How much cardio is too much

[michaelmotorcycle]

i do cardio 5 times 45 min at 160bpm a week because, i am on a bulking diet, and putting on a little bit of fat... but some people at the gym is telling me that i am burning muscles... my diet is good...

how much cardio should i do
stats:
25
170
14%bf

[perfectbeast2001]

intensity of cardio is more important than time when it come to "burning muscles". If you keep your HR within the correct limit you should be burning fat without too much catabolism. The equation is 220-age*.7 You might also consider taking BCAA directly before and after to help fight off catabolism. I do cardio ED on an empty stomach.

[RuhlFreak55]

i do cardio 5 times 45 min at 160bpm a week because, i am on a bulking diet, and putting on a little bit of fat... but some people at the gym is telling me that i am burning muscles... my diet is good...

how much cardio should i do
stats:
25
170
14%bf

i wouldn't do that much with ur bodyfat where it is and considering you're bulking......three days a week is good fer me when bulkin

[sheb737]

intensity of cardio is more important than time when it come to "burning muscles". If you keep your HR within the correct limit you should be burning fat without too much catabolism. The equation is 220-age*.7 You might also consider taking BCAA directly before and after to help fight off catabolism. I do cardio ED on an empty stomach.

This info on calculating HR was helpful thank you

[MuscleScience]

Thats a lot of cardio for a bulking cycle. Plus you are way out of the "fat burning zone" The easiest way to tell if the predominate source of energy being burned is fat is to do whats called the talk test. If you are doing cardio and you can talk you are at an intensity for optimal fat burning. Keep in mind though this only applies to exercise after 15 minutes and at steady intensity.

[sheb737]

I never heard of that before. So if you cant talk? That seams like there is to much room for error. Maybe thats ok. What is the basis for this info?

[MuscleScience]

The basic theory behind this is that if you can talk while your doing cardio is that you are using oxygen as an energy source. You need oxygen to burn fat, this process is call beta-oxidation. So it stands to reason if you are able to talk while your exercising then you Oxygen-debt is low enought to were you body will not switch to burning sugars as a quik energy source. This process is known as glycolysis and yield very little energy and creates lactic acid. The best way to monitor if your in the fat burning zone while in the gym is by a Heart Rate Monitor of course but not everybody has this. And yes there is room for error with the talk test method. It is just an easy way to tell what energy system your body is using at that particular moment in time. Again thought this only applies if your doing steady state exercise. If you vary the intensity through the cardio session then it is not a good measure.

[DNoMac]

I use the karvonen formula, similar to perfectbeasts:

(220-age-resting heartrate)x.65 + resting heartrate.

It's a little more specific to your fitness level rather than just taking into account your age.

[sheb737]

The basic theory behind this is that if you can talk while your doing cardio is that you are using oxygen as an energy source. You need oxygen to burn fat, this process is call beta-oxidation. So it stands to reason if you are able to talk while your exercising then you Oxygen-debt is low enought to were you body will not switch to burning sugars as a quik energy source. This process is known as glycolysis and yield very little energy and creates lactic acid. The best way to monitor if your in the fat burning zone while in the gym is by a Heart Rate Monitor of course but not everybody has this. And yes there is room for error with the talk test method. It is just an easy way to tell what energy system your body is using at that particular moment in time. Again thought this only applies if your doing steady state exercise. If you vary the intensity through the cardio session then it is not a good measure.

Thanks for the explanation. Very helpful if you do not have a monitor like you say

[sheb737]

I use the karvonen formula, similar to perfectbeasts:

(220-age-resting heartrate)x.65 + resting heartrate.

It's a little more specific to your fitness level rather than just taking into account your age.

Can you give me an example of what you are saying here?

I am not sure if I understand? Is this the same as PB2001?

[DNoMac]

Heres an example, your 25 with say a resting heartrate of 70bpm:

220-25-70=125
125 x .65=81.25
81.25+70~151

You should be training roughly around 150 bpm if your resting heartrate is 70. I'm sure it's a little differnt, so just plug yours in where I have the 70's.

[sheb737]

Thank bro big help

[xpijeonx]

Is the "resting heart rate" taken right when you wake up? Or just anytime you are not being active, ie watchin tv or readin steroid.com?

I have read a few things a while ago that mentioned something about checking your heart rate right when wake but I dont recall what it was for?

[MuscleScience]

Your slowest heart rate of the day will be apon waking for the morning. After you get up your resting metabolism will increase until sometime in the afternoon. This will cause your resting HR to increase as well. You dont have to be super accurate in your hr calcs anyway just as long as you get a baseline before exercise or using stimulants.