Cardio Question

[suquito]

I'm 6'3 240 with a 21% BF.  Yes I'm fat, but I have worked hard to get to this weight.  About 4 years ago I was a scrawny 165 pounds.

In the past I have done the empty stomach cardio and the 6 meals a day thing with all the right supplements.  Doing that I lost both weight, fat and muscle which I didn't want to lose.  However, I was never able to get really cut like when I was really skinny.

I wonder if my cardio was too high impact (running) and maybe walking or stairmaster might help me lose fat while retaining my muscle.

I need somebody to recommend a plan of action...I've gotten really frustrated with the setbacks I've been experiencing the last year.

My question is would walking or doing some other type of cardio be better for me to lose weight and not to muscle. 

[Jr. Yates]

I'm 6'3 240 with a 21% BF.  Yes I'm fat, but I have worked hard to get to this weight.  About 4 years ago I was a scrawny 165 pounds.

In the past I have done the empty stomach cardio and the 6 meals a day thing with all the right supplements.  Doing that I lost both weight, fat and muscle which I didn't want to lose.  However, I was never able to get really cut like when I was really skinny.

I wonder if my cardio was too high impact (running) and maybe walking or stairmaster might help me lose fat while retaining my muscle.

I need somebody to recommend a plan of action...I've gotten really frustrated with the setbacks I've been experiencing the last year.

My question is would walking or doing some other type of cardio be better for me to lose weight and not to muscle. 

I don't know your body so I can't guaruntee anything, either can anyone on this board, BUT i can tell you that longer periods of cardio at low intesity have worked much better for me. If i was you, I would do 45-1 hour of cardio in morning on nothing but a protien shake with water, and then I'd do another 30-45 min after training. So i'd do cardio 4 times a week...2 of those doing cardio twice a day (one in the morning,one after training) the other 2 days i would try to do them in the morning or whenver i could do it. i hope everythings goes well. good luck.

[AVBG]

I don't know your body so I can't guaruntee anything, either can anyone on this board, BUT i can tell you that longer periods of cardio at low intesity have worked much better for me. If i was you, I would do 45-1 hour of cardio in morning on nothing but a protien shake with water, and then I'd do another 30-45 min after training. So i'd do cardio 4 times a week...2 of those doing doing cardio twice a day (one in teh morning,one after training) the other 2 days i would try to do them in the morning or whenver i could do it. i hope everythings goes well. good luck.

I agree with jr Yates. If you have a heartrate monitor, keep the HR just below 122BPM

[WOOO]

I agree with jr Yates. If you have a heartrate monitor, keep the HR just below 122BPM

i dissagree... i have had the opposite experience... i now swear by max-ot cardio

[AVBG]

i dissagree... i have had the opposite experience... i now swear by max-ot cardio

how would you describe your metabolism? fast slow or medium? Mine is on the medium to slow side. I have found that I became "stringy" when going the max OT route

[WOOO]

how would you describe your metabolism? fast slow or medium? Mine is on the medium to slow side. I have found that I became "stringy" when going the max OT route

slow as hell....

[AVBG]

slow as hell....

To tell you the truth I have been switching the intensity of my cardio medium & Max OT, which has been working well.. I have noticed that the results are more noticable.. I read an article by Chick on BB.com on this same subject. Whilst it was interesting it didn't work for me 100%.

[dontknowit]

Good diet makes you loose fat, to much extra cardio hurts you.

Two or three times a week some light cardio, make sure you compensate that in your diet, and make sure you sleep enough.
To much stress (mental-physical) does also damage.

[suquito]

To tell you the truth I have been switching the intensity of my cardio medium & Max OT, which has been working well.. I have noticed that the results are more noticable.. I read an article by Chick on BB.com on this same subject. Whilst it was interesting it didn't work for me 100%.

I'm going to check the article out.  My metabolism is on the slow side so I would compensate by doing really high intensity cardio. 

I'm going to try it the other way and see what happens.

[Hedgehog]

To tell you the truth I have been switching the intensity of my cardio medium & Max OT, which has been working well.. I have noticed that the results are more noticable.. I read an article by Chick on BB.com on this same subject. Whilst it was interesting it didn't work for me 100%.

With all due respect to Chick, I think he's a terrific TV and Radio commentary, but what experience does he have of natural bodybuilding cardio?

IMO, him writing articles on training and nutrition on a site like bodybuilding.com is not only of little worth, but actually detrimental, as his own gains are associated with his advices.

I much rather see the best coaches in the world get paid to write articles, rather than someone with so little experience on the subject.

For anyone who's untested, then perhaps following the tips of the pros to the letter would be a good idea.

For the rest of us, I doubt it.

YIP
Zack

[dontknowit]

With all due respect to Chick, I think he's a terrific TV and Radio commentary, but what experience does he have of natural bodybuilding cardio?...

Preach on.

I you want to get big,
don't listen to the pro's. Without a good drugstore you're nothing.

[suquito]

With all due respect to Chick, I think he's a terrific TV and Radio commentary, but what experience does he have of natural bodybuilding cardio?

IMO, him writing articles on training and nutrition on a site like bodybuilding.com is not only of little worth, but actually detrimental, as his own gains are associated with his advices.

I much rather see the best coaches in the world get paid to write articles, rather than someone with so little experience on the subject.

For anyone who's untested, then perhaps following the tips of the pros to the letter would be a good idea.

For the rest of us, I doubt it.

YIP
Zack

So what would you recommend I do?

[Jr. Yates]

i dissagree... i have had the opposite experience... i now swear by max-ot cardio

muscular suicide for me

[WOOO]

muscular suicide for me

i should clarify though... i have never gotten lower than about 12% BF so i dunno what would happen at that point

[Oldschool Flip]

As a natty I do both HIT and moderate intensity cardio. HIT I do for 16 minutes on stepmill on Mondays and Fridays, and Kickbox on Tuesday and Thursdays, and very modrate treadmill work on Wednesday and Saturday for 30 minutes.

[Deadpool]

the best cardio is swimming, but I don't know if you can try this if you don't have access to a pool

[darksol]

the best cardio is swimming, but I don't know if you can try this if you don't have access to a pool

This is a bunch of crap! I was in competitve swimming for 15 years.  Swimming may feel hard but it is not an efficient way of burning calories.  If you want to burn calories you have to use your legs.  Most swimmiers don't even kick, we just do this little twitch to keep our legs from becoming anchors.   Stick to the stair machines, Elipitcals, or just plain running / jogging.  If you want to loose the fat I suggest you change up your diet.  Here is what I recommend, being that I am 6' 4" and 230 we have similar body types. 
1. Remove all the sugar from your diet
2. Drink at least a gallon of water / day ( get yourself some crystal light or the generic stuff ( artificially sweetend ), fruit punch is my favorite )
3.  add a cup of fibrous vegtibles to your diet with each meal.  ( brocclie works well for this, cheep too ). 
4.  live off tuna, Eggs, and chicken breasts
5. Start taking an ECA stack.
6. No alcahol!!!
7. Occasionally push yourself hard enough in your cardio routine that you have to puke to feel better. 
8. Take an Multivitimen.

If you don't have the body you want in 6 weeks of doing this, see a doctor and get some blood work done to check for low Test Levels.