Cardio Question

[Seattleite]

If someone is carrying around 20% BF (such as myself), will cardio sessions of 30-45 minutes burn away any muscle before it strips away most of the fat? I'm really hoping that it attacks the fat first and foremost and saves muscle for last, but wanted to get some expert advice. I plan to start doing cardio 4 days per week (on my lifting off-days).

 

[enigma4dub]

a lot of what ive read is hiit is a good way to burn fat and not loose muscle. or a more moderate cardio for about an hour should not be too catabolic as well. some like the hiit because its less time consuming and it is better cardiovascular training. the experts say there is a fat burn zone i think that is like maybe 65-70 percent of your maximum rate, but it takes an hour.

 

[Seattleite]

An hour??? I had always heard 30-45 minutes. My plan was to alternate between HIIT and steady-state cardio every few weeks, but there's no way that I'm doing SS if it truly takes an hour to be effective at burning fat...

 

[enigma4dub]

An hour??? I had always heard 30-45 minutes. My plan was to alternate between HIIT and steady-state cardio every few weeks, but there's no way that I'm doing SS if it truly takes an hour to be effective at burning fat...

i dont know for a fact if its an hour minimum. caloric expenditure ties into this as well. i know i typically do an hour 3 days a week.

 

[Seattleite]

So let me ask you this - why do you do long steady-state rather than HIIT? Or do you alternate between the two?

 

[enigma4dub]

i alternate between them. typically if im doing hiit i will do it directly after weight training if im doing more moderate cardio i make a seperat trip to the gym. just depends on the day

 

[Seattleite]

I'm still curious about the whole "burning fat" thing. I get that bodybuilders typically prefer HIIT since it is more of an anabolic version of cardio, but will your body ever try to burn muscle if you have excess body fat that you need to get rid of? Does it burn some fat and then after a while switch to muscle? What is the actual science behind it all?

 

[*ebony*]

I'm still curious about the whole "burning fat" thing. I get that bodybuilders typically prefer HIIT since it is more of an anabolic version of cardio, but will your body ever try to burn muscle if you have excess body fat that you need to get rid of? Does it burn some fat and then after a while switch to muscle? What is the actual science behind it all?

hey,
go to the Endurance Board/forumn. there's alot of great info regarding this.

hope this helps.

 

[SouthernLord]

I hate HIIT. That being said it does have its benefits. A lot of this depends on diet. If you do HIIT while on a Keto type diet expect to burn up muscle. Personally I keep my metabolism cranked by consuming over 2x bw protein and supplementing with green tea extract. I will walk briskly uphill on my off days and occasionally pull a sled. This keeps me somewhat lean while constantly gaining strength and lbm. So for me it is 3.5 mph at 10-15 degree incline for 30 minutes three to four times a week. If I could I would just take a 30 minute walk on an empty stomach prior to breakfast. This will aid in fat loss amongst other things.

 

[SouthernLord]

I'm still curious about the whole "burning fat" thing. I get that bodybuilders typically prefer HIIT since it is more of an anabolic version of cardio, but will your body ever try to burn muscle if you have excess body fat that you need to get rid of? Does it burn some fat and then after a while switch to muscle? What is the actual science behind it all?

How many bodybuilders and by bodybuilders I mean 280+ pound freaks of nature have you seen running anywhere? Probably not many. I think most do long duration SS cardio.

 

[SaiBoT]

For the first 8 weeks you can do light cardio over 45 to 60 min. Then your body will adjust to it. My bet would be interval training done with 5 min to warm-up 40secs high intensity(that i mean increasing speed and RESISTANCE) then 2min of medium to low intensity and repeat for 5 more intervals. When you start to get used to it increase to 6 and 7 intervals. At the end always do 5 min low intensity to cool down. Done two times a week w 3 days in between, that will give the jolt to loose the extra bf. By the way... interval cardio training increases your metabolic rate way over 24hours, that's why is the most effective... The elyptical machine its the best choice.