Thread: Pre/post intake for cardio sessions

Depends first what you're doing the cardio for. If you're looking to improve fat loss, it is usually recommended to do either fasted cardio, e.g. first thing in the morning before you've eaten. Or right after training when you've used up all your glycogen for lifting, and then go do your cardio to continue w/ the fat burning.

If you're doing it as part of your training, e.g. if you're a runner or triathlete, then you should be fueling for it. If not, then I don't think you need to fuel for it because your point is turn burn up more fat, not fuel for it, burn it up and then its sort of a wash for your efforts.

In either case (AM cardio or post-workout), if you are feeling like low blood sugar, then I'd sip on a low cal energy drink or maybe a half a protein shake. I know I've done a half a grapefruit when I'm doinig a lot of AM cardio for my contest prep, and I'm just fucking hungry. I don't see the point of doing cardio when I'm starving. Low blood sugar, absolutely I'd eat something. But not like Pre or PWO like we talk about for lifting. Just enough to keep me from feeling hungry or light-headed.

After either (AM cardio or PWO cardio) I would continue on w/ my regular meal schedule - I usually have breakfast after a shower (so like a 30 min delay between cardio & eating), or my regular last meal of the day or second to last meal of the day after training + cardio.

Originally Posted by sassy69

Depends first what you're doing the cardio for. If you're looking to improve fat loss, it is usually recommended to do either fasted cardio, e.g. first thing in the morning before you've eaten.

Sassy, I'd be rather interested to hear your take on Will Brink's conclusion/overall message regarding fasted cardio. Would you mind taking a look at this video? It's about six minutes long.

I don't really have any opinion on it because he didn't provide the specific reference (not feeling like going to his website to see a bibliography). He also references "aerobics" which is a broad definition - I personally don't do HIIT cardio when I'm doing AM cardio. I'm doing SS for about an hour at a time. I also do it post workout - which can technically fit into the "duration" he's talking about.

As I said - it depends on what you are trying to accomplish. I spend my "energy" in my lifting sessions, and my cardio sessions are more of a SS cruise. I am also very consistent in my cardio sessions - I find the consistency is actually one of the most important aspects for me to get results. I'm not worried about counting how much I 'burned' in a given session.

I would further say I'm most likely to get a side cramp or start feeling sick if I do eat anything more than maybe 1/2 grapefruit or a bit of protein mix before doing cardio.

So that's my stand. As Will points out, there's a bit of dogma around "fasted cardio" but I've got 11 yrs of competition experience w/ a variety of trainers from local guys to IFBB Pros and, at least for competitoin prep, you already have a limited set of calories you have to work with, so all of my preps have been including double cardio and a meal schedule that matches with no resources spent on Pre / Post cardio.

Ah, interesting. Thank you for the input.

I am doing this purely for fat loss. The message I seem to be
getting is that:

(1) If you do not have enough energy to perform a session,
getting a little bit of something is good (for me that will probably
just be whey)

(2) Generally avoiding pre/post intake for cardio is a good idea.

In my current training I run in the afternoon for 45-60 minutes,
rest about 3-4 hours, then workout for 45-60 mins.

It looks like it might be best for me to swap and combine the
two activities, and keep everything to around an hour.
Is this an accurate statement?

The time of day that I eat my carbs also seems to be critical.

The issue of body fat loss is more perplexing than ever.
I think the only real way I will resolve this is via trial and error.

For now I am going to try and limit my carb intake throughout
the day, skip it mostly for all pre/post workouts, and take my
carb portions late into the evening/night with most protein dense foods
throughout the day.

Workouts in the afternoon, and either LIT or HIIT afterwards.

According to Mauro a person should be able to lose 1-2.5 lbs/week
and retain muscle if everything is accurate. Hitting this number
will be my main goal for the next 12 weeks.

Thanks guys

I found this research article on the topic of cardio
intensity. Can anyone around critique their arguments
and findings? I don't know the biology/physiology well
enough.

Sassy, what are your thoughts on using just BCAA's during cardio? Post training I will sometimes use 10g in water to get me through 30-45 minutes of SS cardio and then have my PWO shake after. Your thoughts??

Originally Posted by Anabolic5150

Sassy, what are your thoughts on using just BCAA's during cardio? Post training I will sometimes use 10g in water to get me through 30-45 minutes of SS cardio and then have my PWO shake after. Your thoughts??

The literature overwhelmingly supports a 45-60 minute window postworkout
where your muscles are primed for nutrient uptake. I would suggest
limiting your cardio to 30 minutes postworkout to ensure you can hit
that window and allow sufficient time for the synthesis that needs to
happen. Taking it at 45 minutes could be borderline suboptimal.

I am also bundling my workout session/cardio, and taking about
10 g of whey between to keep me going. Sometimes I also add 5-15 g
of a carb to help stay in sync with the synthesis theory. This is definitely
on track of the best way of supplementing. There isn't much information
on this particular topic, however.

Originally Posted by sosc

The literature overwhelmingly supports a 45-60 minute window postworkout
where your muscles are primed for nutrient uptake. I would suggest
limiting your cardio to 30 minutes postworkout to ensure you can hit
that window and allow sufficient time for the synthesis that needs to
happen. Taking it at 45 minutes could be borderline suboptimal.

I am also bundling my workout session/cardio, and taking about
10 g of whey between to keep me going. Sometimes I also add 5-15 g
of a carb to help stay in sync with the synthesis theory. This is definitely
on track of the best way of supplementing. There isn't much information
on this particular topic, however.

Thanks!!