# Best form of cardio for pure fat loss



## Rossy Balboa (Nov 6, 2008)

As the title suggests,what cardio and intensity do you think is the best for fat loss?looking to hang onto all my muscle bht shed those extra few bits of fat,currently doing 20 mins steady pace uphill walk or 20 mins stairmaster 4 times a week post workout,keeping me leanish but not considerable changes.Let me know your thoughts,reps for grabs...cheers!!


----------



## XRichHx (Mar 7, 2012)

I do 30-40 mins steady fasted jog each day. I'm dropping fat at a steady 1.0 kg ish each week.

I haven't noticed any negative impact on my lifts ie considerate drops in reps or weight.

I keep protein high, and first thing I take when the cardio is done.


----------



## flinty90 (Jul 1, 2010)

DIET is the best thing for fat loss PERIOD !!!


----------



## milzy (Aug 9, 2010)

Running is King with a great diet.


----------



## flinty90 (Jul 1, 2010)

Milzeh said:


> Running is King with a great diet.


what and hanging onto muscle ??? i dont think so bro !!


----------



## milzy (Aug 9, 2010)

flinty90 said:


> what and hanging onto muscle ??? i dont think so bro !!


It didn't say & hanging on to muscle though. Even so, if you do some fartlek training a few times a week you won't burn muscle. You don't have to do marathons. Besides there's loads of well built Royal marine commandos who do a lot of running while retaining muscle mass.


----------



## flinty90 (Jul 1, 2010)

Milzeh said:


> It didn't say & hanging on to muscle though. Even so, if you do some fartlek training a few times a week you won't burn muscle. You don't have to do marathons. Besides there's loads of well built Royal marine commandos who do a lot of running while retaining muscle mass.


i am afraid your wrong

read the first post again

Quote"As the title suggests,what cardio and intensity do you think is the best for fat loss?looking to hang onto all my muscle bht shed those extra few bits of fat"

Running is great for getting rid of fat mate no doubt, but not to retain all muscle too X


----------



## milzy (Aug 9, 2010)

flinty90 said:


> i am afraid your wrong
> 
> read the first post again
> 
> ...


I'm really intrigued by this then. It's not spin class for sure. If the heart is going to be racing how can you hang on to muscle?


----------



## andymc88 (Aug 18, 2011)

@flinty90 can you retain most muscle if your natural just through diet alone?


----------



## Barman (Feb 29, 2012)

Good diet and i love the stairs doesnt have to be a stairs machine even the stairs at home you will feel it help bring up some detail in your legs and ul feel it in ur calfs big time espicely if you do it 2 or 3 days in a row dam


----------



## waddy9494 (Mar 9, 2012)

Farklek training is the best to loose body fat and keep muscle. End of


----------



## flinty90 (Jul 1, 2010)

Milzeh said:


> I'm really intrigued by this then. It's not spin class for sure. If the heart is going to be racing how can you hang on to muscle?


running will make the heart race...

fat loss comes better from steady state cardio without eating into other stuff to create energy ...

look im not claiming to be an expert with the perfect analogy mate all im saying is that running wouldnt be the best direction to take to retain as much musce as possible whilst dropping fat..

a good diet , and a good 20 minute steady state cardio walking up a hill or stepper would be better suited for OP's goals..

if you were going all out then yes running would definitely burn fat , as calories would be consumed by the 100s ...

i could look up and quote stuff mate but i really cant be bothered and i think you know what im saying !!!


----------



## Fat (Jan 2, 2010)

AAS + DNP


----------



## flinty90 (Jul 1, 2010)

andymc88 said:


> @flinty90 can you retain most muscle if your natural just through diet alone?


mate diet can pretty much determine everything about your body and results you need...

gear obviously whilst dieting will help to protect muscle, when in calorie defecit...

without gear then you would really need to have the right split in macros, and monitor it very carefully ensuring you spare muscle tissue ...


