cardio question

[witchazel]

When you guys are doing your cardio are you going by heart rate or just time??

I do 30 mins every evening (weights are done at 6am every day) and tend to go as hard as poss once I have warmed up. Throw a few sprints in but really just go as hard as I can for as long as possible and come out the other end a sweaty mess.

I have been using a cross trainer for about 6 months.. working up the resitance, but have finally worked up the courage and fitness to use a treadmill.. courage cause I always think I'm gona slip and be sucked round the moving mat, too many cartoons running through my head :doh: and for the first time in my life I can now run for 30 mins non stop at about 10mph \:D/

But am I going too hard and fast???? Is this costing me my hard earned muscles??? god I hope NOT!! :pray:

[Gym rat]

I just go by the time and I dont bother with my heart rate when I am doing cardio in the gym weather it be half hour on the bike or treadmill or cross trainer.

[poos_n_wees]

Is your goal fatloss?

IMO, if its only 30mins, I wouldn't sweat the losing muscle thing.. unless you're pretty damn lean already. It seems you're getting fitter though and thats a good thing :nod:

Lifting heavy (relative to you of course) is what's gonna maintain the muscle you have + adequate diet.

[modernvalkyrie]

I aim for time. My food / cardio mix has me at 90mins of cardio a day for an average of 900cals to burn on top of my BMR Whatever cardio that is, is up to me. sometimes i'll hit the sickmaking high heart rate stuff - somedays its just easy low heart rate (provided I keep above 120bpm). Best thing is to do cardio that minimises injuries, painful niggles and illness, so the body can keep going in peak condition right till show day.

[modernvalkyrie]

Is your goal fatloss?

Lifting heavy (relative to you of course) is what's gonna maintain the muscle you have + adequate diet.

yep ... agreed

[BANNER]

As a general rule of thumb I stay between 120bpm and 130bpm for the duration of my 6am 45 minute cardio work that usually puts me at level 7.5 on the treadmill. But im using intervals as not to go to much over this rate :nod:

[BIGKIWI]

I usually cardio around 130bpm and at least 40mins at time. I am not sure if u are doing cardio after weights or seperate ? watch your heart rate as u will be losing muscle if to high

[biggurl27]

I agree 130 :nod:

[2guns]

130!? lol thats like my resting heart rate :pfft:

[biggurl27]

Yeah whatever 2guns, remember as a guide 20 years is 140, 30 is 130, there you go.

[witchazel]

thanx everyone.. since I am 48 I think 130 may be a little high :grin:

I am working mainly to lose fat, but in saying that muscle growth is a very close 2nd. I have lost around 14% body fat in 8 months, going from 81kg to 65kg (172cm tall) and a body fat from 34% to 20%.

I do train seperately from the cardio... weights for around an hour at 6am - 5 day split - then cardio in the afternoon/evenings depending on work.

I really want to get down to at least 18% body fat but just can not seem to jump below the 20% for longer than a couple of weeks.

my diet is pretty tight - no carbs after 3pm, about 1400 cals a day, except for saturdays... thats my high carb day where I have one whole piece of cake \:D/ on top of my normal food.

I am happy to be doing this slowly surely but was a bit worried that the fast cardio is just getting me fitter rather than helping with the fat reduction....

[biggurl27]

Going for walks and going up and down a few hills/steps should be good. 120bpm should be the goer. You could may be drop you calories slightly over the next few weeks which may help assist or 3 days 1200 cals 4th day 1400, also changing your diet slightly/weights/excercises/cardio so you body is not getting use to it.

That is amazing weight loss, you must be very pleased with yourself :nod:

Mmm cake, yep definately recommend a weekly treat :grin:

[2guns]

Yeah whatever 2guns, remember as a guide 20 years is 140, 30 is 130, there you go.

FO REAL DOGG!

[biggurl27]

I think you may need some carbs funny boy

[Ben]

I would watch how low your Cals go! at 1400 you are very low for someone who wants to increase lean body mass. you will find your Cortisol levels will increase due to your body going into stress on depleated cals, this can cause Suppressed thyroid function, Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia, Decreased bone density and a Decrease in muscle tissue. I would suggest you find out your "Fat Weight" and monitor this more closely. less than 1400 Cals is not recommended!!! :naughty:

[biggurl27]

1400 is fine for 2 weeks mate, all female bodybuilding athletes do this. It is only for short term cutting so it doesn't put long term stress on the body

[teamfatboy]

thanx everyone.. since I am 48 I think 130 may be a little high :grin:

I am working mainly to lose fat, but in saying that muscle growth is a very close 2nd. I have lost around 14% body fat in 8 months, going from 81kg to 65kg (172cm tall) and a body fat from 34% to 20%.

I am happy to be doing this slowly surely but was a bit worried that the fast cardio is just getting me fitter rather than helping with the fat reduction....

Hiya Witchhazel... I'd have to say (being 46) that 130's probably not where you need to be. My PT tells me to aim for the 60-65% range, maxing out at 115 or thereabouts...sure it's cruising along, can chit-chat easily, no puffing, but that's where the theory says max fatburning occurs, and that's at least what I'm after.

