should not affect fat loss in those individuals if cardio is done on a regular basis. And from experience I found that if you do enough cardio then clean carbs will NOT have any or little affect on fat loss.
To end on a positive note I think you give good advice GB. In fact, I’ve been following your posts and have made some minor adjustments to my diet based on your posts. In short, the statement was simply my opinion and I believe I am entitled to it so don’t take it personally bro.

[gbrice75]

And I used the term spurious in a very general sense because I’ve heard the statement (“eating carbs after cardio defeats the purpose”) many times not only on the boards and in magazine articles, but never seen any research to back it up. I have, however, read research stating clean carbs are fine ’directly’ after cardio as long as cardio is a regular part of the exercise regimen.
Thus, my discourse was not a focus on you specifically GB. I used the term to refer to a statement that is widely used and believed, yet, should not be pinned to any one individual IMO as each person reacts differently to carbs, however, as stated above it should not affect fat loss in those individuals if cardio is done on a regular basis. And from experience I found that if you do enough cardio then clean carbs will NOT have any or little affect on fat loss.
To end on a positive note I think you give good advice GB. In fact, I’ve been following your posts and have made some minor adjustments to my diet based on your posts. In short, the statement was simply my opinion and I believe I am entitled to it so don’t take it personally bro.

No worries bro, it's all good. I apologize if I overreacted - my wife is in FL for a week, and i'm stuck home alone, bored and irritable. I don't mean to take it out on the good peeps on this board!

[oker]

No worries bro, it's all good. I apologize if I overreacted - my wife is in FL for a week, and i'm stuck home alone, bored and irritable. I don't mean to take it out on the good peeps on this board!

While the cats away bro...lol

[Choppers]

Oker - can you give us a run down on your weight loss, exercise, time frame and diet. Thats a big % to drop and I'm all ears and very envious......

cheers.

[oker]

Oker - can you give us a run down on your weight loss, exercise, time frame and diet. Thats a big % to drop and I'm all ears and very envious......

cheers.

Chop, I think I covered most of it in the PM but here's some more details:

Cardio twice a day morn (empty stomach) and evening after last meal yet before casien drink, which is before bed. Both cardio sessions are one hour on treadmill LI (slight incline by 1 - 2) NOTE: I even do cardio on training days.

Training: Mon, Tues, Thurs and Fri

I started with ckd diet and did that for about 4 weeks (see below). Now I'm on a low carb/protien/low fat diet (see further below). Total time to lose the BF from beging to now about 7-8 weeks, give or take, on a cycle 500 test e

CKD DIET (note the high amount of fat and complete lack of carbs - I lost the most weight on the ckd)

Meal 1 - 8:00AM
2 whole eggs
2 can bacon
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp Mustard
X 2 fish oil

Meal 2 - 11:00PM
30g peanuts
25grams cheddar
x 2 fish oil
(This may change to protien only)

Meal 3 - 2:00PM
x 3 chicken tenders
1tbsp mayo, 1 Tbsp mustard
1 tbsp butter, Salad
2 x fish oil

Meal 4 - 5:00PM
30g peanut
25grams Cheddar
2 x fish oil

Meal 5 - 8:00PM
WHEY W. OUT DAYS ONLY
Whey (Mon, Tue, Thurs, Fri)
Or, Chicken/Cheese NON WO days

NO CASIEN BUT MAY EAT MEAL 4 HERE IF HUNGRY

When the weight stopped falling off I changed to the following diet and have been on this diet since, now becoming very ripped and defined:

CURRENT DIET

Meal 1 - 8:00AM:
4 egg whites
2 whole eggs
½ cup oats (= 8 tbsp)
Tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp Mustard
X 2 fish oil

Meal 2 - 11:00PM
Tenderloin x 3 piece
½ cup dry oats
Green Salad
X 2 fish oil

Meal 3 - 2:00PM
PWO shake & meal - WHEY/OATS
Whey ONLY WO days
Meal 3 - 1 hour after Whey
Tenderloin x 3 piece
½ cup brown rice
Green Salad
X 2 fish oil

Meal 4 - 5:00PM
Tenderloin x 3 piece
Green Veg (beans, broc, 1/2 cup)
Avocado or nuts
EVO)

Meal 6 - 8:00
1 heaped scoop Casein
X 2 tbsp nuts

NOTE: on NON WO days I eat very little carbs mainly for breakfast and and occasionally in the 2nd meal, depending on what I weigh in that morn, or, if I look puffy that morn I won't touch any carbs that day even if I have training.

