Lay it on my cut diet!

[gbrice75]

No cardio, no cut.

You can manipulate your diet 8 ways til Sunday but if you are not doing cardio you won't be burning fat. Period.

It sucks at first but we are creatures of habit and you will adapt. It will get easier.

You MUST do cardio or you are wasting your time.

Agreed, 1000%

Take a look at the little 'article' I wrote up today.

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...-But-not-quite...

[DKbuilder]

Reading it now.

[DKbuilder]

I'd like to know why cardio is important. I don't doubt that cardio is crucial for fat loss, however, I'd still like to see some documentation and arguments as to why it is so essential.

[gbrice75]

I'd like to know why cardio is important. I don't doubt that cardio is crucial for fat loss, however, I'd still like to see some documentation and arguments as to why it is so essential.

Feel free to do the research and post up your results! =)

But seriously - isn't it obvious? You want to know why it's essential for fat loss? It's a great way to burn bodyfat, rev up your metabolism, workout your entire cardiovascular system, it's great for your heart - what else do you need to know?

Not being a d!ck, just kinda confused by your comment. And for the record - if you're like me and need to learn everything the hard way, don't do cardio while you're cutting. Then you can come back here in a month and tell us we were right. =)

[DKbuilder]

You took my previous post a bit too serious, oh well

Also - I asked about which form of cardio I should be doing on one of the last posts on page 1.

[gbrice75]

heh, I guess crappy sleep, leg day, and 2 hours of cardio will fvck with anybody's head!

It depends on the goal - I like med intensity cardio with fast paced intervals thrown in (about 45 second sprints, that kind of thing).

[DKbuilder]

heh, I guess crappy sleep, leg day, and 2 hours of cardio will fvck with anybody's head!

It depends on the goal - I like med intensity cardio with fast paced intervals thrown in (about 45 second sprints, that kind of thing).

That was also what I was thinking. So if I workout 5 days a week (currently my 5-split) how many times should I be doing cardio?

And yes, leg day is a killer!

[DKbuilder]

bump for answer ansked in previous post!

[tsidriver]

You already have my suggestions from earlier in the thread. It depends on how much you are gonna do at one time. If you want to stay sane and keep it to a normal interval (1hr session or less) you should be hitting cardio every day. The point being you are getting activity in every day and keeping a consistent fat burning regime. If you do 5 hours straight cardio one day a week and do nothing for the rest, it's not as effective as doing 1 hr sessions 5 days a week. It's sort of like spreading your meals out through the day. It maintains a consistent level throughout the week and you are burning fat every day.

Anything more than an hour a day I can't really speak to. Gbrice said in one of his posts he did 2 hrs that day. The more the better I'm guessing (moderate HR), as long as you keep it at a consistent level.

[gbrice75]

You took my previous post a bit too serious, oh well

Also - I asked about which form of cardio I should be doing on one of the last posts on page 1.

I personally like moderate intensity cardio with high intensity intervals mixed in (not to be confused with HIIT, see Baseline's thread regarding this). If you can do it 6 days/week, great! (most people will tell you 7 days, but i'm a firm believer in a FULL rest day, no workout, no cardio, no nothing. CNS needs a rest as much as muscle). Limit it to 1 hour sessions. I have been doing 2x a day and it's going very well. You CANNOT do this much cardio and also be running a huge caloric deficit though, or you are begging to burn LBM. Just want to make that clear. Up the cardio, up the calories a bit (and this is preferred over less cardio and less calories, see the article I just wrote yesterday on this called 'calories in calories out. but not quite....'

You already have my suggestions from earlier in the thread. It depends on how much you are gonna do at one time. If you want to stay sane and keep it to a normal interval (1hr session or less) you should be hitting cardio every day. The point being you are getting activity in every day and keeping a consistent fat burning regime. If you do 5 hours straight cardio one day a week and do nothing for the rest, it's not as effective as doing 1 hr sessions 5 days a week. It's sort of like spreading your meals out through the day. It maintains a consistent level throughout the week and you are burning fat every day.

Anything more than an hour a day I can't really speak to. Gbrice said in one of his posts he did 2 hrs that day. The more the better I'm guessing (moderate HR), as long as you keep it at a consistent level.