Even after "only" 8 months you're probably getting to be pretty damn fit - hell, if you can run 30m at 10mph, that's awesome! - so I'd suggest you could afford to refocus on aim #1 (fatburning).

Maybe you could look at two things: timing of cardio, and duration. The most effective times for fat-burning are:

a. before breakfast;

b. right after weights; and

c. last thing at night - don't even worry about doing cardio before weights, it's the least effective option.

There's a lot of debate over the merits of Low-intensity steady-state versus High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) - the theory is that HIIT results in higher metabolic activity for longer after exercise ends - so you could consider a properly-constructed HIIT plan, especially if time is tight, as there's no doubt it burns more calories (but at the expense of lean muscle mass). In the past I've done that in my late-night cardio, and providing cardio doesn't leave you wide awake, it seems like a good option.

Most of the gym cardio equipment have options based on age that let you pick a fatburner routine, then it's just "type in time, weight (ick!), and go!".

You could also get 4-point skinfolds done to start tracking lean-muscle-mass vers bodyfat, that's a good gauge of where the weight loss is coming from. There are a number of websites that can help there.

One thing that struck me tho is that you've made outstanding progress already, keep it up!

[Ben]

(but at the expense of lean muscle mass).

I always thought that your body only uses muscle tissue as an energy source as a very last resort. Your body always chooses the most efficient energy pathway i.e Fats and Carb stores.

Thoughts??

[teamfatboy]

(but at the expense of lean muscle mass).

I always thought that your body only uses muscle tissue as an energy source as a very last resort. Your body always chooses the most efficient energy pathway i.e Fats and Carb stores.

Thoughts??

I'm still learning, to be sure, but it is complex...and depends on a lot of things, like lactic threshold.

I'm sure there are older and wiser heads that can point to the truth

[witchazel]

Thanx Teamfatboy, that was what I really was trying to ask about - fat burning cardio heart rate versus fitness aerobic cardio.

I have t admit I am pretty wrapt with my results :nod: ok that's an understatement :pfft: I am over the moon with the results \:D/

But I really do feel like I have hit a flat spot and need to do something totally diferent to get my body to wake up and move again. Maybe I will slow down the cardio and work on heart rate for a month to see what happens... will have to get slower music for the Ipod :roll:

I also have a thyroid function thing that is a bit of a problem.. I had mine totally removed 25 years ago and have to rely on medication to keep the levels right... The problem I have is the "medical average" stops me from losing weight so I take more than my doctor percribes me to feel how I think I should feel, then when it's time for the blood tests I have to spend a week on "the correct dosage" so the doctor is happy that I am "average" SIGH!!!!!

All this playing round with the medication is a nuisance and I never really know how it will effect my weight/fat loss and muscle building results.

[teamfatboy]

I really do feel like I have hit a flat spot and need to do something totally diferent to get my body to wake up and move again. Maybe I will slow down the cardio and work on heart rate for a month to see what happens... will have to get slower music for the Ipod :roll:

I also have a thyroid function thing that is a bit of a problem.. I had mine totally removed 25 years ago and have to rely on medication to keep the levels right... The problem I have is the "medical average" stops me from losing weight so I take more than my doctor percribes me to feel how I think I should feel, then when it's time for the blood tests I have to spend a week on "the correct dosage" so the doctor is happy that I am "average" SIGH!!!!!

Wow - having to deal with that makes the results all the sweeter!.

Yep, sometimes the 'average doctor' can't get their head around treating an athlete...which is how we need to be treated.

I dunno about slower music for the Ipod, tho...I need slower music in the car, getting tired of those "Kodak moments" courtesy of the man in the van!

[witchazel]

Thats why I love the bike... they can only catch you if you have passed them and by then you are sllooooooowwwwwww :pfft:

[Ben]

1400 is fine for 2 weeks mate, all female bodybuilding athletes do this. It is only for short term cutting so it doesn't put long term stress on the body

I Didn't see her write about a comp mate, short term dieting does nothing for a lifestyle change or long term weight loss mate. :naughty:

What is needed is a composition change, this will not come about with such low cals mate!

[Arjun]

130!? lol thats like my resting heart rate :pfft:

It's all that caffeine

[Optimass]

1400 is fine for 2 weeks mate, all female bodybuilding athletes do this. It is only for short term cutting so it doesn't put long term stress on the body

I Didn't see her write about a comp mate, short term dieting does nothing for a lifestyle change or long term weight loss mate. :naughty:

What is needed is a composition change, this will not come about with such low cals mate!

I can run at 1400 calories per day for 5 days without issue. Have not lost muscle as a result of doing this. In order to do this I do have to drop my carb/fat intake. I maintained this for 12 weeks (5days on 2 off) earlier this year. My goal was to get to 99kg but everytime I dropped below 105kg I had a growth spurt. My bfat hit a fraction under 10%. You wont lose muscle doing short to medium term periods of this type of nutrition focus.