Cardio question

[Burning_Inside]

OK, I need to ask a question about cardio.......

Is it really better to do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, and can someone explain why if that is the case? Or, can i do it after a 45 -60 minute weight training session, and still be ok? But is this bad for muscle loss or anything like that? Is there any benefits/negative effects to doing cardio after a weight trainign workout?

See, I don't usually wake up till 4pm. And i do my workouts around 7:30 pm. So as you can see, if i were to do cardio when i first woke up, that would interfere with my lifting workouts.

Anyone want to help me out here?

 

[w8liftinglady]

The deal with doing cardio first thing in the morning(whatever your morning is) is that it supposedly increases your growth hormone production,and suppresses cortisol production,which can be catabolic to muscle.See,growth hormone is released in a cyclical fashion,increasing as you get ready to go to sleep,peaking while you sleep,then slowly tapering off as you wake.Insulin stops growth hormone production through a feedback system.That is why you don't want to consume carbs prior to your workout,if this is important to you.There is a lot of research to back this up,but the important thing is to go by what feels good for you.Being a shift worker,your GH production might not be as reliable,so this may not even be feasable for you anyway.
As for myself,I can't lift heavy if I do my cardio and lifting in the same session.I do the cardio early,then time my weight training for later in the day.You know what works best for your body.

 

[Burning_Inside]

OK warlobo, thanks for that advice, something I kinda already sorta knew, but i can always use it to be said again

Anyway, here's what i'm doing now, i'm resetting my sleep pattern tonight, so I can get to bed at a normal time, and wake up around 10 am, then go do an hours worth of a karate type workout/jogging.

Now what i want to ask is, how do you reccomend I split the days up between cardio and lifting?

You think it's ok to do that cardio every day or 6 days a week as long as I'll be lifting about 9 hours after I'm done? lifting is 3 days a week, monday, which is chest and bi's, wednesday, which is back and tri's, and friday or saturday i'll do shoulders at home. I don't do legs right now cause with this karate workout, they really hurt for a few days after for now, cause I'm still getting into the swing of things. The whole workout is pretty leg intensive, consists of a lot of jumping and kicking, so i feel i can pass on leg workouts for now especially since I'm trying to cut.

What's your opinion?

 

[buttercup]

Waterlobo , Just wondering why you should not do cardio before lifting?That is what I have been doing.I've lost weight and gained muscle.Although right now I seem to be in a slump.You suggest the cardio after ,what about leg days.Should I not do cardio at the gym on leg days?

 

[Burning_Inside]

Warlobo, OK, what I'm doing now is this...

Monday i do chest and biceps.

Tuesday i do an hours worth of cardio outside on an empty stomach int he morning. Now the cardio now consists of a basic karate type of routine, just your basic sets of kicking and punching in the air, jumping jacks, deep jumps, etc., stuff like that. Or, if my hamstrings are too sore for the stretching that the workout will give me that day, I'll switch to just doing sprint intervals, and jumping jacks and jumping, stuff like that.

wednesday is back and triceps

Thursday is more cardio.

friday is either an off day or shoulders

Saturday is edither cardio, shoulders if i didnt do them friday, or possibly both depending.

Sunday is cardio.

So there's theree days of cardio in there at least, and lets say i have about 16% bodyfat, and i want to be able to at least see definition in my abs by july 4th. Setting that as a target date. Do you think I should add in another definate 4th day of cardio? Also...Do you reccommend eating in caloric defacit at say 12x your body weight in calories, or maintenance? See, that part messes me up, I don't know what to think, because you say that building the muscle is more important because it burns more calories per day than cardio. But I know i've read ina ton of places that you can't lose any sort of weight unless you eat in defacit. But that's counter productive to building muscle. So, wanna clear all this up for me?

 

[djfitt]

Warlobo, I don't want to sound like one of the girls that says I don't want to lift weights becasue it builds big muscles so please don't flame! I LOVE weights more than cardio, in fact I only do cardio because I know I have to. I would much rather be lifting. But I am very short so I build quickly and look stocky. You can't tell it's muscle under the fat! In regular clothesI look like a short dumpy girl, it's very depressing. Only in workout clothes can you tell I have some muscle. So I have shyd away from the heavier weights(6-8) and have been doing 15 or more for upper body and 20-25 reps for the lower half. Would you still recommend going heavier again? My face gets ROUND too, I look like Jack!!!

 

[buttercup]

Warlobo,Thank you for replying.I can see that it may take away from your workout.Like djfitt said I love weights hate cardio but do it because it must be done.Please tell me how I can better my workout.I have been doing cardio 25 to 30 min then liftting I do my upper body one day ,next day legs.I do 3 exercises /body part, doing chest,shoulders,tris,bis,back 3 sets of 8 or 10 depends on how heavy i go then for legs I do 4 sets of squats,lunges on the bench( other way hurt my knees)leg press,leg exsten,leg curl,and 2 other machines not sure what they are called that work the inner leg , of all these i do 3 sets each I work weights about 45 min aday and do the cardio so I'm at the gym about 1 1/2 hour. sat and sun I rest. oh I also work abs and cavs everyday. I'm 5'5" 120# Goal to tone up nicely and lose a little more fat.Also taking protein 3 times a day and flax oil 2 tablespoons daily.Thank you

 

[Burning_Inside]

DJFITT

are you drinking enough water or what?

 

[djfitt]

TONS fo water! I drink a gallon and a half a day. That is enough isnt' it?

 

[Burning_Inside]

yeah, i don't think you need anything over a gallon,t hat's just going retarded. i can see maybe if you're 7 ft tall, but..I'm 6'4', and I drink maybe 4 liters a day, and that keeps me running to the can pretty often. As for the round face, You'd have to get a real low b/f % for facial fat to drip off anyway, that chiseled look doesnt come till at least 10%, depending on the person. Plus your bone structure has a lot to do with where the fat is placed too remember.