Well said. Doing a 5 hour cardio session would only wind up burning LBM. I like to limit cardio to an hour. I've been doing 2x a day but we're talking 5:30am fasted, and 2pm non-fasted.

[DKbuilder]

That's a shitload of cardio but I will go through it to achieve my goals. But that should mean that I should reprogram my current split to something else. I don't think that x7 cardio days and x5 workout days a week is going to work out, or will it? What do you suggest? And can I do a normal workout + cardio afterwards?

I am sorry for all the questions but I want 100% clarification so I don't make rookie mistakes.

[gbrice75]

Do cardio 6x if you can, but not 7. Why couldn't you also workout 5x a week? Yes, you can do your normal workout and cardio after.

[DKbuilder]

Okay man. I haven't got more questions (for now!) and I'd like to say thanks to you guys for answering all the questions. Very good stuff!

And today I turn 24 years of age! The next questions I will be asking should be pointed towards something else

[gbrice75]

Np man, and happy birthday! For now, get your training and diet in order, and don't worry about 'anything else'. =)

[DKbuilder]

/>

[DKbuilder]

Bump!

[tbody66]

23
1.5 year serious
5 split high volume
4-5 months on my current split - did 3 split previously
Shoulders are lacking
I expect my bodyfat to be reduced alot and since it's a cut, I don't really expect to see strength gains.

You can gain strength and size in bodyparts while on a cut, you are switching your calories to being more efficient, but not eliminating the nutrients necessary to grow. I want to write you a program for your cut cycle, or for you to peform for the next five weeks until you begin the remote trainer challange anyway. I'm thinking a push/pull with heavy and light days so you can hit each bodypart twice a week, at 24 years old(happy birthday), you should be able to recover fine from that split. It would be a m-t/th-f split, 4 days a week.

[DKbuilder]

You can gain strength and size in bodyparts while on a cut, you are switching your calories to being more efficient, but not eliminating the nutrients necessary to grow. I want to write you a program for your cut cycle, or for you to peform for the next five weeks until you begin the remote trainer challange anyway. I'm thinking a push/pull with heavy and light days so you can hit each bodypart twice a week, at 24 years old(happy birthday), you should be able to recover fine from that split. It would be a m-t/th-f split, 4 days a week.

I'd be more than happy to see a decent program for a cut, bring it on!

PS: I have been working out for 4 years but the last 1.5 years I have been taking it very seriously.

[gbrice75]

[DKbuilder]

Thanks man, that's exactly what I needed to know.

[gbrice75]

65% of max is considered the 'fat burning zone', but that's sort of old school and very arguable by some people.

I just wanted to clarify before I get flamed - I didn't mean that 65% being the fat burning zone is arguable, I meant that whether or not that is the ideal form of cardio is what's arguable. =)

[tbody66]

I'd be more than happy to see a decent program for a cut, bring it on!

PS: I have been working out for 4 years but the last 1.5 years I have been taking it very seriously.

Mondays and thursdays are push days: Chest/shoulders/triceps/abs
Tuesdays and fridays are pull days: legs/back/biceps
Mondays and Tuesdays will be your heavy days and thursdays and fridays your light days, you will perform similar exercises but the rep range will change.
always start your workout by jumping rope for one minute solid, when you can do that easily then start adding 15 second increments to your warmup until you are at five minutes of rope jumping and then just stay with that.

Mon:
Chest:
Flat Bench, warm-up sets, these should be three rep warm up sets with progressive weight until you reach your workout weight, then three sets of 8 - 12 reps, go to failure each time, go up in weight when you are hitting all three sets 12 or more reps
Incline Bench, no warm up sets here, your chest is warmed up from the flat bench, three workout sets, same rep range.
flat dumbell flyes - this is not a mass exercise, it is a stretching exercise, the weight does not matter, as a matter of fact it should be just heavy enough to help your arms get a full stretch at the bottom, too heavy and you can cause yourself damage, slow and controlled with a full stretch at the bottom and a pause, when you contract the muscle bring the weights as close together as possible without touching them, and then turn the pinkies in towards each other while feeling the middle of your chest come together.

