Cardio help please :)

[deeseenz]

Hey guys just after a bit of advice. Just wondering how many times a week I should to cardio. Generally go to the gym 5-6 times a week. this week I did monday-thurs of weights. Friday rest day. Saturday a hour of cardio. Today 35 mins of cardio. Was just wondering how much cardio I should do? 3 or 4 times a week?

This is what I have thought about but not sure if it sounds right

Monday- Weights & cardio

Tuesday-weights

Wednesday - Weights then cardio.

Thursday - Weights

Friday - Weights & Cardio

Saturday - Rest

Sunday - Hour of Cardio (or should i do weights too as i want to build muscle and lose body fat)

Where it says cardio and weights obviously i'd do half hour of cardio after my weight training.All cardio sessions would be half an hour

Many Thanks

[tomsammce]

Cardio everyday would be the fastest way to loose bodyfat. But you can loose bodyfat with no cardio also. Your diet is the thing which will ultimatley assist you in reaching your fatloss goals.

Don't listen to the fools who says cardio burns muscle.

What kind of cardio are you doing?

[deeseenz]

I have been on the bike. Not a big fan of treadmill because it rapes my knees. But i do enjoy crosstrainer too. Doesn't cardio burn muscle? so do you think half hour of cardio everyday after weight training?

[teamfatboy]

Assuming your objective is to build lean muscle and shed bodyfat, the real answer is, like Tom says, in the diet.

Specifically, it's about two things: timing, and "macro" composition of your diet (how much protein/ carbs/ fats).

With proper attention to those two things, you won't lose muscle - because you'll be feeding your body what it needs, when it needs it. So before anything else, cut out the junk, dial in a clean diet with a modest calorie deficit (no more than around 500 cals/day less than what you should be taking in).

Doing cardio after weights ensures your muscle are at their best for the strength work (full of glycogen). Doing cardio first, your glycogen will be depleted, you won't be able to work as hard at the weights.

Carb-cycling (giving your body a greater proportion of calories from carbs on weights days, less on cardio-only days) will also help.

As for what sort of cardio - if you don't mind the bike or cross-trainer they'll work if you put the effort in - or Concept2 Rower, if your gym has them.

Are you just jumping on the machine and grinding out the time at a steady speed ? High intensity Intervals might get better results out of the same time.

Alternatively, Steak posted in this thread some really great circuits which you might want to consider.

[deeseenz]

Thanks for that man! yea i don't just cruise. i like setting goals while in doing cardio, like by a certain time i want to have done a certain amount of distance. If it doesn't seem like i'm going hard enough i go hard out for a while to make sure i reach my goal. or even beat my goal. I was making sure i was keeping my heart rate above 160. i was averaging 167 and when i was going hard out i was getting it between 170-180 not sure if that's good or not

Thanks for the link too!

[teamfatboy]

If you're 20 (right?) - the usual rule-of-thumb is that your max HR is 220-age equals 200.

167 or so is around 83% of your MaxHR, which (purely my 2c worth) isn't bad for steady-state cardio - although it's in the range which is conventionally regarded as the target area for cardiovascular fitness.

Have a read of this .

HIIT, on the other hand, is intervals at 90-95% (it says here ) .

[deeseenz]

cheers man!