How much cardio do you do normally?

[queloque]

I'm in the range of 20 to 30 minutes a time

[BRC1989]

You should always (if doing LISS) do 30 minutes or more because fat oxidation doesn't begin until about 20 minutes in.

[redheadlaw7]

I do HIIT for an hour 5 times a week.

[BRC1989]

I do HIIT for an hour 5 times a week.

Please tell me you're being sarcastic...

[skelooth]

cardio? What's that? Even at the pinnacle of my fitness I rarely did anything more than liss for 30 minutes 3 times a week.

[skelooth]

Please tell me you're being sarcastic...

I don't think she is, she's working hard for that body ~_^

[redheadlaw7]

Please tell me you're being sarcastic...

I do bodypump classes 5 days a week with 30 pounds on my bar mega high reps(don't count this as lifting because the weight is too low). I do my "split" at home with much higher weights.

What about that sounds sarcastic?

[Atropa]

Please tell me you're being sarcastic...

Why would she be sarcastic? I do HIIT 4 times a week honestly I think cardio is not an option.

[queloque]

You should always (if doing LISS) do 30 minutes or more because fat oxidation doesn't begin until about 20 minutes in.

I don't do LISS cardio but Interval Training cardio/HITT. Much more intense. Doesn't require as much time.

[skelooth]

Because HIIT 5x a week is excessive. If you're doing HIIT 5x a week properly you shouldn't have much energy left over for lifting.

If you're not gasping for air, drenched in sweat, and feel like you're gonna pass out, you're not doing real HIIT. A proper HIIT sessions should give roughly the same physical side effects of a heavy squat workout.

[schismatik]

I used to do more cardio than running back when I was running on carbs, but now i just do like 3-4 LISS sessions lasting anywehre from 35-45mins on average...60mins if it's just a cardio day. The only HIIT I can muster up to do is basketball pick-up games (once or twice a week). I can't seem to push myself to intense exhaustion unless i'm competing...and after an hour of basketball scrimmages i'm usually left nauseated and faint, so i qualify it as HIIT lol.

[redheadlaw7]

Because HIIT 5x a week is excessive. If you're doing HIIT 5x a week properly you shouldn't have much energy left over for lifting.

If you're not gasping for air, drenched in sweat, and feel like you're gonna pass out, you're not doing real HIIT. A proper HIIT sessions should give roughly the same physical side effects of a heavy squat workout.

Well I am most definitely drenched in sweat, almost gasping for air, so somewhere between HIIT and LISS. Most definitely not LISS though. I've been accused multiple times of being an exercise addict. I do so much of it to counter depression and anxiety. It seems to work!

And for what it's worth...I am looking into going back to school so I can get a degree that allows me to be in the gym as much as possible.

[skelooth]

Well I am most definitely drenched in sweat, almost gasping for air, so somewhere between HIIT and LISS. Most definitely not LISS though. I've been accused multiple times of being an exercise addict. I do so much of it to counter depression and anxiety. It seems to work!

And for what it's worth...I am looking into going back to school so I can get a degree that allows me to be in the gym as much as possible.

Don't burn yourself out. Serious, I saw some of your before/after photos and they are amazing, but you risk serious psychological burn out. It happened to me, and it happened to others that I used to post with while doing it. I've gone from 200lbs to 300lbs to 200lbs to 300lbs to 200lbs to 300lbs (LITERALLY, I imagine my heart can't be happy), and all I can say, is that if you don't learn moderation, and learn to be happy with a more maintainable set point, you're setting yourself up the bomb. You're not going to want to continue doing HIIT 5x a week + lift 5 years from now. Especially if you're trying to push through uni (I have a BS and part of an MS).