Shoulders:The front's of your shoulders have been thoroughly worked here, so we'll move onto the tops and rears.
Military press: sets and reps the same as the bench press, machine or barbell, depending on your gym
Dumbbell Shrugs. Pause at the top and bottom, straight up and down, don't roll your shoulders, put the tops of your shoulders into your ears, I like going progressively higher in poundages within the rep range until I can't properly perform the exercise.
Rear shoulder raises. Bend at the waist, pic a very...very...very...light weight, 5 lbs to start, lean over parallel with the ground with your knees bent and look in front of you at the wall/mirror, keeping your elbows locked and arms straight down in front of you raise them out to your sides with your pinkies up towards the ceiling. At the top of the movement you want them to be about 3 inches above your shoulders and even with your eyeballs, trust me, this hurts and is effective. 8-12 reps, pause at the top.

Triceps:
dipsbodyweight to failure, three sets
skull crushers, three sets 8-12 reps

Abs:
Crunches 3 sets 51 reps

Tues:
Legs:
Squats: progressive warm up sets of 11 reps until workout weight, then three sets of 15 - 20 reps, same philosophy as the bench, go to failure, increase weight when you are performing over 20 reps for each of the three sets, when you add the weight it should drop you down to only being able to accomplish 15 reps on your last set.
Straight legged dead lifts super setted with standing calf raises or toe extensions, stiff legged deads should be done in the 15-20 rep range and calves should be done in sets of 21's, 7 toes in heels out, 7 heels in toes out and 7 straight on.

Back:
Lat Pull downs 3 sets 8-12 reps
bent over barbell rows 3 sets, 8-12 reps

Biceps:
Straight bar curls, full range 3 sets 8-12 reps
concentration curls 3 sets 8-12 reps

Wed: cardio

Thurs:
Chest:
Incline dumbbell presses, start with a light weight 40 lbs for example, and perform 12-15 reps, then increase by 5 lbs each time within the same rep range, you want to do five work sets, so make sure you are ending at a weight that you can barely get those 12 reps with on your fifth set
Flat dumbbell presses, your chest is already warmed up, go with three workout sets in that 12-15 rep range

Shoulders:
Rear raises again, just like last time except this time work in the 15-20 rep range
Upright rows, I do this for the traps on shoulder day, 3 sets of 25 reps, do not let the weight go all the way down at the bottom, slow and controlled, no lower than the belly button at the bottom of the motion and almost touch the chin at the top, keep the weight in close to the body the entire time, I use the ez curl bar for this.

Triceps:
rope pushdowns, 3 sets 25 reps
bench dips, three sets to failure

Abs:
Bicycles: 3 sets 51 reps,
Hanging leg raises: 3 sets 51 reps

Fri:
Back:
Deadlifts 3 sets 15-20 reps, because it is deadlift day we start with back.
Legs:
Do a superset for legs, going from machine to machine to machine for the three exercises for the three setsleg extension/leg curl/toe presses, start all over, little or no rest between sets.

biceps:
dumbbell hammer curls, 3 sets, 12-15 reps
dumbbell preacher curls, 3 sets 8-12 reps.

Sat: Cardio

Sunday: Church

Perform this program for five weeks, just up until your trainer changes your program for the remote trainer challange.

[DKbuilder]

Just an update

I've been following my cardio, workout and diet routine perfectly. I just need some time to see some results!

[gbrice75]

Nice bro, keep going!

[DKbuilder]

I'll have to summon a question:

My cut diet intake is at 2500 and I do cardio like 5-6 times a week + normal workout sessions. I feel like I'm losing weight too rapidly. When I do cardio I burn like 350 - 400 calories. My question is - shouldn't I up the calories on the days that I do cardio? It is not because I am starving, I just feel like I need something.

[DKbuilder]

Assistance of brohems required urgently!

[DKbuilder]

bump

[gbrice75]

I'll have to summon a question:

My cut diet intake is at 2500 and I do cardio like 5-6 times a week + normal workout sessions. I feel like I'm losing weight too rapidly. When I do cardio I burn like 350 - 400 calories. My question is - shouldn't I up the calories on the days that I do cardio? It is not because I am starving, I just feel like I need something.

