Cardio Question

[JasonH]

Okay, I very rarely do cardio so I am no expert on it hence the need for this question.

Someone told me that in order to burn fat you need to do cardio at a low intensity and cardio done at higher intensity tends to burn carbs.

Is this true and if so why is it?

Just for info I intend to now start doing cardio about two or three times a week on a stationary bike I have at home. I will be doing half an hour at a time on my days off from weight-training. The purpose of me doing this cardio is simply to improve my cardiovascular fitness - I am dying a death in the gym doing heavy training probably because I am simply not fit enough - years of lack of cardio have taken their toll.

[Meso_z]

Okay, I very rarely do cardio so I am no expert on it hence the need for this question.

Someone told me that in order to burn fat you need to do cardio at a low intensity and cardio done at higher intensity tends to burn carbs.

Is this true and if so why is it?

Just for info I intend to now start doing cardio about two or three times a week on a stationary bike I have at home. I will be doing half an hour at a time on my days off from weight-training. The purpose of me doing this cardio is simply to improve my cardiovascular fitness - I am dying a death in the gym doing heavy training probably because I am simply not fit enough - years of lack of cardio have taken their toll.

You should aim for about 120-130 bpm.....thats a low to medium intensity.

[webcake]

Someone told me that in order to burn fat you need to do cardio at a low intensity and cardio done at higher intensity tends to burn carbs.

That seems to be the general consensus about cardio. Low intensity = fat burn.

[JasonH]

i have stopped altogether and just limiting what eat, cardio will burn 300 calories, i can avoid the 2 bananas which is around 300 calories.

That's the trouble - for many years I have done this approach and dropped the carbs whenever I want to lose fat. My problem isn't losing fat - it's actually getting FIT. I can barely walk a flight of stairs without getting out of breath and my workouts are suffering as a result - I'm becoming a bit of a wreck when it comes to fitness. The trouble is though I don't want to sacrifice muscle mass when doing the cardio either - bit of a paradox really. 

[The Jayhawker]

I have read the exact opposite, the High Intensity is best for fat loss. I'll try to dig up a few links.

In the end something is better than nothing.

[Montague]

My problem isn't losing fat - it's actually getting FIT. I can barely walk a flight of stairs without getting out of breath and my workouts are suffering as a result... The trouble is though I don't want to sacrifice muscle mass when doing the cardio either - bit of a paradox really. 

No, it's not paradoxically complicated at all.

You wish to get your heart and lungs in shape while maintaining muscle.
Low intensity cardio for 30-45 min should help you get there while sparing your hard earned muscle.
Maybe bump up your protein a bit.

You're good to go.

[JasonH]

No, it's not paradoxically complicated at all.

You wish to get your heart and lungs in shape while maintaining muscle.
Low intensity cardio for 30-45 min should help you get there while sparing your hard earned muscle.
Maybe bump up your protein a bit.

You're good to go.

Good stuff. 

[candidizzle]

low intensity cardio burns ONLY FAT. high intesnity cardio burns both fat and glycogen..and without glycogen it will burn muscle. and it is going to interfere with recovery too. but high intensity cardio like interval sprints is great for boosting metabolic rate. not just during cardio, but for days after. whereas low intensity cardio gives only a very smal and pretty much insignificant bump in metabolic rate once youve stopped doing cardio

me personally; i dont mind spending 3 hours a day on a treadmill. as long as i know im burrning fat ill do it.  so i prefer low intensity, that way i know im not interfering with muscle retntion while dieting and i know im burning fat.  just make sure you eat a fair amount of meat protein... because even though its low intensity cardio, there still is a very small suction on glucose at all times... and if your doing one hour of cardio without eating and you dont got some meat digesting... your probably going to dive into skeletal muscle for those amino acids to use in gluconeogenesis to provide energy for that slow steady glucose feed your body always has.

 

[Emmortal]

Good post Candi, just pop some BCAA's before doing slow cardio to ensure no muscle wasting occurs.

[candidizzle]

Good post Candi, just pop some BCAA's before doing slow cardio to ensure no muscle wasting occurs.

thx !

some fish oil helps too, and boosts the amount of fat youll burn as well !