[fleaboy]

Don't burn yourself out. Serious, I saw some of your before/after photos and they are amazing, but you risk serious psychological burn out. It happened to me, and it happened to others that I used to post with while doing it. I've gone from 200lbs to 300lbs to 200lbs to 300lbs to 200lbs to 300lbs (LITERALLY, I imagine my heart can't be happy), and all I can say, is that if you don't learn moderation, and learn to be happy with a more maintainable set point, you're setting yourself up the bomb. You're not going to want to continue doing HIIT 5x a week + lift 5 years from now. Especially if you're trying to push through uni (I have a BS and part of an MS).

You are showing the results so it works for you, but I agree, be mindfull of burning out.
HIIT 5 times a week is fine, it is the intensity that will get you.

[BRC1989]

Why would she be sarcastic? I do HIIT 4 times a week honestly I think cardio is not an option.

Well because I was thinking of HIIT cadio on a treadmill or something where you're not suppossed to do more than 20 minutes total HIIT in one session because you should be doing such intense intervals 20 minutes is all you need, at least for more advanced users of an HIIT program.

[fleaboy]

Back to Original Question:
45 min cardio is what you want to be hitting. I am sure your survey will probably show this.
Again, look at the intensity of your work out. Untill you get super fit (Which you may be), you want to identify your barrier between fat burning and loosing muscle. Perhaps look at your optimium heart rate as a guide.

[redheadlaw7]

Don't burn yourself out. Serious, I saw some of your before/after photos and they are amazing, but you risk serious psychological burn out. It happened to me, and it happened to others that I used to post with while doing it. I've gone from 200lbs to 300lbs to 200lbs to 300lbs to 200lbs to 300lbs (LITERALLY, I imagine my heart can't be happy), and all I can say, is that if you don't learn moderation, and learn to be happy with a more maintainable set point, you're setting yourself up the bomb. You're not going to want to continue doing HIIT 5x a week + lift 5 years from now. Especially if you're trying to push through uni (I have a BS and part of an MS).

Thanks for the advice! I just see the people with the bodies that I'd like to have...and I'm really not even close...and I just keep pushing. And I think maybe I have put some unnecessary pressure on myself by posting so much...I feel like if I am going to be putting up all this advice that I better walk the walk.

As for the amount of cardio that most people do...I would guess that the norm would be 45 minutes like most are saying. I don't do my HIIT on a treadmill like the prior poster said. I do high reps, full body workout with weights with bootcamp style exercises mixed in. So maybe 25 straightlegged deadlifts and then 100 jumping jacks, then 25 military presses and 2 minutes of mountainclimbers, then 25 squats then jumprope for 2 minutes....Maybe that would be defined as something else?

[skelooth]

Thanks for the advice! I just see the people with the bodies that I'd like to have...and I'm really not even close...and I just keep pushing. And I think maybe I have put some unnecessary pressure on myself by posting so much...I feel like if I am going to be putting up all this advice that I better walk the walk.

I wish you the best, but this is a story a lot of us have told, including myself. Aiming for greatness is awesome, but finding balance in your life is key. But maybe I'm just a pessimist

[plated]

Don't do any cardio at the moment. Don't plan on starting to until the weight stops dropping off. I lift five times a week.

[gingernut76]

I do about 45-60 mins of LISS every day. Not just for weight loss, but for overall health and fitness.

[MuZI]

I don't understand why people are doing HITT on a Keto diet?

I personally do LISS for 60-75 mins.

You should always (if doing LISS) do 30 minutes or more because fat oxidation doesn't begin until about 20 minutes in.

What do you primarily burn in the first 30 minutes if on a keto diet?

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise is generally defined as any activity which can be sustained continuously for periods of at least three minutes or longer. Examples would be walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, aerobics classes, etc.

The primary fuels during aerobic exercise are carbohydrate (muscle glycogen and blood glucose) and fat (from adipose tissue as well as intramuscular triglyceride) (1,2). At low intensities, fat is the primary fuel source during exercise.