When I reach single digit I will start a bulking diet. I estimate another 2 weeks to single digit (pls note again that I'm very disciplined with diet and cardio and never miss a day of cardio and hardly cheat. Perhaps one cheat meal a week.

Hope this helps

[airguard0909]

so if i want to get ripped cut out all my carbs.

[D7M]

so if i want to get ripped cut out all my carbs.

you can definitely still get ripped eating carbs.

[oker]

you can definitely still get ripped eating carbs.

Absolutely! And I wasn't suggesting cutting carbs to get ripped...this diet worked well for me as I lost most of my BF on the CKD - each person reacts differently to to carbs, prot, fats, etc. My ckd consisted of almost 60% fat including bacon and butter! The point is my body reacts better with fat as an energy source than carbs, to a point. Now I'm slowly introducing the carbs again but very careful what and when I eat them.

[gbrice75]

God bless you Oker - I wish I had it in me to do cardio twice a day for an hour each session. I can barely tolerate 3x a week for 30 mins. I know, I need to man up. Maybe i'd be able to get that elusive 10% BF if I dedicated myself!

[tjax03]

God bless you Oker - I wish I had it in me to do cardio twice a day for an hour each session. I can barely tolerate 3x a week for 30 mins. I know, I need to man up. Maybe i'd be able to get that elusive 10% BF if I dedicated myself!

Sorry this is a bit OT but gbrice, I was wondering if you had thought about posting up a workout log for your attempt to cut down to 10%. It's obvious that you really want to get there, and I think it would only help you to post up your progress on a week to week basis, not only for your own records, but also to get feedback from people on the board for progress etc. I'm sure with the support of the other guys on here, along with the element of personal accountability that comes with any top of workout log, you will reach your goals. Anyways thats all I wanted to say, not trying to push you into anything, just thought of it and that it might be helpful.

[oker]

God bless you Oker - I wish I had it in me to do cardio twice a day for an hour each session. I can barely tolerate 3x a week for 30 mins. I know, I need to man up. Maybe i'd be able to get that elusive 10% BF if I dedicated myself!

LOL! I was the same bro. Actually I still hate cardio, so I went out and bought myself an expensive treadmill for home (much like the ones at the gym) and it makes it a hell of a lot easier not to mention convenient.


In addition, I seem to be more motivated doing cardio at home as apposed to the treadmill at the gym. I set it up in front of the TV each morn and evening, watch the news or some comedy, and the time flies bro! Now I'm so used to it I don't even think about it anymore.

[gbrice75]

Sorry this is a bit OT but gbrice, I was wondering if you had thought about posting up a workout log for your attempt to cut down to 10%. It's obvious that you really want to get there, and I think it would only help you to post up your progress on a week to week basis, not only for your own records, but also to get feedback from people on the board for progress etc. I'm sure with the support of the other guys on here, along with the element of personal accountability that comes with any top of workout log, you will reach your goals. Anyways thats all I wanted to say, not trying to push you into anything, just thought of it and that it might be helpful.

No problem bro, you're right in that I probably should start a progress log thread. I do have my diet and workout routine posted, but not all in one place as a log that I can really track and update.

I'm starting a clen+keto cycle next week, so i'm really considering Monday 'day 1'. My biggest problem right now is cheating; I was good for such a long time, then went on vacation to Mexico - I haven't been able to pull it all back together since!

[gbrice75]

LOL! I was the same bro. Actually I still hate cardio, so I went out and bought myself an expensive treadmill for home (much like the ones at the gym) and it makes it a hell of a lot easier not to mention convenient.


In addition, I seem to be more motivated doing cardio at home as apposed to the treadmill at the gym. I set it up in front of the TV each morn and evening, watch the news or some comedy, and the time flies bro! Now I'm so used to it I don't even think about it anymore.

I hear you man, I actually did the same thing and bought a really good treadmill. Didn't use it for a long time (regularly), when I finally started to use it as part of a routine, the fvcker broke and is out of warranty!!! Figures!!!

But it's no excuse; I know I need to suck it up and just get er' done.

[FireGuy]

so if i want to get ripped cut out all my carbs.

Gettin ripped/cut/lean is all about ONE thing. Manipulating your body to use stored bodyfat as an energy source. This can be done very effeciently with a moderate or even high amount of carbohydrates in your diet.

[gbrice75]

Gettin ripped/cut/lean is all about ONE thing. Manipulating your body to use stored bodyfat as an energy source. This can be done very effeciently with a moderate or even high amount of carbohydrates in your diet.

THIS is the holy grail for me. I have yet to figure this out for myself.... amazing since i've been able to help others acheive it.

