The Official Cardio Thread

[NEWBIE101]

Well now that's summer is approaching, everyone wants to lose weight. Cardiovascular exercise is a key component to shedding off those pounds. If you are interested in how to do this effectively than I suggest you read this post with some common questions that I've read and their answers.

What type of cardio should I be doing, high intensity or low intensity?

Well there have been recent studies about this. One group of people did high intensity cardio for a period of time while others did low intensity cardio. At the end of the experiment the group doing the high intensity cardio had burned more fat than the group who did low intensity cardio. The truth is that low intensity cardio for long periods of time actually burns more fat while you're exercising that the high intensity, they also burned a similar amount of calories. However, studies showed that the group that did high intensity cardio continued to burn those calories afterwards while the group who performed low intensity burned barely any calories afterwards ultimately resulting in many more calories burned by the high intensity group. It is not techinically how much fat you're burning, but how many calories you are burning since the calorie deficit ultimately results in fat loss.

Is HIIT a good form of cardio

Yes, HIIT is a great form of high intensity cardio.

What is HIIT?

High Intensity Interval Training. It should take you about 15 to 20 minutes to complete and you do it in intervals. An example would be sprinting for 20 seconds than briskly walking for 40 seconds before repeating for the desired number of times. For more info on HIIT I suggest you read this, http://davedraper.com/hiit-cardio-training.html

Does it matter how I do the cardio?

Well I suggest sprinting because it's easy and you can do it just about anywhere. However if you would like you can try an exercise bike or a rowing machine.

Should I be doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach?

Well the answer is yes if you would like to burn that muscle that you've worked so hard for. The problem is that in the morning you are at a fasted state and cortisol levels are high. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone. If you do the cardio on an empty stomach, your body will use your muscle that you've worked so hard for in order to supply you with energy. What is the solution? Well I suggest that you eat some complex carbs such as oatmeal about 45 minutes before your cardio session so that they can provide your body with the fuel it needs and not your muscle.

If I eat carbs before my cardio, won't my body just be burning the carbs and not the fat?

Studies have shown that it's not what nutrients your body is burning that matters. Like I said before, what's important for fat loss is how many calories in total that you're burning.

What should I drink post cardio?

A good whey protein shake should be sufficient just like post lifting.

Should I do my cardio on lifting days?

Try not to. Try to do your cardio on non lifting days so you can put all your energy into the cardio. If you have to do it on lifting days though make sure that you're doing it after you lift so you won't waste your lifting energy on cardio. I don't recommend doing cardio the day that you're training legs though.

Well that's it. I hope this answers alot of your guys questions. If you guys have questions or comments then feel free to post or PM me.

 

[Unbridled_1]

At least Newbie101 isn't demanding someone put a sticky on his post this time.

He's a nice kid who means well, even if he's answering questions for something that nobody has asked him about.

Oh well, like the "mentally handicapped" kid in your class, just humor him and pretend to care about what he's saying.

 

[PiNkMaGGiT]

Originally posted by Unbridled_1
At least Newbie101 isn't demanding someone put a sticky on his post this time.

He's a nice kid who means well, even if he's answering questions for something that nobody has asked him about.

Oh well, like the "mentally handicapped" kid in your class, just humor him and pretend to care about what he's saying.

You are an ungrateful ****. Thankyou Newbie you're post did answer some questions that have been bugging me for a while about cardio. Don't listen to ****s like Unbridled.

 

[es_mer8]

What about a stair stepper for HIIT? Last week, I did 2 10 minute intervals of high intensity workouts on the stairstepper. They really wore me out to the point where it was hard for me to walk but thats probably a good thing. Should I continue to use it? I know it does good results because on the calorie burned LCD display, it comes out to be about 450-500 calories lost. I know thats not the best indicator but it shows that I work my ass off on the machine.

 

[Templeton]

Originally posted by Unbridled_1
At least Newbie101 isn't demanding someone put a sticky on his post this time.

He's a nice kid who means well, even if he's answering questions for something that nobody has asked him about.

