Cardio for weight loss?

[Melonbob]

I've done a ton of reading, but can't seem to find anyone to agree on this. What is the best way for me to do cardio for weight loss. I have 30min after my workout, but I would like to know if a steady moderate pace is better, or going from lower to higher intensity? Right now I'm doing 4 minute intervals, going from a heart rate of about 130ish at the low point to 145ish at the high points. I've tried to keep around 120 or so for the whole workout, but it seems like I'm doing nothing?

[Executive]

Hey Melonbob,

Just registered on this site, and this will be my first post. Caught my eye because ive just started my lean shredding phase after 4 months of serious bulking (240lb @ 25%bf). the goal is to get to 195lbs @10% bf or under, and the most effective way i've done this is through HIIT cardio sessions. So, no longer then 15 minutes per session, one minute on, one minute off... the on portion starts at 75% max heart rate, moving progressively to 90% of max heart rate.

I'll be breaking my daily cardio sessions as such:

HITT session on Precore eliptical at 12:00 noon
Weight training 5pm to 6pm
HITT session on spin bike 9pm

I personally have had NO luck with long winded never ending cardio sessions... with the exception of doing aerobics classes, because they are more of a caestetic effort, so you're body is moving dynamically and thus burning killer calories. but an hour on a bike... you're just going to get bored and once you look focus, you lose drive... when thats gone, i just give up. So thats my two cents.

[Executive]

Sorry, one more thing... i use a continuous feed heart rate monitor for my HIIT regime which is really the most important part. The effort then is no longer to endure the whole minute of sprinting pain... but rather, to get your heart rate up to 181bps which becomes a visual goal... you're mind becomes blank from the pain, and only after the minute is up do you realise how painfully out of breath you've become.

[White-Tiger]

It really depends on how much muscle you are willing to lose.

Imagine it this way. Glucose and protein are fast sources of energy while fats are a slow source of energy. High-intensity cardio will burn more calories faster, leading to faster weight loss but at the cost of increased muscles being loss to fuel the workout. Slow intensity cardio relies more on fats for fuel, so you get to preserve your hard-earned muscle...however you burn less calories per period of time and thus need to spend more time to lose the same amount of overall weight.

If you're just starting out and have very little muscle and lots of fat, then the fastest way to get to a reasonable weight would be high-intensity cardio. If you've got a reasonable amount of muscle you would like to maintain during the fat loss process, a low-intensity cardio (HR at 50-65%max) for 1h 5-6 times a week would be ideal.

[Melonbob]

OK, seeing as I have alot of fat and little muscle (well, probably more muscle than the average joe, but less than anyone here) I will go HIIT. So whats the most proper way to go about this? A minute moderate, then a minute full out? Two minutes? A progressive buildup then a drop? please forgive the newbie here. I'm 36.

[White-Tiger]

HIIT is a good choice in your situation then, it's a double whammy of increased weight loss and increases aerobic fitness to boot.

If you're currently out of shape, you might find doing 1 minute moderate followed by 1 minute full-out is a little tough. What I would recommend is that you gradually build up to that goal. Start with 2 min moderate followed by 1 minute full-out, try to get to a full 30 min. Once you reach that, try for a total of 40 min. Then we you feel up to it, go 1min moderate/1min full out for as long as you can handle, then try to up that time with each workout.

Although, this is not my area of expertise and I am sure many other users will have different opinions. That's just how I did it when I started out...

[Executive]

Yah, i think White-Tiger's views on 2 min moderate and 1 minute full-out is pretty good. You could also do 1 min moderate and 30 sec. full-out, as i've seen recommended on another bodybuilding website... the only problem i personally have with that approach is, by minute 8 or 9 of your full-out effort, you want to be breaking through your 80% to 90% max heart rate... thats the critical part here and again why a good continuous feed heart rate monitor is imparative... but the problem with 30 seconds is at least personally... it takes me 30 seconds of sprint effort to get my heart rate up to 80%... i need another 30 to get it up to 90%. May not be the case with you right off the bat, depending on your resting heart rate and general level of fitness, but eventually it will become a problem.

So i'd go with White-Tiger's suggestion of 2min off, 1 min on... but make that 1 minute worth it.

[tiramisu]

IF you can only make 30 minutes for cardio after your workout intervals are likely the best choice

BUT this is not the best choice for fat loss and muscle maintanance while weight training.

1. Weight loss is primarily a diet issue. You need to be eating well and running a deficit. By well, I mean you need to be getting adequate protein despite the caloric deficit.

2. Long Slow cardio is most effective but it takes a lot of it and you need to increase it over the duration of the diet. Your body is smart and efficient and will adjust.

3, Weight training on a caloric deficit should be intense and not long. It's easy to overtrain and almost impossible to add muscle in a caloric deficit.


