Maximum fat burning

[ProtienFiend]

Ok, we've had this discussion plenty of times... but I guess I'll start it up on this board.

What is the best type of cardio for maximum fat burning without too much muscle catabolism? (this includes, intensity and duration)

And some diet questions relation to cardio:

What should one eat pre-cardio?
What should one eat post-cardio?

I have some ideas ( ::devils advocate:: ) that I'll post later

 

[NixieRocka]

i would love to know also =]

 

[Synpax]

1) Muscle burning cannot be seperated from intenstity, but do not worry too much about losing muscle cause I doubt you are getting into that unless you try starving yourself.
2) Running intervals would probably be best if you can do them. Otherwise run long as far as you can at as fast as you can. Mix it up.
3) Eating? For me: Pre-cardio - Protein (1 hour digest) + carbs (unless you are cutting). Right before, water and electrolytes. After, water, protein (shake for me), and dextrose. And carbs an hour later (slow carbs - oats).

 

[SergeNubret]

I heard that for maximum fat burning while sparing muscle, you must do low intensity cardio like bike or treadmill at low settings for at least half hour to an hour.

 

[Flex_m]

30 mins of high-interval cardio on an empty stomach right when you get up in the morning will shed fat like nothing else. Im doing that pre-contest at the moment, and it works great. As long as your diet is in tact and your training stays intense, there's really no reason for that little ammount of cardio to have a catabolic effect on your body. Mind you, ephedrine is anti-catabolic, so it will help you keep a slight bit of muscle on if you decide to take it. Again though, if your training/diet is good to go, you shouldnt be worried about chewing up muscle on a mere 30 mins of cardio

Constantly change up what you do for your cardio as well. Your body adapts quickly to most anything, so 1 week do stairs, then next do an eliptical, etc.

Post-workout (and remember, i'm doing this pre-contest, 3 weeks out from the show), I have a shake (220 cals, 50 protein, 5 carb, 4 fat), then about an hour later I have a bowl of oatmeal with a scoop of protein for some flavour. Keep your body very hydrated throughout your cardio session as well. I usually have to stop and take a piss at least every 15 mins

 

[Synpax]

Following up on Flex_m - that PWO shake is a must.

 

[SergeNubret]

30 mins of high-interval cardio on an empty stomach right when you get up in the morning will shed fat like nothing else. Im doing that pre-contest at the moment, and it works great. As long as your diet is in tact and your training stays intense, there's really no reason for that little ammount of cardio to have a catabolic effect on your body. Mind you, ephedrine is anti-catabolic, so it will help you keep a slight bit of muscle on if you decide to take it. Again though, if your training/diet is good to go, you shouldnt be worried about chewing up muscle on a mere 30 mins of cardio

Constantly change up what you do for your cardio as well. Your body adapts quickly to most anything, so 1 week do stairs, then next do an eliptical, etc.

Post-workout (and remember, i'm doing this pre-contest, 3 weeks out from the show), I have a shake (220 cals, 50 protein, 5 carb, 4 fat), then about an hour later I have a bowl of oatmeal with a scoop of protein for some flavour. Keep your body very hydrated throughout your cardio session as well. I usually have to stop and take a piss at least every 15 mins

Post workout would it not be advisable to take in some carbs with your protein in order to replenish glycogen stores so that the majority of the protein can go to the muscle, even when cutting?

 

[Flex_m]

Serge - you raise a good point. On the other hand though, you want the fat-burning effects from your cardio to last as long as possible, without chewing up muscle. I personally feel that waiting that extra hour before having any carbs can be very beneficial towards fat-burning. I dont have any documents to support this, all I can say is that it works for me. everyone is different though, but I do agree with your statement.

Also, when pre-contest dieting on a very low-carb diet like I am currently doing, your best time to have any carbs would be post-workout, not post-cardio. Again though, this is just what seems to be working for me. Hopefully this thread gets some more attention.. Could get interesting with a few more replies

 

[ProtienFiend]

I heard that for maximum fat burning while sparing muscle, you must do low intensity cardio like bike or treadmill at low settings for at least half hour to an hour.

Ive also heard that, but the amount of calories you burn while doing that is so low you might as well just cut diet a little more... IT also doesnt temporarily raise your BMR like high intensity will.. I do believe it is the "safer" form when muscle sparing is concerned.

 

[ProtienFiend]

Serge - you raise a good point. On the other hand though, you want the fat-burning effects from your cardio to last as long as possible, without chewing up muscle. I personally feel that waiting that extra hour before having any carbs can be very beneficial towards fat-burning. I dont have any documents to support this, all I can say is that it works for me. everyone is different though, but I do agree with your statement.

Also, when pre-contest dieting on a very low-carb diet like I am currently doing, your best time to have any carbs would be post-workout, not post-cardio. Again though, this is just what seems to be working for me. Hopefully this thread gets some more attention.. Could get interesting with a few more replies

See, Ive done what you recommended (HIIT, on empty stomach) and I burned muscle like no other!

Granted I was on a form of a CKD, so I'm not sure which one did it. But the fact seems to be that my body has a predisposition to burn muscle BEFORE fat... I need to be very patient to shed the fat off... also flex_m, are you on AAS? IF you were, I could see how this could work for YOU. As of now, I am not on any type of super-supp