[tembe]

Gettin ripped/cut/lean is all about ONE thing. Manipulating your body to use stored bodyfat as an energy source. This can be done very effeciently with a moderate or even high amount of carbohydrates in your diet.

fireguy do you think you can expand a bit more on this?

how would one go about manipulating your body to use stored fats on a high carb diet?

t

[tembe]

Gettin ripped/cut/lean is all about ONE thing. Manipulating your body to use stored bodyfat as an energy source. This can be done very effeciently with a moderate or even high amount of carbohydrates in your diet.

fireguy would you mind posting a day of your diet?

for say when your are trying to lose body fat?

do you think you could post yours up as an example?

id love to see it

[oker]

Gettin ripped/cut/lean is all about ONE thing. Manipulating your body to use stored bodyfat as an energy source. This can be done very effeciently with a moderate or even high amount of carbohydrates in your diet.

Amen bro! And agreed, however, I have achieved this by using fat as an energy source, not carbs. In the very least ppl have a choice when it comes to choosing what diet works for them and I see no harm in changing your diet every 6-8 weeks (as I did) with great results! Carbs, IMO, are not the be all of end all, yet it seems to be the general consensus among the bodybuilding community. After years of training and experimenting with different diets I found that changing my diet on a regular basis had a positive affect on weight/fat loss. In short I’m not disagreeing with you bro but merely suggesting there are other options for those whereby carbs just don’t agree with them.

[oker]

I hear you man, I actually did the same thing and bought a really good treadmill. Didn't use it for a long time (regularly), when I finally started to use it as part of a routine, the fvcker broke and is out of warranty!!! Figures!!!

But it's no excuse; I know I need to suck it up and just get er' done.

That sucks bro any idea what it would cost to fix? As for me I can‘t go without cardio now...it not only makes me feel better but I just love to see the fat drop off - doing cardio twice a day for an hour you actually notice the difference! I mean visually I notice the difference daily.

But you look pretty good bro is that you in the avatar? What BF % are you now? In a few weeks when I reach my goal (single digit) I will post up some pics. Then I'm off on holiday to the beach in southern Thailand - woo hooo! Gotta reach my goal of single digit before the 26th - the ocean and the bikini clad, cute Thai girls are my motivation!

[gbrice75]

That sucks bro any idea what it would cost to fix? As for me I can‘t go without cardio now...it not only makes me feel better but I just love to see the fat drop off - doing cardio twice a day for an hour you actually notice the difference! I mean visually I notice the difference daily.

But you look pretty good bro is that you in the avatar? What BF % are you now? In a few weeks when I reach my goal (single digit) I will post up some pics. Then I'm off on holiday to the beach in southern Thailand - woo hooo! Gotta reach my goal of single digit before the 26th - the ocean and the bikini clad, cute Thai girls are my motivation!

I don't know how much it'll cost, but I definitely need to stop procrastinating and look into it ASAP. You telling me about seeing results daily is inspiring!!

Thanks bro, yes that's me in my avy, pic is from about a month ago. I'm actually about 15% and just look a bit leaner because of the pose. My goal continues to be 10% - so far it has eluded me, despite my best efforts. But that tells me my best efforts haven't been good enough. Once I hit 10%, I'll reconsider at that point whether I want to REALLY go for it (single digit like yourself) or start trying to add some mass which I am seriously lacking.

[oker]

I don't know how much it'll cost, but I definitely need to stop procrastinating and look into it ASAP. You telling me about seeing results daily is inspiring!!

Thanks bro, yes that's me in my avy, pic is from about a month ago. I'm actually about 15% and just look a bit leaner because of the pose. My goal continues to be 10% - so far it has eluded me, despite my best efforts. But that tells me my best efforts haven't been good enough. Once I hit 10%, I'll reconsider at that point whether I want to REALLY go for it (single digit like yourself) or start trying to add some mass which I am seriously lacking.

I really want the mass also bro...and that is my ultimate objective. But for now I'm concentrating on cutting down to that single digit then the bulk begins :-) Want more definition in my abs before that.

are you doing a cutting cycle now? What gear are you using to cut? I find sust 250 and winny tabs are a great combination for cutting.

PS Keep at it bro you will reach that single digit - find some motivation (example cute Thai girls) it works for me lol

[gbrice75]

I really want the mass also bro...and that is my ultimate objective. But for now I'm concentrating on cutting down to that single digit then the bulk begins :-) Want more definition in my abs before that.

are you doing a cutting cycle now? What gear are you using to cut? I find sust 250 and winny tabs are a great combination for cutting.

