Cardio - Exercise & Fitness Message Board

Belles150 · 11-30-2005, 10:05 AM

I have been doing cardio for about half a year and am happy with the results. But I am loooking to excellerate progress in the next four months becuase I am going on vacation. The only thing I am looking for is to burn fat. How long should I be running and what kind should I do and how often? Right now I go about 5 days a week for 20-25 mins. Thanks.

Naxis · 11-30-2005, 06:09 PM

Diet should be first priority. But that wasn't your question.

The best fat burning, muscle sparing cardio workouts are long duration-low/med intensity sessions or HIIT sessions. A combination of the two generally works best. HIIT maybe 2-3x a week and walking on high incline for 45-60 minutes for the rest of your cardio days. Eliptical on low resistance or slow jog are just as good depending on what you have available to you.
As long as diet is in check.

Belles150 · 11-30-2005, 06:42 PM

Naxis, as far as diet goes should I focus on calories taken and burned or should I try to get more or less of a certain group? Also if I burn more calories that I eat does that directly translate into fat loss?

Naxis · 11-30-2005, 07:48 PM

A certain group? I don't know what that means. You just need to be conscious of calories and keep a daily deficit. Burning more than you eat doesn't *directly* translate to fat loss necessarily, but _weight_ loss, certainly. If your diet isn't clean, if you're not getting enough protein, if you're in TOO MUCH of a calorie deficit, you risk losing muscle instead of fat, so you have to be moderate and smart about your method. No more than 500-1000 calorie deficit a day, and ideally smaller meals every 2-3 hours.

snuggle377 · 12-01-2005, 07:36 AM

Naxis, I'd like your opinion on the best time to do cardio. Am I doing more harm than good by doing an hour of cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach?