Cardio a few hours after workout?

[lilbg]

Is cardio ok to do after your workout if its 2 or 3 hours later?  Im mostly trying to pack on muscle but the b/f is a bit high at the moment 15-16%. 

[Quickerblade]

yeah it is...

[lilbg]

Thanks, leave it up to work to screw up your workouts!!!

[lilwoday09smb]

i thought right after or in the am was best but i have no idea, better to do it than not

[pobrecito]

I would only recommend doing it on off days.

20-25 minutes 60-70% of your max heart rate.

[darksol]

Agreed, If you want to burn fat, do cardio first thing in the morning for about 45 minutes holding 135 HR.  The idea is to burn fat not carbs or muscle.  Your body burns energy like this

Glucagen
Fat
Carbs
Muscle

Once the Glucagen is depleted you body will burn fat, but fat requires oxygen, and if you push yourself too hard your body can no longer supply the oxygen, and then it starts to burn carbs, If the carbs are gone then it starts to burn mucle tissue.  If you want to get shreaded do cardio twice a day.  Once when you wake up, and before you eat or drink. and again later in the day.  make sure you eat 5 meals a day and avoid sugars.

[jstone28]

Agreed, If you want to burn fat, do cardio first thing in the morning for about 45 minutes holding 135 HR.  The idea is to burn fat not carbs or muscle.  Your body burns energy like this

edit:*GlYcOgen*
Fat
Carbs
Muscle

Once the Glucagen is depleted you body will burn fat, but fat requires oxygen, and if you push yourself too hard your body can no longer supply the oxygen, and then it starts to burn carbs, If the carbs are gone then it starts to burn mucle tissue.  If you want to get shreaded do cardio twice a day.  Once when you wake up, and before you eat or drink. and again later in the day.  make sure you eat 5 meals a day and avoid sugars.

Just Curious....do you have citations/proof that the body works in that order?

[AVBG]

Agreed, If you want to burn fat, do cardio first thing in the morning for about 45 minutes holding 135 HR.  The idea is to burn fat not carbs or muscle.  Your body burns energy like this

Glucagen
Fat
Carbs
Muscle

Once the Glucagen is depleted you body will burn fat, but fat requires oxygen, and if you push yourself too hard your body can no longer supply the oxygen, and then it starts to burn carbs, If the carbs are gone then it starts to burn mucle tissue.  If you want to get shreaded do cardio twice a day.  Once when you wake up, and before you eat or drink. and again later in the day.  make sure you eat 5 meals a day and avoid sugars.

You should note that, your recommendation is dependant on your age.. 135HR is different % to different people.

[Quickerblade]

You should note that, your recommendation is dependant on your age.. 135HR is different % to different people.

say if your 28

[Quickerblade]

im 28 what should my HR be at???

[AVBG]

im 28 what should my HR be at???

check out the link

http://www.stevenscreek.com/goodies/hr.shtml

[pumpster]

Agreed, If you want to burn fat, do cardio first thing in the morning for about 45 minutes holding 135 HR.  The idea is to burn fat not carbs or muscle.  Your body burns energy like this

Glucagen
Fat
Carbs
Muscle

Once the Glucagen is depleted you body will burn fat, but fat requires oxygen, and if you push yourself too hard your body can no longer supply the oxygen, and then it starts to burn carbs, If the carbs are gone then it starts to burn mucle tissue.  If you want to get shreaded do cardio twice a day.  Once when you wake up, and before you eat or drink. and again later in the day.  make sure you eat 5 meals a day and avoid sugars.

Good stuff, if it's all correct. Probably so. I have some weight to lose and am actually about to go to twice a day cardio. Was going to do morning cardio for that reason thinking it would help. This makes sense.

[Quickerblade]

check out the link

http://www.stevenscreek.com/goodies/hr.shtml

its to hard

[natural al]

unless I can drag my lazy ass out of bed 1st thing in the morning which is impossible then I do cardio after every non leg day, only about 20 minutes worth but I keep my heart rate a little higher than what is recommended, I try to keep it at about 140-150 BPM.  On non weight training days I go a little longer but only shoot for 135-140.  I've only been doing this for a couple of weeks and I'm seeing some improvements. 

[dontknowit]

its to hard

But it's a good one. The first one that actually matches my heartrate

HIIT 210 - restrate 45
60~70% between 125 and 150

[Mike]

But it's a good one. The first one that actually matches my heartrate

HIIT 210 - restrate 45
60~70% between 125 and 150

My best cardio has always been recreational sports:  Flag football, basketball, rugby, softball, tennis...pick somehting and get involved a few days a week, it'll make a big difference and it's a lot more fun than sitting on a treadmill.

[pumpster]

My best cardio has always been recreational sports:  Flag football, basketball, rugby, softball, tennis...pick somehting and get involved a few days a week, it'll make a big difference and it's a lot more fun than sitting on a treadmill.