As exercise intensity increases, less fat and more glycogen is used as fuel. At some intensity, sometimes called the "Crossover point", glycogen becomes the primary fuel during exercise. (3) This point corresponds roughly with something called the lactate threshold. The increase in glycogen utilization at higher intensities is related to a number of factors including greater adrenaline release (3,4) decreased availability of free fatty acids (5), and greater recruitment of Type II muscle fibers (3,6,8). The ketogenic diet shifts the crossover (i.e. lactate threshold) point to higher training intensities (3) as does regular endurance training (4).

Under normal (non-ketotic) conditions, ketones may provide 1% of the total energy yield during exercise (8). During the initial stage of a ketogenic diet, ketones may provide up to 20% of the total energy yield during exercise (9). After adaptation, even under conditions of heavy ketosis, ketones rarely provide more than 7-8% of the total energy yield which is a relatively insignificant amount (10,11,12).

Generally, Protein use during aerobic exercise is minimal, accounting for perhaps 5% of the total energy yield. With glycogen depletion, this may increase to 10% of the total energy yield, amounting to the oxidation of about 10-13 grams of Protein per hour of continuous exercise (14). This is at least part of the reason that excessive aerobic exercise, especially under low glycogen conditions, can cause muscle loss while dieting.

Studies on ketogenic diets (2 to 6 weeks) find a maintenance (15, 16) or increase (17,18) in aerobic endurance during low intensity exercise (75% of maximum heart rate and below). At higher exercise intensities (around 85% of maximum heart rate which is likely above the lactate threshold), as glycogen use increases, performance decreases on a ketogenic diet (19).

Long-term adaptation to a ketogenic diet appears to improve the ability of the muscle to
use fat for fuel, although the exact mechanisms are not known. Endurance during low-intensity
exercise (below 75% of maximum heart rate) can be maintained or improved with a total lack of
dietary carbohydrates.
As exercise intensity increases, glycogen plays a much greater role in performance. And
the limited studies available suggest that performance at moderate-intensity (75-85% of
maximum heart rate) is decreased with a ketogenic diet. At higher intensities (90% VO2 max.
and above), fatigue is generally caused by factors other than glycogen availability and is
discussed in a later section.
The primary point of this section is this: individuals on a long-term ketogenic diet are
limited in the types of activity that they may comfortably perform. It appears that either low-
intensity activity or high-intensity activity is tolerated and only moderate-intensity activity
(near the lactate threshold where glycogen availability is the primary determinant of
performance) is compromised and should be avoided.

The amount of fat utilized during exercise depends on the intensity and duration of exercise.
At low intensities, there is abundant FFA in the bloodstream and the rate of oxidation appears to
be limited by the muscle’s capacity to oxidize them for energy. As exercise intensity increases to
186
high levels, FFA release from the adipose cell is inhibited by lactic acid and the decrease in fat
oxidation (and subsequent increase in glycogen utilization) is related primarily to decreased
availability.
Additionally, during high-intensity activity, even with sufficient FFA present, fat oxidation
is still impaired. This indicates that other factors, such as oxygen availability, also play a role.
Oxygen availability during exercise is determined both by the amount of blood being pumped (by
the heart) as well as the muscle’s capacity to use oxygen in the bloodstream.

[queloque]

I don't understand why people are doing HITT on a Keto diet?

I personally do LISS for 60-75 mins.



What do you primarily burn in the first 30 minutes if on a keto diet?

HIIT seems to work for me. I must be doing something right, maybe because its more of an interval cardio routine. Plus I don't think 1 1/2 hours of LIIT is necessary and most people will not do that on a consistant basis. Even world class athletes don't do that. Most competitive athletes do cardio to depletion and generally that requires HIIT or Cardio Interval training.

One thing about the body, it can get use to a routine and the body will adjust to LIIT in no time. Body seems to respond a lot better to shock and changing up routines. I just don't think LIIT will do that. Not to say drop it all together, but I just don't see the value of 75 minutes of LIIT all the time.

