What is the goal of cardio?

[240 is Back]

1) To raise the metabolism?

2) To burn fat stores?


#1 would entail doing high-interval training, maybe even with some carbs in the belly for energy.  You'd train for 16 minutes (I'm talking maxOT) on a stationary bike, very high intensity on intervals.

#2 would entail doing 45 min of cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.  The body would have no food in the belly so it would use fat stores.  Low intensity cardio.

I believe most people use method #1.  Makes sense . But #2 seems like a better long-term solution, doesn't it?  Thoughts?  Also, an answer like "both" isn't what I'm seeking here.

[mitchyboy]

I think doing cardio on an empty stomach is not a good idea, as your body utilizes aminos first, in other words muscle. For pure fat loss. have some aminos or protien supps on wakeing, than hit cardio.
 

[BabyBallsMcgee]

I think doing cardio on an empty stomach is not a good idea, as your body utilizes aminos first, in other words muscle. For pure fat loss. have some aminos or protien supps on wakeing, than hit cardio.
 

Muscle isnt the first source of amino acids the body utilizes.

[slaveboy1980]

1) To raise the metabolism?

2) To burn fat stores?


#1 would entail doing high-interval training, maybe even with some carbs in the belly for energy.  You'd train for 16 minutes (I'm talking maxOT) on a stationary bike, very high intensity on intervals.

#2 would entail doing 45 min of cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.  The body would have no food in the belly so it would use fat stores.  Low intensity cardio.

I believe most people use method #1.  Makes sense . But #2 seems like a better long-term solution, doesn't it?  Thoughts?  Also, an answer like "both" isn't what I'm seeking here.

cardiovascular health and as tool used to burn calories.

[nycbull]

waste of time,, I laught at these tools at the gym going for hours on the life stairs or whatever thay are calling those contraptions...Cardio ever few days for 10 minutes is enough to keep heart and blood pressure healthy, other than that it does nothing except bore the living hell out of you.

[Mars]

id rather intensify my workouts for burning some fat. indoor cardio is indeed boring as hell.

[slaveboy1980]

waste of time,, I laught at these tools at the gym going for hours on the life stairs or whatever thay are calling those contraptions...Cardio ever few days for 10 minutes is enough to keep heart and blood pressure healthy, other than that it does nothing except bore the living hell out of you.

bullshit, its about priorities.

for cardiovascular health, you need high enough pulse, also 10min is not enough.

for fatloss; you can create caloric deficit without doing any cardio, and you will loose as much weight as from caloric deficit induced by caloric restriction and cardio. (as long as deficit is big enough)

for maximum muscle building doing too much cardio is not good (as it sends conflicting signals to the body)

but there are other considerations than maximal mass.....like overall health.

[local hero]

cardio may be boring, but it enhances your training,, you wont know until you do it religously and not just pre shows, you get into a state where u can eat huge amounts with out gettn as fat as u used to

am, on empty stomach is best,,, but anytime thru the day is better than nothing, 45 mins treadmill, stair climber or cross trainer etc etc

[slaveboy1980]

morning cardio on an empty stomach is not magic. NO KIND OF TRAINING CAN INCREASE FATBURNING, irregardless of intensity.

during the activity yes you will burn more fat compared to if you had eaten before the morning cardio. BUT: the rest of the day you will burn less fat. (so over a 24 hour period the fat burning will not be bigger even if you do morning cardio)

in other words: the body compensates and at the end of the day it doesnt matter!

you can do the cardio whenever you want to.

[slaveboy1980]

cardio may be boring, but it enhances your training,, you wont know until you do it religously and not just pre shows, you get into a state where u can eat huge amounts with out gettn as fat as u used to

am, on empty stomach is best,,, but anytime thru the day is better than nothing, 45 mins treadmill, stair climber or cross trainer etc etc

bullshit, empty stomach is not the best. it doesnt matter when you do it, as cardio (for fatloss) is about creating a caloric defecit. do it when you want to.


the empty stomach thing is a myth.

[slaveboy1980]

search on pubmed for:

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Nov;34(11):1793-800.

"Neither exercise produced an increase in 24-h fat oxidation above that observed on a nonexercise control day."
or
(http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14020781)

[local hero]

well ive found that it is, so have countless others,,,,,, i couldnt careless what somthing wrote in a study says, all i know is i get ripped to fuck when i do cardio a.m....... as does everyother bpdybuilder i know.

[thewickedtruth]

for overall cardiovascular health AND...


because I was sick of getting winded walked from the parking lot to work with it only being a litlte over a 1/4 mile then walking up 2 flights of stairs. I started running a few weeks ago on my off days from the gym for about 30 or so minutes doing sprints at the local track and already notice a difference.

[slaveboy1980]

well ive found that it is, so have countless others,,,,,, i couldnt careless what somthing wrote in a study says, all i know is i get ripped to fuck when i do cardio a.m....... as does everyother bpdybuilder i know.

yeah but not due to the reasons you believe.

you would have just as good results if you did your cardio at any other time of the day. (with everything else being equal)

once again factor confusion strikes in bodybuilding.