This is true, the problem with these is doing it on a regular basis. Throwing a frisbee for a long while with a lot of running's also good.

[slaveboy1980]

bullshit...it doesnt matter when you do the cardio. morning cardio is not better than evening cardio.

[bigguns175]

Agreed, If you want to burn fat, do cardio first thing in the morning for about 45 minutes holding 135 HR.  The idea is to burn fat not carbs or muscle.  Your body burns energy like this

Glucagen
Fat
Carbs
Muscle

Once the Glucagen is depleted you body will burn fat, but fat requires oxygen, and if you push yourself too hard your body can no longer supply the oxygen, and then it starts to burn carbs, If the carbs are gone then it starts to burn mucle tissue.  If you want to get shreaded do cardio twice a day.  Once when you wake up, and before you eat or drink. and again later in the day.  make sure you eat 5 meals a day and avoid sugars.

Too bad the body doesn't burn fat that way....  And P.S. Glycogen is just stored carbs...

The real way the body uses energy is as followed.  When initially beginning cardio your body will be using a ratio of circulating energy substrates in your blood about 90% glucose and 10 % fat.  As you workout and you want to make sure to keep your heart rate low usually between 130-155 (varies upon age).  You don't want to go any higher than 155 because then you're entering aerobic respiration and the primarily fuel is carbohydrates.  Carbohydrates are the easiest to breakdown so if your body needs energy quick it's going to use all the available carbs in your blood from glucose and then head straight to the glycogen reserves in your muscles before anything else.  If you go at a low intensity though, your muscles won't require an exhorbant amount of energy and therefore will utilize fats.  As time progresses throughout the cardio workout your body will want to conserve glucose because it is the only energy source that allows the brain to function, therefore as your body's blood glucose is lowered glucagon is released from your pancreas and causes hydrolysis of lipids and glycogen, but more so lipids because your body is trying to conserve glucose for proper brain functions.  The result is a shift from using 90% carbs to 80 % carbs and from 10% fat to 20% fat.  After about an hour of cardio you are at a 20-30% carb usage and 70-80% fat usage.  The longer you can maintain the cardio the higher fat to carb ratio you will have.  This shift is also due to the fact that fat has more energy per gram than carbohydrates so you're body changes fuel sources in an attempt to meet energy requirements.

[dontknowit]

My best cardio has always been recreational sports:  Flag football, basketball, rugby, softball, tennis...pick somehting and get involved a few days a week, it'll make a big difference and it's a lot more fun than sitting on a treadmill.

I received this watch once from a sponsor, http://www.amazon.com/Polar-S120-Heart-Rate-Monitor/dp/B000LH7KZU/sr=1-12/qid=1171463991/ref=sr_1_12/104-0607956-8206306?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods

Easy to track down you heartrate and not very expensive. A cheap watch starts out at about 10 dollar.

[so_vain]

Too bad the body doesn't burn fat that way....  And P.S. Glycogen is just stored carbs...

The real way the body uses energy is as followed.  When initially beginning cardio your body will be using a ratio of circulating energy substrates in your blood about 90% glucose and 10 % fat.  As you workout and you want to make sure to keep your heart rate low usually between 130-155 (varies upon age).  You don't want to go any higher than 155 because then you're entering aerobic respiration and the primarily fuel is carbohydrates.  Carbohydrates are the easiest to breakdown so if your body needs energy quick it's going to use all the available carbs in your blood from glucose and then head straight to the glycogen reserves in your muscles before anything else.  If you go at a low intensity though, your muscles won't require an exhorbant amount of energy and therefore will utilize fats.  As time progresses throughout the cardio workout your body will want to conserve glucose because it is the only energy source that allows the brain to function, therefore as your body's blood glucose is lowered glucagon is released from your pancreas and causes hydrolysis of lipids and glycogen, but more so lipids because your body is trying to conserve glucose for proper brain functions.  The result is a shift from using 90% carbs to 80 % carbs and from 10% fat to 20% fat.  After about an hour of cardio you are at a 20-30% carb usage and 70-80% fat usage.  The longer you can maintain the cardio the higher fat to carb ratio you will have.  This shift is also due to the fact that fat has more energy per gram than carbohydrates so you're body changes fuel sources in an attempt to meet energy requirements.

towards the end when you say more fat and less carbs, where are these carbs coming from?

[bigguns175]

In the beginning you get your carbs directly from the glucose circulating in your blood.  Once, your blood glucose levels begin to drop, your body releases glucagon from the alpha cells in the islets of langerhan's of the pancreas.  This causes hydrolysis of lipids and glycogen.  Lipids being stored fat and glycogen being stored carbs in your muscle cells.  Lipids are turned into free form fatty acids and the glycogen is converted to glucose for use.  A typical 160 lb person I believe has approximately 120-160 grams of carbs stored as glycogen in his muscles.  This number can vary signifigantly higher based on  (height and muscle mass ). 

So to answer your question the carbs are derived from glycogen stored in your muscles and converted to glucose.