cardio questions

[shawnyboy]

i honestly dont know when to do my cardio during my day...i lift everyday and do cardio everyday...

my workout for the past 2 weeks has been 4 miles running in the morning, usually a hour or so before i lift so i get time to rest up before lifting..

mon-chest n tri
tues-back n bi's
wed-legs

repeat

i usually run at 9am and workout around 1030am-1230pm..but lately i have been getting a lot of comments from people telling me to do cardio after my workout rather than before...i would like to know why..

[Sportsmedjosh]

I have always suggest to people that they do their cardio after working out mostly due to the amount of energy required for cardio.

[S54MCoupe]

What Josh said is true. It's also good that you're doing cardio in the morning; help kick start your metabolism for the day. What time do you wake up at? If you were able to wake up, drink some water, and do your workout (weights/cardio) before eating a meal, you would probably see a dramatic drop in your weight.

[shawnyboy]

well im not trying to lose wieght, just tryin to keep my BF% low..which i have been able to do so far..but i usually wake up at 730am or so..run at 830 before i eat..then lift later

[Sportsmedjosh]

Well to keep bodyfat percentage down have you looked at your nutrition profile lately and seen what you can cut thats high in fat contents. You should do pretty good though if your using all the calories your consuming. I would also suggest doing something as a long duration low intensity cardio workout to utilize fat as a substrate if you really want to target fat.

[shawnyboy]

well its gonna be tough cause im already 7.5%..but i usually only eat lean white/red meats and fish and veggies..for breakfast i usually have oatmeal for carbs and i have atleast 150g of whey protein a day..i heard doing sprinting or high intensity workouts will burn fat easier?

[Sportsmedjosh]

High intensity will more burn more calories and high intensity will produce a lactate threshold training effect. Low intensity long duration would be your best. I attatched this for your reading enjoyment.

Substrate utilization during and after low- and moderate-intensity exercise of similar caloric expenditure was compared. Ten active males [age: 26.9 (4.8) years; height: 181.1 (4.8) cm; Mass: 75.7 (8.8) kg; maximum o[2] consumption (VO[2max]): 51.2 (4.8) ml kg [-1]. min [-1]] cycled at 33% and 66% VO[2max] on separate days for 90 and 45 min, respectively. After exercise, subjects rested in a recumbent position for 6 h. Two h post-exercise, subjects ate a standard meal of 66% carbohydrate (CHO), 11% protein, and 23% fat. Near-continuous indirect calorimetry and measurement of urinary nitrogen excretion were used to determine substrate utilization. Total caloric expenditure was similar for the two trials: however, significantly (P<0,05) more fat [42.4 (3.6) g versus [?]4,0 II 2.2) g] and less CHO [142.5 (8.5) g versus 188.8 (45.2) g] was utilized as a substrate during the low-intensity compared to the moderate-intensity trial. Protein utilization was similar for the two trials. The difference in substrate use can be attributed to the exercise period because over twice as much fat was utilized during low-intensity [30.0 (11.0) g] compared to moderate-intensity exercise [13.6 (6.6) g]. Significantly more (P < 0.05) CHO was utilized during the moderate-intensity [106.0 (27.8) g] compared to the low-intensity exercise [68.7 (20.0) g]. Substrate use during the recovery period was not significantly different. We conclude that low-intensity, long-duration exercise results in a greater total fat oxidation than does moderate intensity exercise of similar caloric expenditure. Dietary-induced thermogenesis was not different for the two trials.