[D-bol]

IMO, besides cardiovasular health and fitness cardio is not a great deal.
over 13 years of training I realized that most important are:
1) nutrition
2) regime
3) genetics

ok, you can add "smart gear use" but that only works well if you have the 1, 2, and 3 correct

[slaveboy1980]

IMO, besides cardiovasular health and fitness cardio is not a great deal.
over 13 years of training I realized that most important are:
1) nutrition
2) regime
3) genetics

ok, you can add "smart gear use" but that only works well if you have the 1, 2, and 3 correct

how narrowminded are you?....

not everyone is talking about maximizing muscular gains and cardio shouldnt be compared to the things you listed, thats flawed logic. if your goal is to add maximum amounts of muscle then yes then doing too much cardio is counterproductive.(

quote from a study: "That is, activation of AMPK by endurance exercise may inhibit signaling to the protein-synthesis machinery by inhibiting the activity of mTOR and its downstream targets."

http://www.ms-se.com/pt/re/msse/abstract.00005768-200611000-00013.htm;jsessionid=Hw7F5XNcg9JdwC3WYfQRvhqvL3fgWJP1GpKHbv31ZjTFv6bbpHDX!1821113646!181195629!8091!-1

but in general doing cardio is good and important, specially with so many people sitting all day in an office.

and for weight loss it can be very beneficial.

dont analyse cardio only by looking at the skinny fat whores who do endless hours of cardio in the gym every day.

everyone needs physical activity, not just lifting weights. but yes doing too much (for example running every day) will be terrible if your goal is to gain muscle.

the human body wasnt constructed so people can go lift weights one hour per day and sit on their asses the rest of the time.

the human body needs daily exercise of somekind.

[Overload]

but in general doing cardio is good and important, specially with so many people sitting all day in an office.

and for weight loss it can be very beneficial.

dont analyse cardio only by looking at the skinny fat whores who do endless hours of cardio in the gym every day.

everyone needs physical activity, not just lifting weights. but yes doing too much (for example running every day) will be terrible if your goal is to gain muscle.

the human body wasnt constructed so people can go lift weights one hour per day and sit on their asses the rest of the time.

the human body needs daily exercise of somekind.

I think this is the bottom line.

a lot of people don't understand that the human body was built for "physical" labor, not pushing pencils.

The goal of cardio could be 100 different things, for me, i do it for health and to keep my stamina at 100% for lifting and physical labor in general. if i want to lose weight i change my diet.

All of us should do some kind of exercise every day but it doesn't have to be extreme or high intensity by any means. simple yard work will yield good results when added to a good diet and training routine.

i've never done morning cardio and never will, seems like a waste of time to me personally. i do cardio on the days i don't lift weights and with a good diet it's easy to get lean by simply adding a small amount of cardio on your non lifting days.

just my .02

[slaveboy1980]

I think this is the bottom line.

a lot of people don't understand that the human body was built for "physical" labor, not pushing pencils.

The goal of cardio could be 100 different things, for me, i do it for health and to keep my stamina at 100% for lifting and physical labor in general. if i want to lose weight i change my diet.

All of us should do some kind of exercise every day but it doesn't have to be extreme or high intensity by any means. simple yard work will yield good results when added to a good diet and training routine.

i've never done morning cardio and never will, seems like a waste of time to me personally. i do cardio on the days i don't lift weights and with a good diet it's easy to get lean by simply adding a small amount of cardio on your non lifting days.

just my .02

good attitude, and common sense 

activity isnt a choice its a necessity, and no just doing weights isnt enough.

as for morning cardio: i tried to explain it in several posts that its a myth and not necessary. i never do cardio in the morning..why would i wake an hour before i have to just to walk on empty stomach in the morning? moronic.

doing cardio on empty stomach will burn more fat than doing a walk later in the day (when you have eaten)but the rest of the day fatburning will be downregulated so in the end it will be equal.  no exercise can increase fat burning over a 24h period   = it doesnt matter when you do the cardio.  i posted that in several post on here, and few on MD, but seems like no one wants to listen.

[Overload]

I agree with you. Morning cardio is not anything magical but alot of guys make you think it is.

i know guys who have seen good results with it but it's not anything special by any means IMO.

[slaveboy1980]

I agree with you. Morning cardio is not anything magical but alot of guys make you think it is.

i know guys who have seen good results with it but it's not anything special by any means IMO.

im sure many people have seen good results when doing cardio in the morning. but its not because they did it in the morning and on a empty stomach. thats factor confusion. the reason it worked is because it burned CALORIES (which can be accomplished by doing cardio any time of the day) and because they are in a neg caloric state.

if you do morning cardio..do it for the right reasons! because you like to get a good start on the day or whatever, but it will not work better than doing cardio later in the day. (everything else being equal)

factor confusion.

[Bobby]

If it's only caloric restriction that matters, why do so many pros do cardio? why not rely on nutrition to do the work.

Dexter Jackson doesn't do any cardio and he is the most ripped! what's his secret?

[Overload]

If it's only caloric restriction that matters, why do so many pros do cardio? why not rely on nutrition to do the work.

Dexter Jackson doesn't do any cardio and he is the most ripped! what's his secret?

If it ain't broke don't fix it!

if it worked for them for so many years i doubt they would change their prep unless they had a big reason.

most guys do the same prep style every contest because they know what works.

the leanest i've ever been i was only doing cardio twice a week and was eating 2500 calories a day.

[Bobby]

2500cals is quite high, what are you 210-220? with those cals for cutting you must be something like that no ?

[Overload]

2500cals is quite high, what are you 210-220? with those cals for cutting you must be something like that no ?

I weigh around 230-240 most of the year.

My last BBing contest 5 years ago i weighed 204, that's when i was eating 2500 calories. i usually eat around 4000 calories a day.

i have a furnace for a metabolism, i'm one of the lucky ones.

[Bobby]

That's quite big! I'm 175/200lbs and i'm eating 3200 calories a day now, it's quite nice i love to eat too

Was your last diet for that contest?