Too much cardio

[gymtime]

OK, I think I get it. I found an article on it as well:

High Intensity Interval Training - The Optimal Protocol for Fat Loss?

So at the risk of squeezing you for even more info, I have two questions.

Would 20 minutes of interval training, say three times a week be sufficient?

Is it still best to do this in the am on an empty stomach?

 

[fhg43]

low intensity long duration cardio is not optimal for loosing fat rapidly!

This statement is false. Cardio works in a number of ways to stimulate weight and fat loss. When marathon runners do their long ass workouts (3+ hours) they burn fat and lots of it-look at them they're all twig skinny. Yes they are very strong muscularly-they just don't have the size. Your body likes to burn simple sugars first because they are easy to burn. Your body will burn off all the glucose you have in about 15-30 minutes. The fitter (aerobically) you are the faster your body will burn fat. Your body really likes burning fat as it converts to ATP faster and a fat cell releases like 120+ ATPs where as carbs and protein when converted release 38 ATPs. Fat is an almost bottomless energy source for your body, but you need some carbs to help burn the fat. You never burn just fat or just carbs; it is always a ratio of carbs/fat/protein. When endurance athletes "bonk" that means that they have run out of carbs to help burn fat so they are basically out of energy.

IMO if you are cutting you should do cardio for 1 hour on non-lifting days. That's right 1 hour. Obviously you need to be spot on in recovering from those workouts; lots of protein with some carbs, good supplements etc... Don't start out doing an hour build up to it. Don't go running unless your knees are real good. Try riding a bike or go for a vigorous walk. Thats right- a vigorous walk! It's exercise and you an do it for an hour easily-not too hard on the joints. Bike riding is good as it is easy on the joints. Treadmills or exercise bikes are boring so I suggest doing the real thing. 3 hours a week seems like a lot, but not considering what you are shooting for. It may be too much for very serious bodybuilders, but anybody who just wants to look nice a trim and cut-3 hours is just fine. It's catabolic of you recover properly.

Doing cardio for less than an hour is a waste of time IMO. If you want to do less cardio do 2 days at 1 hour. But do at least an hour. You're a serious athlete if you read this board so you can do a hour of cardio. 2-a-days are great; just do an hour in the morning and :30 in the evening. Doing that twice a week will be great for you.

Just do at least an hour! Oh yeah when you do it; don't lollygag-put some effort into it!

FHG

 

[jennifer BFL chick]

I personally find that a combination of both high intensity, and low intensity cardio is best.

 

[Angel Face]

FHG

I disagree..please prove your statement scientifically...I will repost later as I dont have the time to write some of the biochemical priciples right now...
..show me the scientific data for your statements..I can easily show them for mine!

 

[Angel Face]

GYMTIME

The article that you posted pretty much sums up my point...With regards to how often you should perform HIIT ...it depends (sorry I never seem to give clear answers LOL!) ...it all depends on homeostasis once you have got to a point where you have adapted to the stimulus then you need to change either by increasing volume or duration....
three times a week for 20 mins is a great place to start keep the intensity high, it should be very uncomfortable...get a heart rate monitor and monitor your intensity through your HR (for an extremely basic refrence point you max HR should not exceed 220 minus your age)...
...So I recommend that you go ahead with your interval training but closely monitor your conditioning once it plateaus is the time to increase the volume to a point...Overtraining is a concern with Hiit...ask if you want to know more..I dont really have much time at this second.!!

 

[gymtime]

Hmmmmm.....what to do. I think you two are purposely making my life difficult!!! j/k Seriously, thank you both for replying. Strong arguements on both sides so I'll likely end up trying both.

AF - Any info you could provide me with would be greatly appreciated! Please PM me with anything you have at your convenience. Also, there is a post by Warlobo on the Women's board that puts up a good argument for the 60-minute, low-intensity am cardio. You might want to check that out.

Again, thank you both for the input!

 

[fhg43]

Angel Face-
Just read any anatomy/physiology textbook. HIIT cardio will work okay but you don't burn as much fat as you can if you extend your cardio to an hour. I'd do a ton of research, but I'm busy at work. However I'll try and come up with something. I personally get leaner if I do harder workouts so I recognize that your assertion has validity. But in the long run I have to do extended workouts to keep BF low.

THIS IS MY POINT:
You will burn more fat if you exercise for an hour. It just seems to make sense that if you aren't a competetive BB and you want to lean out that you should do cardio longer. 20 minutes is fine for a competetive BB, but the person who posed these questions wasn't competing (I think). In a cutting cycle one's goal is to reduce BF so it makes sense to increase cardio duration. And low intensity isn't like walking around-your HR should be at 75% of max. If you maitain that pace for an hour you will burn lots of cals and fat is the primary energy source. Marathoners are 4% BF because they run 2-3 hours at 65-80% max HR not because they do 30 minutes of HIIT. They may do HIIT during 2-3 hour run (in fact I'm sure they do as my fiancee is a marathoner), but they are still continually exercising for 2-3 hours. IMO 20 minutes is pretty useless as it just burns off blood glucose and you sweat out water weight. Yes your metabolism stays higher for while and this may cause you to burn more fat. But it seems more effective to increase exercise time. . .

I think gymtime should incorporate both forms of cardio into his exercise routine. Maybe two days of HIIT and one day of hour plus cardio. I agree with you that too much HIIT is a recipe for burn out. That is why it is a good idea to mix it up (cardio workouts).

I know HIIT works. Everybody talks about how it is better than doing longer workouts, but this assertion isn't entirely true. A lot of people don't know what intensity level they need to maintain during a longer cardio workout. Lots of people underestimate the intensity and they think long cardio doesn't work (i.e. they aren't going hard enough). Obviously using a HR monitor would be best, but a good rule of thumb is you should be exerting yourself to the point where you cannot comfortably carry on a conversation. An example of this is when you do a VOMax test they are monitoring your HR, wattage, and gas exchange, but they always ask you your intensity level via a scale of 1-20, 20 being maximum effort. Usually your threshold is when you indicate you are uncomfortable at level 16 which is ~75-80%.

FHG

 

[Cackerot69]

Intervals are better.

Say you do low intensity cardio for an hour and burn 250 cals, 70% fat and 30% glucose. So, you burned 175 calories from fat.

Or, you could do some interval training for a half an hour and burn 500 calories, 40% fat and 60% glucose. so, you burned 200 calories from fat.

Note the duration difference.

What's better for burning fat?

 

[fhg43]

Long Cardio is better to answer your question Cack.

People who run for an hour are skinnier than people who only run for 20 minutes.

Marathoners are leaner and smaller than sprinters.

The longer you exercise the more calories you burn which means more fat burned.

My theory is that people want to believe in HIIT because they are lazy and don't want to do a long cardio workout they know is better. Long cardio has worked for everyone who has tried it for centuries dating back to the year 490BC when a Greek guy ran across thru the plain to the city of Marathon to bring news of a victory over the Persians.

FHG

 

[Cackerot69]

Longer doesn;t = more calories bruned if the intensity is lower.

If you sprint for 10 minutes you burn about the same cals as walking for an hour. Call me lazy but I'd rather bust my ass for 15-20 minutes with intervals than sit on a bike for an hour and get the same, if not more benefits.

I'd also much rather look like a sprinter, but that;s beside the point.

All cardio has worked for everyone dating back to when the neandrathals were walking around.