I think the best combination for the body is interval cardio which includes both HIIT and LIIT together allowing the body to react to the different fluctuations in activity and heart rate.

[Karuk]

LISS is best on Keto but its your world.

One thing to consider is conditioning. A local figure competitor at my gym was instructed to do the stairmill on low for 1 hour per day from the begining of the 12 contest diet. She did as instructed and saw some good fat loss for the first 4 weeks. At week 6 she had to increase it to 2 45 mim session. By week 9 fat loss stopped. She increased it to to 1 hour sessions on week 11. Needless to say she did not do so hot in the contest because fat loss stalled at the worst times. She was able to do the stair mill forever because she was a conditioned athlete. That was not her goal.

She switched trainers and stopped doing cardio for 6 months to de-condition her body. Her new trainer started her on a new program of 20 minutes on the stair mill week 1 and increased it 5 minutes each week for 12 weeks. She won her class at her next show. Damn she looked good. Totally different than her last show. Abs were perfect. No jiggle in the ass.

There is a difference between conditioned and ripped.

[floridagirl]

If boxing counts as cardio, I do a TON.

Otherwise, more like 30 minutes at a time (roadwork etc).

[MuZI]

LISS is best on Keto but its your world.

One thing to consider is conditioning. A local figure competitor at my gym was instructed to do the stairmill on low for 1 hour per day from the begining of the 12 contest diet. She did as instructed and saw some good fat loss for the first 4 weeks. At week 6 she had to increase it to 2 45 mim session. By week 9 fat loss stopped. She increased it to to 1 hour sessions on week 11. Needless to say she did not do so hot in the contest because fat loss stalled at the worst times. She was able to do the stair mill forever because she was a conditioned athlete. That was not her goal.

She switched trainers and stopped doing cardio for 6 months to de-condition her body. Her new trainer started her on a new program of 20 minutes on the stair mill week 1 and increased it 5 minutes each week for 12 weeks. She won her class at her next show. Damn she looked good. Totally different than her last show. Abs were perfect. No jiggle in the ass.

There is a difference between conditioned and ripped.

After doing a hybrid HIIT/LISS cardio yesterday for 60mins I realized what an idiot I am...

Lowering cardio to 20 mins and increasing 5 mins every week... lets see how this works out.

[Brianterz]

Your body is adapted to burning fat so LISS is really not needed.. Im most diets your body looks for carbs for energy when its not there it takes the next best thing... protein from the muscles. then LISS is needed.. But since we are allready using fat our body doesnt have to adjust. What this means is you can up the ante so to speak with out compromising muscle.. SO turn it up..

I do 50-55 min Med intes. cardio.. HR at 150 bpm 4 days a week

[Starky1177]

^^^^

Nope...When you do High intensity Cardio, your body looks for Carbs, if there is none, it will use protein/muscle by turning into Glucose through Gluconeogenesis (I believe)...This is why LISS is best on Keto, you're already burning fat, and during LISS your body will continue to oxidize fat at a faster pace

[93Akkord]

Don't do any cardio at the moment. Don't plan on starting to until the weight stops dropping off. I lift five times a week.

x2 on this. No cardio, but lift 5 times a week. Been working for me so far. I'll start doing cardio when I stop seeing results.

[kudostojen]

When i could, i would do HIIT 3 times a week for 15 to 20min. I HATE LISS, i get so bored that i can't be bothered. I am so busy in my live that it feels like a waste of my time. Unfortunately i have to do LISS now for my physio but i've got my iphone to keep my brain occupied.

I love HIIT because after 15 min i want to die and the sweat is pouring off of me and i'm done. It's a great way for me to push myself and increase my endurance. Simple and quick but NOT easy. lol

I will usually use the treadmill (my fave) or the stair machine.

[skelooth]

Just throwing it out there, even when doing LISS, if you have enough breath to talk, you're not pushing hard enough.