WEEK THIRTY-FOUR :: When Is The Best Time To Do Cardio?

[hepennypacker52]

yes you do because Iam planning an hst bulk in sept. Iam finally going to try it out and I love your articles on hst.

Good good...coming soon will be :

Part 3 - Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Routines for Muscle Building and Fat Loss (seperate bulk and cut)

Part 4 - HST Nutrition and Supplementation

[sword chucks]

Thanks guys, it just takes about 1 hour a night.. I dont spend all day using the dictionary and stuff for words lol

[cobain67]

when are the results gonna be in?

[live4this13]

when are the results gonna be in?

friday afternoon around 5

[bigcalves]

Yup

[ho_124]

How do you add colour and make your fonts bold and bigger? all i can do is regular print and it makes my article look crappy

[live4this13]

How do you add colour and make your fonts bold and bigger? all i can do is regular print and it makes my article look crappy

qoute someones article and you will see the formating codes used.

[ho_124]

i still dont know how to do it plz explain

[mivi320]

i still dont know how to do it plz explain

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/misc.php?do=bbcode

[live4this13]

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/misc.php?do=bbcode

there we go....

[gigi2rocks]

The best time to do cardio is in the morning because it is much more effective for burning fat. Why? Because your body will target stored carbohydrates for fuel during the first 20 - 25 minutes of your workout then will target your fat stores for fuel for the remainder of your work out, provided you do cardio on an empty stomach.

[hepennypacker52]

Thanks guys, it just takes about 1 hour a night.. I dont spend all day using the dictionary and stuff for words lol

lol definately longer than an hour.

[Welsh3243]

It is unbelievable to me that there is not a consensus as to whether doing light cardio in the morning in a fasted state is more beneficial than doing light cardio any other time of the day.

I think we can all agree that doing HIIT in a fasted state is a no no. But look at these replies so far.....half say you shouldn't do it, and the other half say cardio first thing in the morning is the best for burning fat. And they all state their conclusions with such certainty. How can any of you know which is better for certain? How has there not been a study or something to that effect?

My experience is that cardio in the morning will burn a ton of fat if done consistently for a 3-4 week period. But will the loss in muscle be worth the loss in fat? How is one to know? Will you in fact lose muscle, or will you just not be able to put more on for the time being?

All you so called fitness experts need to get some hard cold facts and data and figure this out. It's just this one topic too. You can't get a freaking straight answer from anyone. I guess, and it seems to be this way with almost everything in this endeavor, to each his own. It probabaly just comes down to what works for someone isn't what works for the next person, and so forth.

[sword chucks]

well, Welsh, the problem is that a simple study really won't be the end-all-be-all answer to your problems when it comes to something like this. You need to find for yourself what works, and what doesn't, and keep a very open mind.

good job contradicting yourself in the second paragraph by the way, tough guy

lol definately longer than an hour.

nah b, I said 1 hour every night all week

maybe it is a little longer than that

[Welsh3243]

Swordchucks....

I didn't contradict myself. At first I was talking about HIIT, and then the rest referred to low intensity cardio. I didn't realize I had to completely spell it out for you. And if you read what I said at the end you would realize I had already come to that conclusion. And thanks for the explanation on why a study wouldn't work....really, great tips....jerkoff.

[sword chucks]

Swordchucks....

I didn't contradict myself. At first I was talking about HIIT, and then the rest referred to low intensity cardio. I didn't realize I had to completely spell it out for you. And if you read what I said at the end you would realize I had already come to that conclusion. And thanks for the explanation on why a study wouldn't work....really, great tips....jerkoff.

yeah you did. and i was agreeing with you though.

[jcolson]

When Is The Best Time To Do Cardio?

Cardio on an empty Stomach

Some folks swear by doing cardio in the early hours of the A.M. on an empty stomach. Others say that eating before exercising is more beneficial. Truth is, it's always best to eat prior to any type of exercise. Think about it for a second. The body is like a car. It cannot operate properly if there is no gas present. The body cannot operate correctly if there is no food present. Would you crank out reps of heavy barbell squats on an empty stomach? Didn't think so. Intense cardio and working out on an empty stomach is a big no-no. However, a light walk in the A.M. on an empty stomach can be a great idea. But here's the thing. Be sure to drink a protein shake or eat a protein based meal prior to low intensity A.M. cardio to preserve muscle mass. Do not perform low intensity cardio in the A.M. for no longer than 45 minutes, unless you want to risk losing some hard earned muscle tissue.