----------



## milzy (Aug 9, 2010)




----------



## milzy (Aug 9, 2010)

Crossfit will be great for cardio & muscle building perhaps. Think some of it is down to genetics brah!!!!


----------



## cas (Jan 9, 2011)

its easier to not eat 100 calories than it is to burn off 100 calories!

the only thing i do cardio for is so i can eat slightly more in the day lol i do a slow and steady 45-1hr on the rowing machine....i believe swimming is top for burning calories?


----------



## Tassotti (Feb 27, 2011)

Sprinting is best


----------



## Rossy Balboa (Nov 6, 2008)

Cheers for the input lads,I think i might stick to what im doing but just increase the pace to a jog...my diet is very clean and carbs are only really in my brekkie,pre and post workout...taking in around 3500 calories so that isnt too high either,i'll see how a 20 min slow jog goes. I tried some hiit last year and thr fat dropped off,but so did the muscle :-( thanks again,if anyone has any further input...feel free!


----------



## martin brown (Dec 31, 2008)

Have a look at the physiques of most sprinters to see that running or higher heart rate training does not burn muscle.

No cardiovascular exercise is actually that good for fat loss - most science has failed to prove it makes a difference. it tends not to be the calories burnt but the bodies response that matters.


----------



## waddy9494 (Mar 9, 2012)

Am still doing my weights on a high protein low carb diet then doing fartlek training and am loosing body fat but keeping me bulk


----------



## Wevans2303 (Feb 18, 2010)

Diet and DNP.


----------



## waddy9494 (Mar 9, 2012)

Look at a well known marathon runner and then look at usain bolt. Still bulked and ripped but sprints.


----------



## bovine1 (Jan 28, 2012)

Short and sharp, hard and fast.


----------



## milzy (Aug 9, 2010)

waddy9494 said:


> Look at a well known marathon runner and then look at usain bolt. Still bulked and ripped but sprints.


Yep dude, the 100m 200m guys stack plates as well as training on the track. Mo Farah won't be benching 100kg & mainly just 100% putting the miles in.


----------



## waddy9494 (Mar 9, 2012)

Well then the op should be expecting to loose muscle if he's not going to give his muscles any attention


----------



## Mr_S (Dec 22, 2011)

i dunno if any1 else has sugested it but interval sprints.

go on a tredmill put it on a high incline and turn the speed onto your fastest sprint speed. the sprint for 30 seconds, jump off for 3o secs, repeat for 10 to 15mins. its really tough at first but this has really worked for me


----------



## m575 (Apr 4, 2010)

seen con (some of you know who i mean) say on another site set the treadmill to 3.5 mph and a 15% incline and see if you can manage that for an hour, melts the calories off apparently


----------



## Tassotti (Feb 27, 2011)

m575 said:


> seen con (some of you know who i mean) say on another site set the treadmill to 3.5 mph and a 15% incline and see if you can manage that for an hour, melts the calories off apparently


That will give you massive calfs


----------



## Tassotti (Feb 27, 2011)




----------



## flinty90 (Jul 1, 2010)

trouble is sprinters are conditioned to sprint . all ther training is geared around that and there not doing it to lose fat ...

I agree thogh cardio isnt the best way to lose fat i refer to my very first post in here

DIET IS KEY TO FAT LOSS !!!


----------



## Vinney (Apr 27, 2011)

waddy9494 said:


> Farklek training is the best to loose body fat and keep muscle. End of


nope ..tabata training accelerated by a good diet ..


----------



## Little stu (Oct 26, 2011)

Boxing is good get mint shoulder pump aswell


----------



## Rossy Balboa (Nov 6, 2008)

Unsure what to do now,in 2 minds whether to go for a 20min slow jog or go fast for less time,how long for high intensity?i tried 10 mins with 1 min sprints last year but lost alot of size...


