Low intensity cardio,high intensity cardio,fasted cardio.Which is best?AHH PHOOEY! Who knows. Let us remember,fat loss techniqes that work for one person may not nessessarily work for another.The ongoing drama over the aforementioned topic is like beating a dead dog.
there are however a couple of things I do know.
#1) As of 2/2/05 I have kept a journal of everything I have eaten.
#2)I have created a caloric deficit of at least 350- 500 calories daily from my BMR.
#3)I have weight trained 4 times weekly using an upper/lower body
split.
#4) I have performed 30-40 min.low intensity cardio sessions at least 5 times weekly.
#5) My body weight has dropped from 200 to 165 lbs. over this period.
#6) A large percentage of this has been BF and not lean muscle.

I can say this for sure.My lifts have not decreased.I am much more vascular and I finally have a pretty nice 6 pack!

My point is,what works for me may very well not work for you.Experimentation is the key.Get to know your body.More importantly,take advise given with a grain of salt.As I implied,every body is different.
Good luck in your quest for a better,healthier body.

This is good common sense.

I.e., 99.44% of people who sign up will never read this thread...

-R

Yup. A lot of it is just what you like doing too. So, finiding that is the name of the game. Pretty much any increase to your caloric defiicit will lead to more fat loss. Some methods may yield better (quicker) results but if it ain't broke (you're enjoying what you're doing) don't fix it.

All true- and I usually preach the same line. Though, as someone who has experimented, varied his routine, dialed it in pretty tightly etc, only to lose that 50lbs and then get pretty much stuck at 13%BF for months- I can attest to the frustration getting pretty high.

Hort,I agree.This whole journey we're taking can be pretty frustrating.However,50 lbs. weight loss is quite an accomplishment! Congrats and keep up the good work.
P.S. I'm sure you realize there are often those pain in the ass plateues involved in all of this.

All true- and I usually preach the same line. Though, as someone who has experimented, varied his routine, dialed it in pretty tightly etc, only to lose that 50lbs and then get pretty much stuck at 13%BF for months- I can attest to the frustration getting pretty high.

What are you doing currently? How's the diet? Although I said and beleive that different methods work I also find that people on this board have a very narrow definition of cardio. 45 minutes need not be low intensity. High intensity need not be 20 minutes. There are tons nd tons of variations on type of cardio and intensity for duration. I think one of the best for fat burning is intervals. Doesn't have to only be for 20 minutes either. 45 minutes of interval training isn't suddenly going to burn off your muscle providing your diet is dialed in and not excessively low. Providing you have the conditioning, it's a great workout. Your solution might be to ratchet up the inensity.

Great Tread!!!


I always find it funny when I see people arguing about crap like what EFA is better Fish Oil, or Flax Seed oil; For some reason I have a feeling that a lot of these people read stuff on the internet and then take it as gospil but never but the whole healthy lifestyle into practice. The only reason I say this Is because i've had tons of people ask me for advice after they saw my transformation, they ask a million questions and get a perfect program in place but a week later they are back to 2 dozen chicken wings every day for lunch.

The most important thing that i have learned is that this is a life style change..... sure you read that all the time but I don't think a lot of people really understand it. If it's more convenient for you to do cardio at night do it, If you only have 15 minutes for cardio after work and want to do HIIT do it, If you crave pizza once in a while.... Eat It. You have to think long term. Find a program that you can stick with, It doesn't have to be perfect, you're going to see results as long as your hitting the weights, eating healthy, and raising your heart rate a few times a week.

Sorry for the rant it just seems like i've been reading more and more nit picking posts by people with 10 or so posts and then you never hear from them. Sure they may have gotten all the info they needed from here, got in great shape and are now living a happy healthy life, but for some reason I really doubt it.

What are you doing currently? How's the diet?

Not to totally hijack this thread but for the last four weeks it's been:

MaxOT M-F evenings
LISS fasted Cardio M-F at 5am
Occasionally I'll do intervals or more LISS on Saturday or Sunday.

Diet. For a long time I was doing 1900-2000 calories daily, 40-40-20. Sometimes 30-50-20, sometimes 50-30-20 for variety. My maintenance level is about 1890 and with activity level, about 2800-2900.

For the last three weeks I've been eating at 2400-2500 40-40-20/30-50-20 seeing that the lower cal level wasn't getting me anywhere.