Oh well, like the "mentally handicapped" kid in your class, just humor him and pretend to care about what he's saying.

Unfair. It wasn't Newbie who asked for the sticky anyay if I recall.

Great post Newbie. Just what the board needed.

 

[Viroid]

This thread should be renamed: "the official jane fonda thread."

 

[NEWBIE101]

Originally posted by es_mer8
What about a stair stepper for HIIT? Last week, I did 2 10 minute intervals of high intensity workouts on the stairstepper. They really wore me out to the point where it was hard for me to walk but thats probably a good thing. Should I continue to use it? I know it does good results because on the calorie burned LCD display, it comes out to be about 450-500 calories lost. I know thats not the best indicator but it shows that I work my ass off on the machine.

That's fine. It's better than the treadmill. If you wanna keep using it go ahead.

Remember, those calorie indicators can be very wrong in some cases. Just make sure that you're working your ass off.

 

[Smooth as Anything]

Excellent! Thanks bro .

 

[Lt dan]

if youre doing just cardio with no lifting. do you need to have a day of rest between each day you do it. or can you do cardio everyday

 

[xyzzy]

good one Viroid

Its all about intensity, either in the gym or cardio. If you walk around the mall, jiggle your belly on a treadmill or go for a Sunday walk, you aren't doing jack. If you sprint or work yourself hard at HIIT, PROPERLY, then it will be of benefit.

Also, make sure you are working against GRAVITY when doing cardio, so chuck the stationary bikes, treadmills, etc out the window.

The Cardio Roundtable pt. 1 is in the newest issue of the testosterone mag, lots more relevent info there.

 

[DJ Girevik]

HIIT pisses me off. I've done it twice with sprinting/walking, and I ended up sore for 3-4 days both times. I'm sticking with plain old running (pretty close to getting my mile under 7 minutes lately, but because of a nagging heel injury I have to stay off running for now).

My coach, Mike Burgener (who is also the US women's olympic weightlifting coach), shredded his bodyfat from 20% to about 12-13% in a few months with biking, the rowing machine, kettlebells and "watching what he ate" (not any official diets though), lost barely any muscle, if any, too, and this at an age of nearly 60. I'm buying a kettlebell for the summer, so I'm going to try to repeat his feat (my bf is about 18% right now).

 

[Sina94]

How about boxing?

 

[xyzzy]

I actually like HIIT... it reminds me of how our ancestors must have lived, throwing a spear at a Mastodon then running like hell until the damn thing stopped chasing you from bleeding to death, hopefully at some point in time shorter than before your lungs exploded.

 

[Charm]

Two words: ultimate frisbee

 

[NEWBIE101]

Originally posted by Sina94
How about boxing?

Boxing is good

 

[Smooth as Anything]

So, if we're not lifting... but doing cardio.

Do we need to take days off and rest?

 

[NEWBIE101]

Originally posted by Smooth as Anything
So, if we're not lifting... but doing cardio.

Do we need to take days off and rest?

Yea, if you want to that's fine.

You can do a 3 day split and 3 days of cardio and take a day off.

Feel free to ask any more questions you may have.

 

[supertrooper]

Wassup NEWBIE101, I'm currently lifting weights for bulk 3 days a week(mon,wed, fri). I do a total body workout on those days(upper,lower body, and abs). My bench is going up 5-10 lbs a week. I want to run 60 yd sprints to improve my 40 yd speed mon through friday. Currently most of my abs are visible, but at belly button and love handle area, fat is little excessive for me. My question is can i do all this and still gain muscle and burn fat at the same time? If so, I need you to tell me what days I need to work out and run. Thanks in advance

 

[CONAN]

Hi,
In my opinion HIIT is not good for fat loss,
To burn fat you need to be between 70 - 80% of max heart rate for periods in exess of 15-20 mins. otherwise you will be using blood sugar and glycogen for fuel, you cant synthesise fat quickly enough for high intensity exercise, so your body wont use it.
Just my two penneth
C

 

[heteropedro]

ok but what if your doing an excersise that only targets your legs? ex. bike? Will it still use your other muscles?