Thread: cardio plan

I am so tired of all the controdicting opinions on cardio: Empty stomach/not empty, morning/night, after workout/seperate day, before workout/at least 8 hours after.

I am buying a cardio machine for home and here is what I would like to do: 5:30am-6:15 Cardio, 7:15 meal, 8:30 meal or oats and whey, 9:30 workout. Should my body be recovered enough and fueled enough to lift at 9:30 after a 5:30 cardio session?

Originally Posted by overboard

I am so tired of all the controdicting opinions on cardio: Empty stomach/not empty, morning/night, after workout/seperate day, before workout/at least 8 hours after.

I am buying a cardio machine for home and here is what I would like to do: 5:30am-6:15 Cardio, 7:15 meal, 8:30 meal or oats and whey, 9:30 workout. Should my body be recovered enough and fueled enough to lift at 9:30 after a 5:30 cardio session?

Empty stomach cardio is stupid and pointless in my opinion. Some people swear by it, but I really don't see the point. Either you are eating in a negative energy balance and your body has to resort to your energy stores at some point during the day, or you aren't. Even if you do stimulate lipolysis with fasted cardio, if you aren't eating in a negative energy balance, then your body is going to replenish that fat later in the day. If you really feel you must do it, at least ingest protein and BCAAs prior to the activity to prevent muscle breakdown and still reap the supposed benefit that fasted cardio has to offer. Also, make sure it is low intensity activity.

It is better to perform exercise in the morning if you are looking for weight loss. This is because you will make the most of the metabolic boost that vigorous physical activity creates. Of course, if the activity is not high intensity/anaerobic in nature, which is the case with steady state cardio, then this boost is going to be smaller anyway. However, it's probably not important enough to worry about. You should train whenever is most convenient for you; a time that you will be consistent with.

If possible, it is best to perform cardio on a separate day from your lifting. However, this is probably not necessary for most. If you are performing lifting and cardio back to back, then lift first, possibly ingest some protein and carbohydrates, and do the cardio afterward. If you are separating the session, then try to separate them by at least 6 hours to allow your endocrine system to return to a "resting" state.

So, my suggestion is that you separate the two sessions by more time if at all possible; at least 6 hours as stated previously. If you can perform them on separate days, then great. If not, then do what you can. If you can't really separate the sessions by more than 3 hours as you have it, then I don't think you're going to shrivel up and die. It probably just isn't optimal for improvements in either area of performance related fitness. If you are just going for health, then it probably doesn't matter as much. I still say fasted cardio is nonsensical.