[The Coach]

low intensity cardio burns ONLY FAT. high intesnity cardio burns both fat and glycogen..and without glycogen it will burn muscle. and it is going to interfere with recovery too. but high intensity cardio like interval sprints is great for boosting metabolic rate. not just during cardio, but for days after. whereas low intensity cardio gives only a very smal and pretty much insignificant bump in metabolic rate once youve stopped doing cardio

me personally; i dont mind spending 3 hours a day on a treadmill. as long as i know im burrning fat ill do it.  so i prefer low intensity, that way i know im not interfering with muscle retntion while dieting and i know im burning fat.  just make sure you eat a fair amount of meat protein... because even though its low intensity cardio, there still is a very small suction on glucose at all times... and if your doing one hour of cardio without eating and you dont got some meat digesting... your probably going to dive into skeletal muscle for those amino acids to use in gluconeogenesis to provide energy for that slow steady glucose feed your body always has.

 

I'm confused on what you're trying to say......are you saying intervals burns less fat than long cardio sessions? Oh well, without getting technical (because I can go on for days with this subject alone bringing case studies into play, but I digress).

Short answer........interval training and energy system training will burn fat much more efficiantly than long cardio sessions....period, no if, and's or but's about it. Also you WILL retain more muscle. Fact; Marathon runners have less muscle and carry more fat than sprinters or any TypeII or IIa athlete. Weight training is a fast twitch activity....you're "cardio" should be the same. Also, it's been proven that you can increase AEROBIC capacity with interval training (ANAEROBIC)

[pumpster]

Short answer........interval training and energy system training will burn fat much more efficiantly than long cardio sessions....period, no if, and's or but's about it. Also you WILL retain more muscle. Fact; Marathon runners have less muscle and carry more fat than sprinters or any TypeII or IIa athlete. Weight training is a fast twitch activity....you're "cardio" should be the same. Also, it's been proven that you can increase AEROBIC capacity with interval training (ANAEROBIC)

Both HIIT and longer sessions are good, whether one's marginally better than the other's only one factor. Just as or more important is which one appeals more to use regularly. I don't like HIIT, so whether it's theoretically better or not isn't going to make a huge difference bottom line.

Also, most don't mention that HIIT can be more draining, which can be counter-productive to training over time.

[The Coach]

If you want you can call Alwyn. I've been working with him for years.


http://www.alwyncosgrove.com/Energy-System-Training.html

[MisterMagoo]

sprinters are bigger and leaner than marathoners. that's pretty much all i need to know.

[candidizzle]

I'm confused on what you're trying to say......are you saying intervals burns less fat than long cardio sessions? Oh well, without getting technical (because I can go on for days with this subject alone bringing case studies into play, but I digress).

Short answer........interval training and energy system training will burn fat much more efficiantly than long cardio sessions....period, no if, and's or but's about it. Also you WILL retain more muscle. Fact; Marathon runners have less muscle and carry more fat than sprinters or any TypeII or IIa athlete. Weight training is a fast twitch activity....you're "cardio" should be the same. Also, it's been proven that you can increase AEROBIC capacity with interval training (ANAEROBIC)

your entire post was based on the assumption that i was saying that the amount of total fat burned in low intensity cardio is greater than that of high intensity cardio.

wrong.

i didnt say that nor do i think that.

[flexingtonsteele]

I'm confused on what you're trying to say......are you saying intervals burns less fat than long cardio sessions? Oh well, without getting technical (because I can go on for days with this subject alone bringing case studies into play, but I digress).

Short answer........interval training and energy system training will burn fat much more efficiantly than long cardio sessions....period, no if, and's or but's about it. Also you WILL retain more muscle. Fact; Marathon runners have less muscle and carry more fat than sprinters or any TypeII or IIa athlete. Weight training is a fast twitch activity....you're "cardio" should be the same. Also, it's been proven that you can increase AEROBIC capacity with interval training (ANAEROBIC)

well i could go on and on about this too.

I think both methods of cardio ( hiit and low intensity ) have its place. I believe it all matters on your diet. If you are doing a keto diet. I would NEVER recommend someone do HIIT, for obvious reasons.

