# effective cardio



## philipebrown (Nov 26, 2003)

Am starting to think that im really not giving my cardio the attention it deserves and therefore not loosing as much fat as i should be.

Usually i do a moderate paced walk on a medium incline straight after my workout.

What do people think works best. Increase the intensity and make it shorter (15mins) or keep the intensity low to average and let yourself burn for a good 30-40 mins?

Also try and do it first thing in the morning on weekends or days off work!


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## Aftershock (Jan 28, 2004)

For me its the longer slow burn, but it depends on your body fat level to start with.

The slow pace burns proportionately more fat so start with so there less chance of going into a catabolic state...

However a higher heart rate elevates your resting pulse for longer afterwards once you stop the cardio meaning that you will burn more calories whilst resting..

Basically if you only have a little fat to burn id go for the lower intensity cardio.... If you had a stone or more to lose then go for the higher intensity...


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## Jock (Apr 8, 2003)

Mix it up bro, get the benefits of both.


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## philipebrown (Nov 26, 2003)

Think im gonna go with low intensity for 30-40 mins 4-5 times a week and see how that does. I just read another thread about people on gear getting pumps and muscle pains in their shins and calfs very quickly and that is certainly happening with me. Also my lower back starts to ache really quickly too so high intensity cardio is out of the question for me, at least until i come off the gear!

Anyone else found this? Also what is the best time to rest between sets if your burning fat? Is it around 30-45 seconds as apposed to my usual 1-2 mins?


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## Aftershock (Jan 28, 2004)

I wouldnt do 4-5 sesions a week of cardio, 3 is about the max for me otherwise I feel drained and cant hit it hard in the gym... I also try and do it on a training day so you still have your rest days..... In my opinion if you do cardio you cant count it as a rest day.

Try and rest less between sets but you cant go heavy and take less rest it just dont work.... Id try and throw in some supersets and giantsets so you can move straight from ne exercise to another without resting.


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## philipebrown (Nov 26, 2003)

i rotate my bodyparts so the first one i train heavy, the second i train light with supersets, less rest and so on. i take your point about overtraining and rest days tho i am on gear at the mo, and feel like i can take it. If i cant my body will soon let me know. Ive been doing 4 times a week anyway so im justing upping things another notch to get some results. Only 4 weeks till my hols so its only gonna be short term.


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## philipebrown (Nov 26, 2003)

im a typical endomorph (fat [email protected]!) so i need the extra work, coz i burn fat like a small candle trying to heat up a large house lol.


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## Aftershock (Jan 28, 2004)

Good luck with it anyway mate.... maybe im just getting old... lol...


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## Jimmy1 (Aug 14, 2003)

The thing with the human body is that we are all so different.

We all have our own target heart rate or fat loss bump if you like. This is the bpm zone we should all be in to loose optimum bf, with no loss of tissue.

The old style way of working this bpm is very out dated!! There is a new way of doing this and its determined with the use of a vo2 test.

It tells us the exact heart rate we need for fat loss, mine was only 92bpm!! This is because I am unfit from doing no cardio but the better you cardio fittness is, the more efficient you are at burning fat at higher rates.

I always thought I would be burning fat at 130bpm but in fact I was burning no fat at all, instead I was eating muscle tissue!!!

I contacted the guy that took my vo2 test to explain things in a way that I could explain to anyone interested....he mailed me this...

James hows things,

There are three sources of energy,

THE AEROBIC SYSTEM.

When you work aerobically ,as long as there is plenty of oxygen ATP will be manuufactured from the breakdown of fat and sugar.This system can produce limitless amounts of ATP.This is where you burn ONLY fat during exercise

*Makes lots of energy slowly

*Burns fat and sugar to make ATP

*Is oxygen dependent

*Gives endless energy

THE LACTATE SYSTEM

IN contrast,when you run anaerobically,the lack of oxygen not only turns off fat burning,it also blocks pyruvate from entering the krebs cycle.Pyruvate builds up and is converted to lactic acid,or lactate.The only ATP produced comes from the burning of sugar halfway;thus the amount of energy produced is limited.But the beauty of this system is doesnt have to wait for oxygen,so the ATP is produced very fast.If you need fresh ATP in a hurry,the lactate system will kick into burn lots of sugars molecules quickly.

* Makes less ATP but does it fast

*Burns only sugar for energy

*Requires no oxygen

*Yields seven mins of energy

THE CREATINE-PHOSPHATE SYSTEM

*Makes small amounts of ATP super fast

*ATP comes from stored ATP and creatine-P inside muscle

*DOES not need oxygen,fator sugar to function

*Lasts ten seconds.

So in laymans terms you were aerobic at very low insensity,and you went lactate from 133 bpm,as you can see that only lasts until your sugars have gone then it will eat your muscle glycogen.

You can improve your aerobic base with plenty of base training,but if you keep training very high all you will do is become very good at burning sugar.

If you are also very unfit or dont do any cardio,you will be crap at burning fat and sugars.

YOU HAVE TO BUILD A GOOD AEROBIC BASE!!!


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

Its not just what you burn during the session though.

Training with short intense interval training has been shown to make you burn bodyfat at an increased rate for hours after you finish training. This effect is not observed to the same extent with low intensity cardio.

My understanding of the energy systems is that:

1. The ATP-CP system provides energy for short amounts of training (10 seconds)

2. After this the lactate energy system kicks in and last for approx 2 mins

3. From then on energy comes from the aerobic system.

I didnt realise that you could go back to the lactate burning state again dependant upon heart rate. I would imagine this must be very dependant upon level of cardiovascular fitness. Interesting read, thanks mate.


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Wow you guys. Thanks.

Hey Jimmy, I have not done cardio in a long time do you suggest me starting out about the same as you?

I think I am going to buy a treadmill and start out by walking first and just upping it a little at a time.

I have always read to do the cardio first thing in the morning if you can do it at this time.

I have always read to do the cardio after the weights (to tap into the fat burining stage faster).

Another thing, do you lose some cardio on gear?

I swear I feel like I get winded faster. Does this happen to anyone else?


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## philipebrown (Nov 26, 2003)

i think people stay away from cardio while on bulking cycles coz your using up much needed calories that could be used for building muscle


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## Jimmy1 (Aug 14, 2003)

Not sure about losing fitness on gear but I would start at a lower heart rate for sure.

I would also look into getting a vo2 test done yourself

Yes first thing in the morning is good for cardio but the test showed that I need a little amount of carbs (30g) before the cardio so I dont go catabolic

these tests are very individual and really we all could benefit from taking it


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Thanks Jimmy. I appreciate that!


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## Aftershock (Jan 28, 2004)

One of them heart rate monitor watches is invaluable when ur trying to stay in your fat burning zone, and they'r quite reasonably priced thesedays..


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## philipebrown (Nov 26, 2003)

long and slow seems to be the way forward for me this week. I'm trying too keep my cardio like that too, lol.


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