Mike

Problem here is that the whole idea behind cardio is to provide a negative calorie balance in order to burn fat. If you provide energy, then burn it, how much have you lost?

How do we know that it is Protein that is burned when sugar is low.

Sugar is low in the morning - meaning insulin will also be low.
Sugar is low - Therefore glucagon will be higher than normal.
Glucagon finds fat and sugar for energy metabolism.

Sounds like morning cardio is the best, as long as you supplemented with some aminos or protein before you go. Hormones are just right for fat burning, and the body will stay in that elevated state for the rest of the day - allowing you to rest at night.

[jcolson]

yeah you did. and i was agreeing with you though.

He really didnt contradict himself, on purpose. He did in his writing, but not what he was trying to write, as he said he was refering to low intensity cardio.

I agree though. Cardio is Catabolic, and we haver come pretty far in determining the best type of cardio that should be done in order not to waste muscle; HIIT. The problem is determining what state the body should be in, i.e. morning, evening, before bed, as well as how nutrition should be applied.

The question is what type of cardio, at what time of day, with what nutrition, will yield the most fat loss with the least amount of muscle loss, or none at all?

Even better, is there a way to do cardio in order that you will gain muscle and lose a significant amount of fat.

One theory I have is that by doing aerobic/anaerobic such as plyometrics one could go beyond the regular HIIT and actually build muscle and strength, whilw at the same time burning fat.

Maybe Im just lost.

[Tw1sT]

There's a lot of valuable information in this thread. Thanks to all participants... I need to take a break from reading this stuff.

[theBofBenny]

lol same here cant stop reading.

[TheBodyGenie]

I do my cardio every morning everyday between 4 - 6 am.

[TheBodyGenie]

For me, the best time to do cardio is in the morning.

[harryb3472]

I am joining the parachute regiment in september (british) and need a good balance of cardio and muscle. Atm i have been running 3 miles on a treadmil HIT, and taking a high carb and protien shake straight after it and then doing weights, follwed by a nother shake. Is this ok to do or would you recomend doiund cardio after? My only worry is that i will not peform aswell on cardio after.

[Kyliee]

Early in the morning.

[Yeahibench]

Early in the morning before you eat anything

[rankywanky]

I think around 8 am is the best time but in the end you should know what is the best time for you






Cardio is done by thousands of people. It's the most popular activity. No matter if you are jogging in the bark or playing some ball you are performing cardio. Now cardio can be done for many reasons. Fun, making your heart stronger, loosing bodyfat or survival. In this article we will discuss cardio, and the correct time to do it so you can keep fat low and have lean gains comming your way. In order to do that you have to educate yourself, make a program and organize it and put it in use. In order to have successful goals, they must be do-able and you must stick to your program. Everyone should perform some cardio to keep their heart healthy, but if you are interested in cutting bodyfat and getting healthier this article is for you. Now don't expect big bulky gains while doing cardio. Since cardio is buning calories, and gaining weight is eating more it's common sense that tells us they don't fit together. So in order to loose fat, you will maintain your muscle, but don't expect big gains while burning fat. Always do cardio on empty stomach because you will not have food as energy but burn fat. So avoid doing cardio after a big meal, but don't space it out so long that you are hungry and just starting. Somewhere in between should be fine.







When is the best time to do cardio?




Although cardio is cardio, certain time of the day can help bring you the results your looking at. Tons of people will tell you that it don't matter, but if you think about it, at certain times of the day yourbody has different energy stores and energy levels. You wouldn't expect yourself to have the biggest enegry peak at before you go to bed now, would you? So common sense will tell us that there is a certain time where it's more beneficial to perform cardio in order to loose fat and maximize the effect of metabolism boost and enegry boost. My advise is to do cardio in the morning before you eat. The reason behind it is that your body has minimal glycogen stores, which means that as soon as you keep your heart rate at a fat burning level, your body will not have tons of glycogen to use, and therefor will start using other things as energy, such as fat. Yes, that's how you shed those lbs. you gained. It wouldn't make sense to run after a rich carbohydrate meal since you would be burning the meal. Sure, calories will be burned, but direct fat burning is way better than the other.