But if your on a mod/high carb diet, i would totally say that HIIT would be appropriate.

So I believe it matters more what you are eating. Doing either will get the same results ( hopefully ) in the end. So we could argue about this all day, but lets not and just accept that I am right haha

[MisterMagoo]

I think both methods of cardio ( hiit and low intensity ) have its place. I believe it all matters on your diet. If you are doing a keto diet. I would NEVER recommend someone do HIIT, for obvious reasons.

i used to do HIIT on a keto diet. what's the problem?

i'm assuming there IS a problem, i just don't know what it is. i also kept my calories stupidly high so i didn't lose weight at the rate i should have, but that's another story entirely.

[candidizzle]

i used to do HIIT on a keto diet. what's the problem?

i'm assuming there IS a problem, i just don't know what it is. i also kept my calories stupidly high so i didn't lose weight at the rate i should have, but that's another story entirely.

low crab diet = low glycogen

low glycogen +hit cardio = muscle loss

[flexingtonsteele]

low crab diet = low glycogen

low glycogen +hit cardio = muscle loss

yea pretty much what i was going to say.

[The Coach]

LOL...nothing wrong magoo. Candizzle and flexington are just very confused in their therories. They obviously didn't read the link supporting me. As a matter if fact I could provide 100 links supporting me and they would still say it's wrong. Don't worry dude, there's no way to "lose" muscle on HIIT...LOL!

[The Coach]

Just to add, depending on the intensity, you could burn an extra 150-200 for the next hour or so after the interval session. Really no better fat burner than training all 3 energy systems.

[The Coach]

Get yourself a good recovery suppliment as well. We use SURGE but just about any will do.

[flexingtonsteele]

LOL...nothing wrong magoo. Candizzle and flexington are just very confused in their therories. They obviously didn't read the link supporting me. As a matter if fact I could provide 100 links supporting me and they would still say it's wrong. Don't worry dude, there's no way to "lose" muscle on HIIT...LOL!

no im not confused at all. I totally know what im talking about

High intensity energy systems work relies mostly on glycogen for energy. But when you're on a low-carb diet your glycogen stores won't be as high as during a normal diet. And the limited amount of glycogen you have will be needed for your weight training sessions.

Adding-in high intensity energy systems work will only lead to further depletion of the glycogen stores and to muscle catabolism. The body will break down muscle tissue into amino acids which will then be transformed into glucose by the liver.

So when adding ESW to a low-carb diet you should focus on the methods where glucose use is minimal. This means either low-intensity cardio at 65-70% of your max heart rate won't use too much glucose/glycogen.

Yes, this form of training burns less calories than intervals. However, when carbs are restricted, intervals can lead to muscle loss.

Low-intensity work is best performed right after weight training when fat mobilization is at its highest. This way, the low-intensity work will be much more effective than if it were used by itself.

[The Coach]

no im not confused at all. I totally know what im talking about

High intensity energy systems work relies mostly on glycogen for energy. But when you're on a low-carb diet your glycogen stores won't be as high as during a normal diet. And the limited amount of glycogen you have will be needed for your weight training sessions.

Adding-in high intensity energy systems work will only lead to further depletion of the glycogen stores and to muscle catabolism. The body will break down muscle tissue into amino acids which will then be transformed into glucose by the liver.

So when adding ESW to a low-carb diet you should focus on the methods where glucose use is minimal. This means either low-intensity cardio at 65-70% of your max heart rate won't use too much glucose/glycogen.

Yes, this form of training burns less calories than intervals. However, when carbs are restricted, intervals can lead to muscle loss.

Low-intensity work is best performed right after weight training when fat mobilization is at its highest. This way, the low-intensity work will be much more effective than if it were used by itself.

Sorry dude, but your wrong. I don't know if you actually know how interval training works, but I assure you......no, I GUARANTY you will not and cannot lose muscle in a 20 or even 30min interval session 4 days per week as opposed to 1-2 hours per day 5 days per week of sustained "cardio". It's too late now and I'm trying to finish up some work but tomorrow I will provide as much evidence as you wish to back my words. You can do the same I presume?

[Alex23]

What's 'HIIT'?