as the name would sugest, my question is how much cardio would maxamise fat burning? im trying to get into a routine, and for now i want to strip of quite a bit of excese body fat as quickly as possibale,
Well this is an interesting one because if you do too much cardio you can actually begin burning muscle. If that does not concern you and you are hoping for fast results I would personally suggest sprinting/running 6 days a week for half an hour at a time. If you don't already lift weights, you might want to start, it will kick your metabolism into gear. Also make sure you diet is right, try and have 5 small meals a day as opposed to 3 large meals, definitely make sure you eat breakfast everyday (I would suggest cereal). Drink lots of water, at least 2 litres a day. Combine all these things and I'd say you are well on your way to losing that unwanted body fat.
you won't burn any muscle if you have adequate intake of carbohydrates... if burning muscle bothers you (as it does me) just avoid doing exercises in a fasted state- that is, doing them before you've eaten in the morning
As mentioned splitting your meals into smaller more frequent and healthier meals is going to be a must. Stick with only healthy fats, complex carbs, etc. and clean meats such as turkey and fish. Make small changes to your diet at a time so you dont just give up on some extreme eating plan that no man could change to over night.. With the Cardio, i too feel you have to be careful not to burn muscle. It can be balanced by proper eating and eating times as mentioned also. But with cardio i always run 2-3 miles a day and this is plenty for me on top of my training, weights, and sparring drills. I like sprinting, but for maximum weight loss i think longer durations would be best.... Example jogging 2 miles as opposed to sprinting a few yards that day. But mixing it up would probably even be better. Something you might want to consider also is utilizing the Sauna at your local gym. If you can do cardio when you wake up prior to eating this would be a good time. Your body burns whats in your stomach first, then your fat for energy, and then your muscle. In the morning you have an empty stomach so give cardio a go in the morning if possible (dont over do it or you will burn into muscle without food in your system).
Do as much cardio as you want, the whole muscle loss thing is way overrated. Watch the Tour de France on Eurosport, and look at the ripped, bulging quads of the cyclists. They ride miles and miles a day and contrary to what people might tell you, haven't wasted away, in fact they have bigger legs then your average Joe.
or look at the marathon runners who run for hours a day, seen how big there muscles are? :\ now seriously, ive read that around 65-70 of your MHR is optimal for burning fat, but everyones different so you need to goto a clinic and get assesed to get your own perfect formulae
Have you even watched it? It's hard to find a pic of the front of their legs which shows off the big quads, but this one will have to do; Don't know about you, but both of these guys have bigger legs than me and most of the guys I know. Consider also that these guys will be at a very low BF% and thus will have legs that look smaller than they would if they were at a higher, more normal BF%. Yes, let's compare the two most different types of athlete and use that as a valid argument. Marathon runners train for endurance and endurance only, marathon runners are ectomorphs by nature and marathon runners don't just do cardio, they do massive, massive amounts that no-one on MAP is likely to have even tried. So not a good comparison really.
Sprint intervals coupled with good nutritional habits and a strength program is the fastest (natural) way to lose fat.
Exactly its all in the diet, cardio simply enhances your gains, and will become essential as you get to the latter weeks of your dieting, weight training also helps this and keeps you strong and helps maintain your muscle mass, which in turn keeps up your metabolism Whether you are cutting or bulking its all in the diet, and to make really good gains its more then just eating healthily, just like when bulking you dont just cut the crap out, same with cutting
Cyclists seem to have big legs b/c of a super skinny upper body. Compare their puny legs to olympic lifters' and powerlifters' and you will see whrere Im getting at.
Well obviously if you compare them to someone who trains solely for maximum strength they will look different, besides, they are likely to have different bodytypes anyway and will be more muscular because of that. I disagree with you harhar, I think their legs look formidable compared to the body or not. For example, you can't tell me these aren't muscular legs
Prophet, ive seen you suggest the sprint inervals a few times. I was always under the assumption that longer durations of cardio stretched out where the way to go (ex. 2-mile jog, etc.). Any input on this? What type of duration, break between sprints do you suggest. Or do you sprint for awhile, then jog, then sprint? Just curious, b/c i may start substituiting my runs for interval sprints on somedays.
A very nice decision. I could take the time to explain to you the myriad of benifits that sprinting has, but instead I will direct you to an article. http://magazine.mindandmuscle.net/page.php?pageID=274&issueID=21 http://magazine.mindandmuscle.net/page.php?pageID=309&issueID=25
You could always go the fast & easy route. Try Liposuction, expensive (about £3500 - £4000) but highly effective. An added advantage would be no adverse effect on your muscularity. Pats.
Liposuction would not benefit his health at all, dude what you need to do is SKIP, Skipping is a lot better than sprinting, or the best cradio exercise theire is swimming laps! As for the whole muscle thing, if you have some fat on your body then you will burn that but to keep your muscle have protein, you might like shakes, like creatine monohydrates, or hydrolsates, which not only recover muscles and build them up quicker but also burn fat more quicker, or try tuna very good(Y) protein, omega 3 oild good for joints and flexibility, wake up in the morning, drink a lot of water, get your skipping rope out, put some music on and steadily skip for about half an hour, and then eat breakfast!
Not only is that expensive, but highly not-recomended. Might as well change your lifestyle so that fat doesnt return eh? And besides, with sprinting you wont lose muscle anyways :love: sprints
Ahem. What makes you say this? Not only does sprinting burn more calories. But it also conditions the anaerobic systems. Not recomended at all. If you wanna keep your muscle, eat and THEN skip.
No way, the list of cardio goes like this, swimming, skipping, and sprinting, on the basis of overall effect on stamina, strength and toning. Half an hour of skipping is much more benefiecial than half an hour of sprinting, fact.