While there is plenty of debate amongst theorists on intervals vs. lsd for fat loss there is almost none amongst competitive bodybuilders. 2 hours a day on a god damn treadmill is a horrible punishment and I promise if intervals worked even AS WELL without muscle loss then competitive bodybuilders would have jumped ship a long time ago.

I promise you that I will be doing intervals for cardio while gaining weight this year rather than walking on the dreadmill it sucks.

[Delt King]

If you were to get your diet perfect it's possible to lose bodyfat without ever doing a minute of cardio. As i proved that last year when i won my class at the Ontario's, i lost 32.5lbs over a period of 4.5mths months.

I'm not saying it's easier, i'm just saying it's possible.

Good luck with your cutting.

[steve_d]

best way to do it is the way that keeps you motivated long term. If you can burn 500 calories at a moderate pace everyday and you enjoy it vs. burning 1000 a day hating every minute of cardio, then the obvious choice is to do what you enjoy doing. Besides you're better off losing gradual.

You will probably only get lasting results if you find something you can do for the long haul. Otherwise you'll fall in the path of most yo-yo dieters/exercisers.

[Praetorian]

I've done a ton of reading, but can't seem to find anyone to agree on this. What is the best way for me to do cardio for weight loss. I have 30min after my workout, but I would like to know if a steady moderate pace is better, or going from lower to higher intensity? Right now I'm doing 4 minute intervals, going from a heart rate of about 130ish at the low point to 145ish at the high points. I've tried to keep around 120 or so for the whole workout, but it seems like I'm doing nothing?

The type of optimal cardio you should be doing is dependant on the type of diet you are running. The diet will determine what source of fuel is being used and thus cardio should be chosen accordingly.
P

[CallmeB]

Your kidding? you got stage ready without doing any cardio? How is that possible?

[Delt King]

Your kidding? you got stage ready without doing any cardio? How is that possible?

My diet started at 2800 cals and reduced with time, they got pretty low near the end 1400 on most days with small carb ups every 4 days. It's not how i train my clients but i wanted to try something different. Some contests in the past i did an hour and a half per day... now that was torture. Also i find cardio makes me hungrier.
Really i wanted to prove that it could be done.

[CallmeB]

Were you doing high intensity workouts or anything? Clen? T3's? Loosing that amount of weight must have meant you went from what? 15% BF to 5 or 6%??
Did you maintain more muscle mass this way as opposed to the ol Tredmill way?

[tiramisu]

My diet started at 2800 cals and reduced with time, they got pretty low near the end 1400 on most days with small carb ups every 4 days. It's not how i train my clients but i wanted to try something different. Some contests in the past i did an hour and a half per day... now that was torture. Also i find cardio makes me hungrier.
Really i wanted to prove that it could be done.


What was the rebound like? 1400 is a little scary.

[Melonbob]

OK, so this is what I did today. Two minute intervals, simply because thats the preset on the Precor. I took your advise and didn't try to go full out for the entire two minutes cause I didn't think I'd last long. I'd increase my intensity by about 50% for the first half of the High, and then go pretty much as hard as I can handle for the last mintue. The slow down for two minutes. My heart rate was hitting around 135ish for the "low" two minutes...about 145-150 ish for the first minute of the "high" and around 160ish for the last minute of the high. Are these numbers decent? Cause I thought I was gonna die a few times! lol! I managed 26 minutes out of my goal of 30 and completely caved......lol. Anyways whats everyones take on this? Thanks again guys.

[Delt King]

Were you doing high intensity workouts or anything? Clen? T3's? Loosing that amount of weight must have meant you went from what? 15% BF to 5 or 6%??
Did you maintain more muscle mass this way as opposed to the ol Tredmill way?

Yeah maintained more muscle IMO.

Rebound was huge but not anymore than usual post contest for me when it turns into an eating fest.

[SamTHorn]

Try this.

Go to the pool and sit in the hot tube until you start sweating and then jump into the regular pool until you start shivering. Continue procedure...

This will increase your fat loss by up to 20 time the conventional ways.

[White-Tiger]

Try this.

Go to the pool and sit in the hot tube until you start sweating and then jump into the regular pool until you start shivering. Continue procedure...

This will increase your fat loss by up to 20 time the conventional ways.

Yeahh...show me studies that back that claim up...lol.

[clicker666]

You know what the best cardio is?

The cardio you a) like and b) will do.

Some people can't do HIIT every day, but for the most part you can do LISS every day. If I burn 500 calories doing HIIT, and 400 doing LISS but can do LISS twice as much - guess which wins as far as burning calories. The EPOC of HIIT isn't high enough to make up the difference either.

TL,DR - do something.

[riccosuabe]

when i cut i do 30 moderate first thing on an empty stomach, weights after work at 5pm then around 8 30-9pm take my dog for a 45min walk and pretty much does the job for me.i tried hiit for a while and i felt i lost some mass