----------



## garrion (Mar 22, 2012)

15/20 mins of HIIT and 30 mins of light cardio 5/6 times a week with no food prior for 3 hours and 1 hour after backed on to your routine combined with your diet is effective for targeting fat...ive come down from 16 stone to 11 stone 7lb in 20 month and currently just going through a strength workout to have a good body shape in 8 weeks ready for my hols

It does work the food absence prior and after, i had to go against the solid belief that after nutriant is soooo important blah blah ...if thats to rad ignore the 3 and 1 hour time


----------



## zak007 (Nov 12, 2011)

av never done cardio when trying to cut

so i experimented by doing 20 minutes after workout burning 250 minimum to 300 max calories

on off days burn around 600+ doing a hours cardio was always around moderate intensity with dips of high at the start the slowing down as I got on

I did this for 2 weeks measured myself today and Ive lost 2kg a bit of fat but lost a good amount of muscle and feel a lot smaller all this was done natty, also to add ive been off sick for 4 days before measuring myself after cutting and have not had creatine for a week if that makes any difference not sure but definately dont seem to be as big as before

and tbh now a feel like a want juice and a lot of it to get that muscle back lol


----------



## ConstantCut (Apr 21, 2011)

On a sidenote to this, how many calories should we be looking at per session to burn per cardio workout? Currently doing about 500 :\


----------



## MaxMuscle (Mar 14, 2012)

I've always been told that a steady pace of 3.5-4.0 on a inclined treadmill for 30-45 min 3-4x's a week is the best for retaining muscle and not canabilizing your muscle gains.

I believe it was Dexter Jackson that told me that last year at Arnold.

If it works for him I'll follow.


----------



## zak007 (Nov 12, 2011)

Rh1no said:


> On a sidenote to this, how many calories should we be looking at per session to burn per cardio workout? Currently doing about 500 :\


theres no set rate it just depends on your goals



MaxMuscle said:


> I've always been told that a steady pace of 3.5-4.0 on a inclined treadmill for 30-45 min 3-4x's a week is the best for retaining muscle and not canabilizing your muscle gains.
> 
> I believe it was Dexter Jackson that told me that last year at Arnold.
> 
> If it works for him I'll follow.


ave always heard steady state is the best which all be doing from now on


----------



## miguelmolez (Apr 12, 2010)

I lift heavy 5 x a week with 30 minutes treadmill after, diffrent speads, all dependant on how tired i am, but I never skip the running.


----------



## miguelmolez (Apr 12, 2010)

Lifting heavy helps retain muscle on a cut, as your body wont break down the tissue for energy.


----------



## vtec_yo (Nov 30, 2011)

Rowing or swimming.


----------



## TheComebackKid (Feb 17, 2012)

doggy.

try to deny it.


----------



## Greenspin (Dec 27, 2010)

In relation to fat loss, I do what ever cardio I feel like to supplement my weight loss diet. In general, don't really care what it is, but I prefer a more steady state 30-60 minutes. However the style will suit my current energy levels, the size of my caloric deficit, the macro ratio of my diet, body fat and so on. Also, I'm more comfortable on a spinning bike than I am on a tread mill or running for real for various reasons such as flat feet and what I am more used to doing, and so I choose the exercise I will be able to sustain and so on.

On the other hand, if I'm trying to improve my diversity and general c/v health and such then I'll push to use a combination of equipment that I'm less comfortable with in a methodical way.


----------



## Conscript (Sep 5, 2010)

For me I found a combo of steady state (1 hour 7.0kph 7.0 incline) fasted, 20-25 mins hiit (sprints) post workout, If you're dieting properly and using AAS and lifting, you'll get those abs out and maintain easy!!


----------



## Mighty.Panda (Oct 5, 2011)

I'm sure I'll have a few agree with me here but have you ever watched rugby? I cant quote names I dont really watch it per say but *have* watched it. Some of the guys are pretty fvcking hench and most of them can do 7min miles which tbh is quite fit. Big heavy guys with lots of muscle can run hard and preserve muscle theyre just obviously at a bit of a disadvantage with their extra weight. Disadvantage only really dictates more effort though..


----------



## ConstantCut (Apr 21, 2011)

Fair point!


----------

