The best cardio-diet combo

[dce2956]

Alright, i've given lots of thought to the following, and i kinda just wanna see what everyone else thinks.

For my upcoming cut i was thinking of eating just about maintenence calories if i were to do no cardio, and then do enough cardio to burn about a pound a week. so say 2300 cals a day, and 1 hour on the eliptical machine 6 days a week, plus 4 days of lifting a week.

Now, some people think that cardio for anything more than 30-40 mins will start muscle catabolism. Now that i've put on enough muslce to have really gotten attached to it, i don't wanna lose it.

but if i lowered the cardio to 30 mins 6 times a week, in order to keep a caloric deficit i would need to lower the caloric intake to balance the reduced cardio, to say 2000 cals a day.

But wait, not eating enough also makes for muscle catabloism, doesn't it? your body will metablolize muscle in an attempt to lower your BMR to compensate for the reduced caloric intake, right??

so which potential catabolism would be greater, that from too much cardio at a time, or not eating enough?? Is there a way to guarantee caloric deficit and at the same time guarantee no muscle catabloism, or is that impossible?? right now i'm leaning toward eating more and doing more cardio, but i certianly don't have all the answers

 

[mistahsaleen]

Well, based on many magazines that i have read on this specific topic u should eat enough say 2,000 calories to maintain the energy,muscle and at the same time perform more cardio. I hope this information helps

 

[swaptrex]

Well, based on many magazines that i have read on this specific topic u should eat enough say 2,000 calories to maintain the energy,muscle and at the same time perform more cardio. I hope this information helps

i would say atleast 2000 cals.

 

[KhorneDeth]

Why are you focused on the long duration, moderate intensity aerobic cardio? There's a lot of back-and-forth on specifics and details, but many people suggest doing more anaerobic for cutting -- sprints, HIIT, etc. If done properly, this can actually be anabolic for a weightlifter, not catabolic.

Discussion on the physics behind it
http://www.alwyncosgrove.com/Energy-System-Training.html

Sample HIIT Program
http://www.musclemedia.com/training/hiit.asp

Do a little searching on this topic and you might be pleasantly surprised! Now, with me, I've given up the 30-45min cardio thing and now I do mostly hill sprints. Much more fun.

And lastly, look at the physique of someone who runs 10Ks for a living and then a 100m track sprinter -- pick which body you'd prefer and train like they do.

-- KhorneDeth