Today's diet is pretty typical:

6a Post Cardio:
5 eggwhites w/a couple of ounces of black beans
oatmeal
Multi & 1 cap CLA

930a
6oz chicken breast
4 oz sweet potato

1230p
Turkey sandwhich on whole grain or Ezekial bread, mustard, 4 oz turkey breast; green salad (lettuce and spinach). 1T olive oil, 1T Balsamic vinegar

4p
Been fiddling with this pre-workout.
Today it's 1oz amonds and a banana

6p pwo
Shake: 2 scoops AlltheWhey 20/30 mixed in water with Malto & Dextrose

Dinner
Lean protein (chicken breast)
green veg like peas or green beans


I don't have a picture of me but I'd say this old picture of John is pretty close (less chest). Tape, calipers and a recent body gem test all have me at 13%... been treading treading water in this vacinity for 5 months now.

I actually brought a different workout on paper with me today and am thinking about switching over to this routine:

3 days a week, M-W-F whole body workout (sort of the typical high intensity, 2 sets, 10 reps, same workout every other day. Less rest between reps. Then I'll either stay with the morning LISS or alternate evenigs with lifting and maybe do intervals? Maybe it's time for a major shakeup.

By the end of summer or sooner (should have been there some time ago), I want to be sub 10% so that I can begin a truly clean, slow bulk and put on the most muscle I ever have.

*bump* :confused: :)

I think changing up the cardio and lifting in the way that you suggested might be a good idea. See what happens. I'd suggest the full-body workouts you mentioned and 1-2, 45-minute interval sessions on non-lifting days per week. A second or third 45-minute moderate intensity steady-state workout, depending on whether you do 1 or 2 interval sessions. One day completely off. If you wanted to, I guess you could do some lower intensity steady-state cardio on lifting days. I occasionally did this in the evening on days I lifted on the morning if I felt like it but didn't make a habit of it. If you're still not getting results after a few weeks, consider dropping to 2200-2300 and/or make lifting days higher calorie and cardio days lower calorie.

If you wanted to, I guess you could do some lower intensity steady-state cardio on lifting days. I occasionally did this in the evening on days I lifted on the morning if I felt like it but didn't make a habit of it.

Funny you should mention this. I talked to a trainer I know and he said the same thing this afternoon. So today was Day 1 of the new 2x10 whole body workout (RTestes would be proud ;) ) and I followed with 20 minutes on the treadmill. Tomorrow will be 45 minutes LISS.

Thanks man.

Hort

what would be the best way to stop muscle loss when doing HIIT?
i've never done HIIT before (only do 45 mins at moderate pace on treadmill, sometimes) but i've just been reading about it, some people say do it on empty stomach, some say eat protein before and straight after doing HIIT. anyone help?

what would be the best way to stop muscle loss when doing HIIT?
i've never done HIIT before (only do 45 mins at moderate pace on treadmill, sometimes) but i've just been reading about it, some people say do it on empty stomach, some say eat protein before and straight after doing HIIT. anyone help?

Not doing it on fasted stomach. Replenish your glycogene reserves at least 1 hour before the workout.

Wow. Very motivating and very common sense. How come most people do not want to do the common sense thing anymore? This morning to mix it up I thought I would go on a nice long walk. That walk turned into a run for the first time ever! I do not know what got into me. Threads like this motivate me I guess. :D

Common sense -- every human being has it, yet most of them neglect to use it... :d_redface

what would be the best way to stop muscle loss when doing HIIT?
i've never done HIIT before (only do 45 mins at moderate pace on treadmill, sometimes) but i've just been reading about it, some people say do it on empty stomach, some say eat protein before and straight after doing HIIT. anyone help?



IMO I like the fasted cardio. I eat within 30-40 minutes afterwards usually something like a whey protein shake. I've gained muscle and lost fat since starting this 6 weeks ago. Prior to doing this I was losing a lot of muscle. Eating enough protein throughout the day seemed to be the missing link for me

Just like it said earlier in the thread... everyone is different and it may or may not work for you. It took me a little trial and error but that's what works best for me . I hated LISS because I just didn't feel like I was working. I know that's not true but I like to feel like I really pushed myself when I'm done with a workout.... Anyway, good luck

There's one more point i'd like to emphasize here.Nothing is etched in stone.I myself go through phases.I've gone with fasted cardio for short times only to be followed by cardio after a good meal.A key to remember here is the body adapts very well to repeated stimuli.Throw your body a curve ball and mix it up.Besides,it,s fun!