Cardio for a Noob

[BicepHead]

Whats up everyone. Im 28 years old, 6 foot and around 220. not sure about BF. Ive been lifting on and off since i was 14. For the first time in my life i wanna cut up and im not worried about strength. right now i lift 5 days a week and ive been doing cardio after every single workout. Ive been doing around 20-30 mins of the oliptical, my heart rate is over 165 for almost the entire run. My concern is that i might be losing muscle if i go to long.

Can someone tell me if this is the right idea, ive never been a fan of cardio but its time for a change. I have also cut sugar out and cut way back on carbs. Protein now dominates my diet.

?s i have

Should i do Cardio first b4 i lift or after?
What should my heartrate be at to lose fat?
Can i over do it or under do it?
Is one way to burn Cals better than another?

Any Positive help would be really appreciated.

Thanks

 

[bobby716]

i am not an expert in this category but i like to run at a slow pace (5-5.5 mph) for like 30-45 min .. it works for me i dont seem to loose any muscle and it has definatly helped me cut up.

another thing that seems to work even better is sprinting. i play football every saturday and i am the running back, kick return, punt return, sometimes wide receiver and linebacker so im at a full sprint every play for almost 60 mins and at the end im beat but the definition you see after a few weekends is crazy

 

[needtogetaas]

help him out guys.

 

[Big A]

If your worried about burning muscle then you want to be doing low instensity for 30-45 min. High intensity cardio is most likely to burn muscle. I would do cardio after lifting so i do not tire myself which casues me to lift less weight. I also do it after becasue you have burned through your glycogen and will more be likely to be burning fat. Another great time to do cardio is in the morning before breakfast becasue your glycogen levels are low and again more likey to be burning fat.

 

[*ebony*]

The best time to perform cardo i think is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach after drinking 16 to 24 ounces of water in order to prevent dehydration. When performed at this time you burn 300% more body fat(or so i've read) than at any other time in the day because your body does not have any glycogen in the system to burn, so it goes straight to the fat.

same principal applies to doing your cardio after weights which your already doing.

you could also do HIIT. One of the advantages of performing HIIT cardio is that it accomplishes more in a shorter time period. Another more important benefit, is that it raises the heart rate and the metabolism. Your metabolism stays elevated long after your cardio session is done. This enables the body to keep on burning more fat just by going through your normal daily routine!

anyways i lost some fat doing morning cardio at a steady pace(75% of your max). i think it works best though if you have alot of fat to begin with.

you can try both, change it up and see which one you like better.

i'm kinda of a newb to the weightlifting game but i hope this helps.

anyone, feel free to correct or add on to this of course.

 

[desmond]

Before one gets too lured by the prospect of fasted cardio, consider the following article Myths Under the Microscope Part 1: The Low Intensity Fat Burning Zone - AlanAragon.com - Fitness Based on Science & Experience

Moreover:

(1) you are not glycogen depleted by sleeping. Sleep burns mainly fat, and at ur bodyweight, probably 40 carbs over the 8 hours, so less than 10% of ur total glycogen stores. Any increase in fat burning in the morning is because of lower insulin levels
(2) For fat oxidation to be increased by 300%, it relies on 2 essential assumptions: (1) its akin to saying that during the exercise unfasted u'd burn 30% of cals as fat, and fasted 90% of cals from fat, and (2) that in each case post exercise fat oxidation remains constant. Both assumptions are very implausible and contradicted by the studies cited above

 

[SaiBoT]

LOL. Interval cardio training is the best for you. You can either do it first thing in the morning with just a whey isolate protein or liquid aminos both of them containing maximum of two grams of sugar, this will prevent muscle waste, then come back six or more hours later and do your weightlifting. Or you can do it right after the weightlifting when most your muscles glycogen is out and your body will start to feed from the fat deposits. 3 or 4 times a week 7-8 intervals of 40 secs at full speed and with max resistance on the eliptical machine with 2 minutes of low intensity in between intervals. 5 minutes warm-up and 5 minutes cool down.

 

[BicepHead]

thanks Big,Curves,Des, and SaiBot 4 the good feedback!

 

[iggy]

and if you dont like to run (like me) cycle or swim! two very good ways of burning fat