How far below maintenance are you eating? How much are you losing? What is your strength and energy like? Answer these and I can help you.

[DKbuilder]

My energy is good, my strength has actually not been affected that much atm. It's not too bad. My TDEE was 3000 and I am eating 2500 calories a day. And I feel full most of the day. But I have lost quite some weight.

[gbrice75]

My energy is good, my strength has actually not been affected that much atm. It's not too bad. My TDEE was 3000 and I am eating 2500 calories a day. And I feel full most of the day. But I have lost quite some weight.

You can bump calories up a bit if you want/feel you need to (did you read my article? It's about this EXACT topic) - try bringing them up to 2700, but you need to KILL it on the cardio. That's the point... eat more, but cardio your ass off.

The fact that your strength hasn't been affected tells me you're ok, but if you want to make the adjustment to see how your body reacts, i'm all for finding your sweet spot. Let me know how you make out.

[DKbuilder]

You can bump calories up a bit if you want/feel you need to (did you read my article? It's about this EXACT topic) - try bringing them up to 2700, but you need to KILL it on the cardio. That's the point... eat more, but cardio your ass off.

The fact that your strength hasn't been affected tells me you're ok, but if you want to make the adjustment to see how your body reacts, i'm all for finding your sweet spot. Let me know how you make out.

Are you hitting on me Gbrice? And lol'd so hard at "finding your sweet spot"... hahhaa.

Seriously though, I have read your post about eating a bit more and shredding the fat off by doing some extra cardio.
I still haven't got an answer on my question (or I do not understand what you're saying). If I burn 400 calories each cardio workout, doesnt that mean I should eat 400 calories more to get to 2500 calories?

[DKbuilder]

Noone?

[bigslick7878]

Noone?

HOW MUCH WEIGHT????

A "good bit" or "a lot" tells us nothing.

1lb? 2lb? 10lbs in a week?

[DKbuilder]

Nvm that question - I figured it out.

[gbrice75]

[/b]

Are you hitting on me Gbrice? And lol'd so hard at "finding your sweet spot"... hahhaa.

Seriously though, I have read your post about eating a bit more and shredding the fat off by doing some extra cardio.
I still haven't got an answer on my question (or I do not understand what you're saying). If I burn 400 calories each cardio workout, doesnt that mean I should eat 400 calories more to get to 2500 calories?

Haha, nah my dude, you ain't that lucky lol. I'm all man! =)

Nvm that question - I figured it out.

You sure? I'm still not sure I understand yours, but let me clarify. Firstly, there is no right answer - it depends on how your body reacts. THIS is exactly what I meant by 'sweet spot' - you need to see how your body reacts best to a given regimen. If eating 400 calories above maintenance and then burning 400 via cardio works for you, go for it. That wasn't what I had in mind though - my point was to eat close to or AT maintenance, and then use cardio to create a deficit. You still need a deficit to burn bodyfat, no doubt about that. My point was that too many people are eating at a huge deficit AND doing a ton of cardio - and that's a recipe to lose LBM fast. It's healthier and more efficient IMO to eat more (fuel your body) and make a deficit with cardio (also healthier). Get it now?

[DKbuilder]

Yes, I totally get what you're saying. I've listened carefully to my body the last week and I feel full all the time which is a good sign, right? I am eating about 2500 cals a day while doing shitloads of cardio almost every day and it's no problem. And my weight is at 98.8 kg atm. I don't weight myself that much. I'll probably only weight myself once every 2 weeks.

[DKbuilder]

What kind of meal should I be eating after fasted cardio?

PS: I'd like a comment on these articles:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=747976

www.t nation.com/readArticle.do?id=835725

[DKbuilder]

I'll link a song as a hidden bump =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXdwb_lUKvs

[gbrice75]

What kind of meal should I be eating after fasted cardio?

PS: I'd like a comment on these articles:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=747976

www.t nation.com/readArticle.do?id=835725

Are you eating immediately after cardio? If so, i'd keep carbs low - around 20g or so. Get protein in, that would be most important. I'd go with a whey shake just because of the super fast digestion. A pro/fat meal would probably be best - I would say a whey shake and 2 whole eggs is perfect.

Don't have the time to check the links now, but will do later!