What to eat b4/after cardio on cut? [Forum Archive]

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What to eat b4/after cardio on cut?

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Posted by: ddawg

I am about to transition from a bulking to diet to a cutting diet and I plan on doing weights 3 times a week and cardio four times a week. For my cardio I will be doing moderate intensity for 30-45 minutes and I will be doing it in the afternoon. My question is, should I treat my nutrition for my cardio the same as a weightlifting day.....eat a solid meal an hour before, a shake right after, and then another solid meal an hour after that or is it different for a cut. Also, if a shake is required what should I put in it b/c for bulking my shake consists of oatmeal, whey, and a banana.

Posted by: Purdue Power

The best times to do cardio are either first thing in the morning or last thing at night. If you are doing it first thing in the morning, you will be burning stored nutrients instead of what is in your stomach from eating that day. Therefore, you will eat nothing before that cardio session. Afterwards, have a normal breakfast(oatmeal, whey, and/or eggs). If you are doing cardio last thing at night, you will be burning off anything left in your system before you go to bed so that none of it is stored in fat cells when you sleep. Therefore, you will eat nothing afterwards. You will want to wait an hour and a half to two hours after your last meal to do this cardio session. The last meal of the day should have veggie carbs only, if any at all.

Posted by: ReelBigFish

how much cardio are you doing right now? if it's none, then I wouldn't jump into 4 days a week right away. Start at like 3 days a week for 30 mins or so and then if you stall you can add more time say 10 mins per session and then once you get to 45 mins a session then think about adding another day. or something like that.

Posted by: Purdue Power

There is such a thing as too much cardio. You can cause serious catabolism and eat away at the muscle mass that you have built up. I wouldn't go any more than every other day to begin with.

Posted by: KentDog

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purdue Power

If you are doing cardio last thing at night, you will be burning off anything left in your system before you go to bed so that none of it is stored in fat cells when you sleep. Therefore, you will eat nothing afterwards. You will want to wait an hour and a half to two hours after your last meal to do this cardio session. The last meal of the day should have veggie carbs only, if any at all.

I don't agree with this. If you believe this, then what would be the purpose of bedtime meals? You would be starving like crazy the next morning. It can't be good to starve your body for that long of a time, which would also probably hamper any sort of morning workout. I think the general concensus is that the two best times for cardio would be first thing in the morning, and right after lifting. Also, the last meal of the day should typically consist of mainly fats and proteins.

Posted by: KentDog

To answer your question:
- If you decide to do cardio first thing in the morning.. some people recommend doing it on an empty stomach, others recommend a light meal or shake before. After your cardio, eat breakfast.
- If you are doing cardio right after a lifting workout, have your PWO lifting shake (banana optional on cut), then a real meal an hour to two later.

Posted by: Emma-Leigh

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddawg

I am about to transition from a bulking to diet to a cutting diet and I plan on doing weights 3 times a week and cardio four times a week. For my cardio I will be doing moderate intensity for 30-45 minutes and I will be doing it in the afternoon. My question is, should I treat my nutrition for my cardio the same as a weightlifting day.....eat a solid meal an hour before, a shake right after, and then another solid meal an hour after that or is it different for a cut. Also, if a shake is required what should I put in it b/c for bulking my shake consists of oatmeal, whey, and a banana.

Ok - fasted cardio... Well... Not the best option if you are trying to retain as much muscle mass as you can. Sure - if you are in a hurry to get off a LOT of weight and it doesn't matter to you what it is then you could do it and it may give you slightly better results... And it is fine if it is lower intensty or if you are severely obese or if you have severe insulin resistance - but in most other cases it is not necessary and can be counterproductive.

Also all that stuff about you should to it 'first thing in the morning' crap is just crap... At the end of the day it is about creating a calorie deficiency so the best thing to do is "when ever you can do the cardio", so if you have to do it in the afternoon then do it in the afternoon.

Plus the comments on doing it last thing at night, when cutting, you don't want to 'drain your body' and then following it with a small (unbalanced) meal is not good advice either. Having a food feed your evening is actually a beneficial thing - it will help to preserve lean mass loss during your calorie deficiency and therefore help get you a better result. People who are on a calorie restriction who eat a larger meal before bed will lose less lean mass than those who have a small meal (and this is also why carbs before bed will help your results!!!).

In terms of what you should eat before and after your afternoon cardio sessions - it partially depends on what type of diet you are doing and it also depends on the intensity of your cardio.

But generally, pre-cardio you should just have a normal meal (somrthing that should have a good balance of carbs and proteins with a tiny bit of fat) about 60-90 minutes beforehand.

Then, if you are only doing a moderate cardio session, a PWO shake is not really necessary (unless it is after your workouts). So a good food meal of carbs and proteins is sufficient. eg: Oats and egg-whites or some brown rice and tuna.

If it was higher in intensity or much longer in duration (>90 minutes) then you would probably benefit from a shake...

Posted by: ddawg

So let's say I do higher intensity cardio (HIIT) for 20-30 minutes...what would you suggest consuming right after I finish....a protein shake consisting of what?

Posted by: Emma-Leigh

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddawg

So let's say I do higher intensity cardio (HIIT) for 20-30 minutes...what would you suggest consuming right after I finish....a protein shake consisting of what?

If you have had a good meal beforehand and you are cutting, then you still want a shake with both carbs and protein - but you probably do not need a shake with the volume of carbs and protein as in your workouts.

So a shake that has half to 2/3 a normal shake may be sufficient:
~0.25-0.33 x lean mass in carbs
~0.17-0.25 x lean mass in protein

eg: If you have ~150 pounds lean mass then -
carbs/pound lean mass = ~35-50g carbs
protein/pound lean mass = ~20-35g protein

So you could have:
0.33 cups oats (100 cals, 18g carb, 3.3g protein, 1.7g fat)
1 scoop whey (~100 cals, 25g protein)
1 x 4 oz banana (~110 cals, 27g carbs)
TOTAL = ~300 cals, 45g carbs, 28.5g protein, 1.7g fat

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