Walking better than running?

**Romeoguy62** · 10-24-2005, 01:29 PM

I am starting to cut. I am 20, 5'8, 215lb, 20%bf. Should I wake up and run for 30min at 5mph or would I see better results if I walked for 45 min at 3.5-4mph on an incline and then ran at 5mph for 10-15min immediately after? Goal is obviously maximum fat loss. Thanks

**Dave321** · 10-24-2005, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by Romeoguy62

I am starting to cut. I am 20, 5'8, 215lb, 20%bf. Should I wake up and run for 30min at 5mph or would I see better results if I walked for 45 min at 3.5-4mph on an incline and then ran at 5mph for 10-15min immediately after? Goal is obviously maximum fat loss. Thanks

I prefer walking.. whatever you do, make sure you are keeping your HR at 65-75% of its max... once you exceed that, you will diminish muscle mass.

**decadbal** · 10-24-2005, 01:41 PM

one.. you wont burn much if any fat in a 15min session of cardio imo. 2 running is horrible on your knees, which u wanna save for squats and so on.. and 3 walkin is proven to burn more fat, and cause less stress on the lower body joints.. id go with walkin brother

**chest6** · 10-24-2005, 01:59 PM

I just do that eliptical thing low intensity for 40-45 mins in the AM on an empty stomach. I've always had great results with that.

**LoneLifter** · 10-24-2005, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by Justin Sane

I prefer running.. whatever you do, make sure you are keeping your HR at 65-75% of its max... once you exceed that, you will diminish muscle mass.

Monitoring your heart reate is important when maximum fat loss is your goal. Stay in the range that Justin mentioned in the quote above. Go much higher than that and a majority of the calories you burn will not be from fat but rather from other sources of expendable stored energy in your body...ie Muscle (bad).

**Romeoguy62** · 10-24-2005, 02:45 PM

How do I figure out what my max heartrate is? If someone knows what calculations need to be done my stats are in the first post. Thanks!

**LoneLifter** · 10-24-2005, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by Romeoguy62

How do I figure out what my max heartrate is? If someone knows what calculations need to be done my stats are in the first post. Thanks!

A common calculation used to determine max heart rate is 220-Age

I am 25 so my max heart rate would be 195 (beats per minute)

50% = 195 x .5 = 97
60% = 195 x .6 = 117
70% = 195 x .7 = 136
80% = 195 x .8 = 156
etc.

I have read and try to stick to the following:

The portion of calories that you burn during excersize which come from fat differs with the intensity of your training (in our case cardio).

Warm-Up:
*Heart rate is 50-60% of your max.
*85% of calories burned come from fat.

Fitness Zone:
*Heart rate is 60-70% of max.
*85% of calories burned come from fat.
*Ideal for fat loss.

Aerobic Zone:
*Heart rate is 70-80% of max.
*50% of calories burned come from fat.
*Increases endurance, size and strength of your heart and improves cardio-respitory systems.
*Ideal for endurance training.

An-aerobic Zone:
*Heart rate is 80-90% of max.
*15% of calories burned are from fat.
*Increases VO2 max, improving cardio
*Increases lactate tolerance
*Increases enduance and ability to fight fatigue
*Ideal for Performance training.

Red Line:
*Heart rate is 90+% of max
*Considered to be your maximum effort.
*Not sure what this is good for.

When I was competeing in sports I would train in the anaerobic and aerobic zones for endurance but when training for my body to cut fat and get lean, I tend to stay more in the fitness zone but I often find myself bored. Also, look in the gym at the professional bodybuilders....I have never seen a professional body builder run on the treadmill....always walking briskly.

Any thoughts from some of the guys on the board that compete in bodybuilding??

-LL

**Romeoguy62** · 10-24-2005, 05:27 PM

Wow Lonelifter thanks, that's exactly the info that I wanted.

**Girlyman** · 10-24-2005, 05:31 PM

well I got a HR watch and I keep myself 85% for 45 mins in the morning. I'm trying to bulk my heart up and increase v02 max, but I'd also like to burn some fat. Would walking 60-70% of Hr in the afternoon for a few hours be good for that?

**Girlyman** · 10-24-2005, 05:35 PM

Also I do 9-10 hours of cardio on Sundays (mountaineering) yesterday my watch said I burned 4067 calories in my session, do you think I'm going to lose a ton of muscle if I keep this up? the first 4-5 hours were 80-85% max and the next 5-6 hours were 50-60%MHR.

**LoneLifter** · 10-24-2005, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by Romeoguy62

Wow Lonelifter thanks, that's exactly the info that I wanted.

Not a problem Romeo...i am here to share what I know as well as to learn from the experience of others. Work hard and good luck in acheiving your goals.

-LL

**LoneLifter** · 10-24-2005, 05:54 PM

Originally Posted by Girlyman

well I got a HR watch and I keep myself 85% for 45 mins in the morning. I'm trying to bulk my heart up and increase v02 max, but I'd also like to burn some fat. Would walking 60-70% of Hr in the afternoon for a few hours be good for that?

I have read that HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions are a good way to maintain cardio-vascular strength and burn fat at the same time. The basic strategy of a HIIT session consists of varying the intensity of your cardio. I don't recall what intervals are recommended but I'm sure they'll turn up if you do a search in the forum or online for the info. Now that I think of it, I first learned of this technique of training from EAS. Check out their website and search in their trianing section for it. (www.eas.com).

**LoneLifter** · 10-24-2005, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by Girlyman

Also I do 9-10 hours of cardio on Sundays (mountaineering) yesterday my watch said I burned 4067 calories in my session, do you think I'm going to lose a ton of muscle if I keep this up? the first 4-5 hours were 80-85% max and the next 5-6 hours were 50-60%MHR.

Wow, thats what I call a workout. Chances are you may be losing muscle mass with a session like that, depending upon your diet. I hope you are drinking tons of water. I have read in various forums and magazines that your body goes into a catabolic state after over an hour of cardio but have not read any scientific studies to back this.

Side note:
Ever watched a marathon race? Those runners have all kinds of endurance and are lean as hell but...have you ever seen a marathon runner that was muscular and ripped beyond belief? I haven't and I tend to think that because of the sport they compete in and the amount of cardio they do, their body is feeding off of their muscle mass for energy. I would guess this is why distance runners "carb load" the night before I huge race...so they have tons of carbohydrates to burn instead of muscle. Bottom-line: Know what you are trying to acheive with your training. If you want to be muscular and lean, and your diet and training is right....IMHO, I do not think one day a week of "marathonish" (yes, I made that up) cardio is going to send your body into such a catabolic state that you will be unable to recover from.

Any thoughts for the more experienced? I would be especially interested to hear what some of the vets have to say as well as those who compete.

**Girlyman** · 10-24-2005, 06:39 PM

Well I want to keep an athletic figure, I am 165ish right now (havnt weighed in a month) and %bf? but I'd like to be 175-180 8-10%. I just want to be very musclar and strong but low weight and agile.

p.s thanks for the help, I go through about 80 ozs of water on these trips and I usually eat every 2 hours or so, about 1/2 cup granola, 1/2 almonds, 1/2 raisins, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds. I can't eat heavy when I'm doing these trips or I tend to get very nasueated and my performance hits the floor