Cardio Confusion.....

[MAC27]

My plan as of now has been 30 min on treadmill, 1/4mile 7.0 incline at 3.8mph following with a 1/4 of 0 incline at 5.5mph. I get 2 1/4 miles done of this in the half hour folling right after my workout. Ive been told that i should go first thing in the morning with no food in my stomach to burn the most. Then I have people telling me that I will also be causeing muscle loss if I do it in the morning with no food.? what is the right way of doing cardio to maximize the burn of fat with no loss to muscle groth? should I also be useing other machines and doing other types of cardio.? HLEP please ...

[Natureboy71]

First thing in the morning on an empty stomach will burn fat the best. What is also important is what you are keeping your heart rate at but that depends on your age and so on. Also, you probably want to do about 45 mins of cardio for best results. Then just make sure you have a good breakfast when your done to prevent catabolic muscle loss and to keep your metabolism working.

[MAC27]

Oh so the muscle loss is due to not eating right after, ok now ive got it.. Do you think i should throw some elliptical in there or just all treadmill?

[DeepBreath]

Walking at 3.8, then jogging at 5.5, then rotating back and forth? Treadmill or elliptical shouldn't matter as long as heart rate stays in line.

[MAC27]

Yes I rotate the walk and jog every .25 miles. This morning I did the 45 min as Natureboy71 stated above and it worked out to 3.5 miles and feeling good. Is there such thing as a maximum amount of min to do cardio?

[DeepBreath]

I'm not sure if there is a maximum but there is a balance between cardio and calories burned and calories consumed. Every mile is approximately 100 calories so if you eat 1600 calories and you run 3.5 miles you have 1250 calories you are working with for the day. This low can cause you to burn muscle then you have skinny-fat syndrome. I'm guessing you are looking to drop fat and keep your muscle? How much are you looking to drop and what is your calorie count looking like?

[Natureboy71]

If you have your heart rate in the right zone for what you doing you probably don't want to do over an hour unless your training for endurance. Especially if you concerned about burning muscle. You can probably give yourself 30 minutes before you eat right after your cardio because your body is still burning fat/calories for that long.

They say it takes 20 minutes at a proper heart rate to start burning fat so that is why 45 mins in recommended. And as DeepBreath said, doesn't really matter what you do on the machine as long as your heart rate is in the proper zone. Many times I walk on my treadmill at an incline for 45 mins keeping my heartrate about about 140 to 145 which is perfect for me.

[MAC27]

I would say im takeing in about 2500 calories a day and I do cardio in the a.m. before my day on mon,tues,sat. The other days i do a half hour post work out. My heart rate seems to stay around 154-156. Im looking to burn some stored fat that has been on my body for a long time. I weigh 165 which is not much but my gut and chest has some stored that im determined to get rid of!

On the subject, for the days that im lifting followed by cardio should I be drinking my WPI shake before I run? I ask because sometimes I feel like that extra half hour of running has made my muscles starve for protein. I take it normaly the molment I leave the gym.

[crimsonrose]

Consider doing some high intensity interval training (HIIT). I do 15mins of treadmill 3 times a week where I'am able to bring my heart rate to around 166-171. I start with a fast 2mins warm up (7.5 mph), then crank it up to 10.5 mph for 3mins, back down to 7.5 for 1min, 10.5 for 2mins, back to 7.5 for 1.5min, then 11 for 1min and finish it off at 7.5 plus cool down.

[MAC27]

Consider doing some high intensity interval training (HIIT). I do 15mins of treadmill 3 times a week where I'am able to bring my heart rate to around 166-171. I start with a fast 2mins warm up (7.5 mph), then crank it up to 10.5 mph for 3mins, back down to 7.5 for 1min, 10.5 for 2mins, back to 7.5 for 1.5min, then 11 for 1min and finish it off at 7.5 plus cool down.

This may take some working up to, my legs have never moved that fast before, Ill wind up burning my face off once i fall on it lol..

[bigno5]

When I was burning fat I always hit it in the morning, kept my heart rate right around 70% (found that worked the best for me) and just ate a bannana before and a full lean breakfast afterwards. went from 24% BF - 18% in about 90 days. Also super-setting and keeping rest time 2 mins or under during weight lifting will shed fat faster than you can believe.

[bigslick7878]

Drop the PWO cardio and do it all in the morning on empty. With about 15 minutes left on the tread mill take a bunch of BCAA's to help with muscle retention. At least 8-10 grams.....more won't hurt, Eat a nice meal when you are done.

And I agree with bigno about the rest in between sets as well. I used to do a set every other minute now I do a set every minute........talk about a BIG difference.

[MAC27]

Drop the PWO cardio and do it all in the morning on empty. With about 15 minutes left on the tread mill take a bunch of BCAA's to help with muscle retention. At least 8-10 grams.....more won't hurt, Eat a nice meal when you are done.

And I agree with bigno about the rest in between sets as well. I used to do a set every other minute now I do a set every minute........talk about a BIG difference.

Does Xpand count as a source of BCAA's that i can use? or should i go with something like the BCAA's that optimum nutrition puts out?

[bigslick7878]

Does Xpand count as a source of BCAA's that i can use? or should i go with something like the BCAA's that optimum nutrition puts out?

No that is a preworkout supplement. A dedicated BCAA supplement like optimum is what you need, matter of fact I use the optimum 1000 caps for my BCAA's.

[MAC27]

yeah the caps will be perfect so i dont have to finish my run with 10oz slashing around in my stomach.. thanks for the heads up, gonna order them today!

[DeepBreath]

Good info on the BCAA's. Didn't know that they would help with muscle retention during cardio.

[bigslick7878]

Good info on the BCAA's. Didn't know that they would help with muscle retention during cardio.

They do. Many pros will load up on them when they are cutting before a contest near the end of cardio. Like mega doses 15-20 grams at a time.