-Run in the morning before a meal
-No great glycogen store to slow down your fat burning
-High metabolism and enegry for the rest of the day
-Good thing to get it done in the morning so you don't have to worry about it all day
-Best for fat burning







Should cardio be done near the time of weightlifting or should there be a certain amount of hours between the two?




When you workout, your muscle uses glycogen as enegry. Glycogen is made after you eat and is the energy fuel made from the food you eat. So weight training and cardio at the same time would not be wise. Let me explain. Let's say you want to run for 30 minutes before you lift. While you are running you will burn 200-400 calories. Good. But what heppens when you want to start lifting. The muscle conrtraction uses glycogen and you won't have any after using it up. So you will have low energy, not alot of power and you won't feel like lifting weights. I see way too many people in the gym trying that with futule results. Now you know, and my goal is to help prevent people from doing that. Now the second type of people that are making a mistake are the ones running after weight lifting. So what happens with these people,. First they are weight training. Good. After all the contractions of the intense workout your muscles already used up the glycogen.


So what now? You will go run for 30 minutes and burn another 300 calories? Sure you will, but that won't be fat. And since we don't have any more glycogen guess what you'll use. Muscle. Yes you read it right, you will go into a catabolic state where your body is preserving its fat and burning muscle for energy. That's not smart and will not take you anywhere. So what should you do? Well, first thing is to split your training. Yes, no more 3 hour sessions at the gym. Run in the morning for effective fat loss and lift in the afternoon/evening to presserve the hard earned muscle. Sure it will strain your time, but it's better to do something right or not do it at all than waste your time and actually have negative results. So with all of that said, you should split your cardio and weight training atleast 4 hours. Six and more would be perfect. In that time your body will have enough energy to refuel and to build up its glycogen stores. Now we know why athletes rest on the day and the day before competitions.







Can someone add cardio to their weight training and still gain size and muscle mass?



There is no set rule in stone that says you can't gain muscle while doing cardio. To build size you need to eat more than your maintanence, and to loose fat you need to eat less. That creates problems. So in order to gain mass you should stop doing cardio for fat loss benefits. But never stop completely because that will be unhealthy for your heart, and the heart is one muscle you don't want to neglect. So make sure you do 1 or 2 sessions per week while bulking to maintain good cadiovasular health so when cutting comes you don't sound like a overweight donkey climbing stairs (talking from personal experience). As for cutting fat off and gaining muslce I would say it's hard, almost imporssible. But you should still lift to presserve the muscle you already have so you can look good when the fat comes off and the hard earned muscle from the bulking session stays and you look great!







What is your favorite type of cardio?



I like all sorts of cardio. The problem with me is that I get bored easilly and that might not be such a bad thing. Since your body can get adjusted too, it's good to switch things up. Now when I do HIIT, I like the feeling of the intense cardio, but sometimes i'm so tired that I prefer the 40 minute monotonous jog. But whatever floats your boat. I personally recommend doing both so you can get the same benefits. Maybe make a routine that has 2 days HIIT and the other 2 days long jogs. It's your choice, and for some people their body responds best to HII so why change it if it works. Try and and see which method works for you and if neither is the best, switch them up from time to time.




THE ROUTINE

MON- HIIT 25 minutes
TUE- HIIT 25 minutes
WED- 45 minute jog
THUR- 45 minute jog
FRI- HIIT 20 min
SAT- Long walk
SUN- OFF







BONUS QUESTION: What is the most effective cardio exercise? Why?




I would say sprint are the best for cardio and fat loss. Why? Because they keep your heart pumping and you are using your energy the whole time. But your pulse and effort goes up and down as you spring and jog. It's a type of HIIT and it is very effective. For anyone looking for fat loss or better cardio health you need to recognize the need of sprints. It's a good extercise to build up your legs if you are lacking in that area. It's an ovarall extercise that will benefit you in many ways and actually improve your cardio and weight lifting. So that would be my pick for the best cardio extercise. Find a park with a lap field, do 1/2 of the lap in sprinting and the rest jogging and repeat for 20-30 minutes. It has given me good fat loss and kept me healthy.

Good Luck![/QUOTE]

[v1rt]

Hey folks, where can I find examples of HIIT training? Thanks!

[Timmyyy]

Straight after waking up!

[Sammywin]

Early in the day, thanks for the informations

[99sanni]

I JUST WANT to find a easy solution, but this seems a litter complex...