PS Keep at it bro you will reach that single digit - find some motivation (example cute Thai girls) it works for me lol

Same here, once I get down to an appreciable bodyfat, I can FINALLY start concentrating on adding some good muscle!

I'm not currently on any AAS cycle - I just finished PCT from a test e cycle actually, and my wife and I are trying to have a baby (I have terrible timing!) so i'm steering clear of AAS for now.

I am starting a clen+keto cycle however. I opted to exclude T3 from the equation since I don't have enough LBM to afford losing even a little bit, and without being on a cycle plus a caloric deficit, that would almost definitely happen.

Yea, I need to find something better then music for cardio, it's not cutting it anymore!

[FireGuy]

fireguy would you mind posting a day of your diet?

for say when your are trying to lose body fat?

do you think you could post yours up as an example?

id love to see it

I did a 14 week precontest diet this year that was scheduled as such;

430am- Cardio 45 minutes

600am-8 eggs whites (two yokes) crab meat
1 cup oatmeal

815am-7oz 93% ground beef, Veggies, 250 Gram Sweet Potatoe

1030am-7oz Chicken Breast, 2 pieces Daves Killer Bread.

1245-7oz Turkey Breast, Veggies, 250 Gram Sweet Potatoe

3pm-7oz Turkey Breast, Veggies, 250 Gram Sweet Potatoe

4pm-Train (1 bodypart) Cardio 45-60 minutes

530pm-8 Egg Whites (two yokes) crab meat
1-cup oatmeal

8pm-Casein Shake in Water.

Daily Totals came out to right around 350 grams protein and 350 grams carbs with minimal fats. I used MCT oil in the egg meals which added a bit of calories which were in the 3300 a day range. My contest weight was 195lbs.
I used this up until 7 days out and did a mild carb drop (200 grams) for a couple days to help shed some water. This got me down to around 6% BF.

[oker]

I did a 14 week precontest diet this year that was scheduled as such;

430am- Cardio 45 minutes

600am-8 eggs whites (two yokes) crab meat
1 cup oatmeal

815am-7oz 93% ground beef, Veggies, 250 Gram Sweet Potatoe

1030am-7oz Chicken Breast, 2 pieces Daves Killer Bread.

1245-7oz Turkey Breast, Veggies, 250 Gram Sweet Potatoe

3pm-7oz Turkey Breast, Veggies, 250 Gram Sweet Potatoe

4pm-Train (1 bodypart) Cardio 45-60 minutes

530pm-8 Egg Whites (two yokes) crab meat
1-cup oatmeal

8pm-Casein Shake in Water.

Daily Totals came out to right around 350 grams protein and 350 grams carbs with minimal fats. I used MCT oil in the egg meals which added a bit of calories which were in the 3300 a day range. My contest weight was 195lbs.
I used this up until 7 days out and did a mild carb drop (200 grams) for a couple days to help shed some water. This got me down to around 6% BF.

FG - were you cycling while on this diet? I’m presuming you were pre-contest…I’d be interested to know what you were pinning and @ what dose p/w? Cheers

[oker]

Same here, once I get down to an appreciable bodyfat, I can FINALLY start concentrating on adding some good muscle!

I'm not currently on any AAS cycle - I just finished PCT from a test e cycle actually, and my wife and I are trying to have a baby (I have terrible timing!) so i'm steering clear of AAS for now.

I am starting a clen+keto cycle however. I opted to exclude T3 from the equation since I don't have enough LBM to afford losing even a little bit, and without being on a cycle plus a caloric deficit, that would almost definitely happen.

Yea, I need to find something better then music for cardio, it's not cutting it anymore!

I see - I don't need to worry about that I've 2 kids already and do NOT want anymore. With the clen make sure you keep up with the cardio it will be more effective. I used it around a year ago and hated the way it made me feel - would never touch it again! t3 never tried, though.

[Choppers]

thanks for the extra info Oker. Much appreciated. have tried and loved and reacted well to Keto before but need to up the cardio. I also think that rotating diets is a good thing too. I find after 3 weeks on the keto I start to struggle so it suits me perfectly.

good luck bro.

[oker]

thanks for the extra info Oker. Much appreciated. have tried and loved and reacted well to Keto before but need to up the cardio. I also think that rotating diets is a good thing too. I find after 3 weeks on the keto I start to struggle so it suits me perfectly.

good luck bro.

No prob bro, keep me updated and let me know how it all works out re your diet etc (PM me any time) and keep up with the cardio :-)