Best cardio routine?

[Mariko78]

I started to find out about minimal intensity cardio, substantial intensity interval training and I started out to use a variety of cardio machines available at the gym.
What is your best cardio routine ?

 

[the_predator]

I think HIIT(high intensity interval training) works best for me. It's short and sweet but still smokes your balls.

 

[sneedham]

I have bee doing a little research into HIIT and it seems to be the way to go and may actually help you to gain muscle. Where the; I have to stay on the tread mill for an hour may actually break down muscle. Very interesting at the least. I plan on changing up my cardio tomorrow at the gym.

 

[pjreiff]

HIIT OR steady state cardio in the 65% MHR range for no more than 30 minutes seems to work for me. I do my cardio first thing in the AM on an empty stomach in order to burn fat for fuel. It's really pretty logical when you think about it: if you goal is to look like a marathon runner, then train like one spending countless hours doing cardio. If you're a body builder, the focus should be on burning fat while retaining muscle which is accomplished by HIIT of fat burning cardio for short periods of time.

 

[Kenny Croxdale]

I do my cardio first thing in the AM on an empty stomach in order to burn fat for fuel.

Fasted Cardio Ineffective

I was in that camp at one time. However, not any more.

Research along with empirical data indicate otherwise.

Does Cardio After an Overnight Fast Maximize Fat Loss? : Strength & Conditioning Journal

"...the literature does not support the efficacy of training early in the morning on an empty stomach as a tactic to reduce body fat. At best, the net effect on fat loss associated with such an approach will be no better than training after meal consumption, and quite possibly, it would produce inferior results. Moreover, given that training with depleted glycogen levels has been shown to increase proteolysis, the strategy has potential detrimental effects for those concerned with muscle strength and hypertrophy."

Kenny Croxdale

 

[hypo_glycemic]

Fasted Cardio Ineffective

I was in that camp at one time. However, not any more.

Research along with empirical data indicate otherwise.

Does Cardio After an Overnight Fast Maximize Fat Loss? : Strength & Conditioning Journal

"...the literature does not support the efficacy of training early in the morning on an empty stomach as a tactic to reduce body fat. At best, the net effect on fat loss associated with such an approach will be no better than training after meal consumption, and quite possibly, it would produce inferior results. Moreover, given that training with depleted glycogen levels has been shown to increase proteolysis, the strategy has potential detrimental effects for those concerned with muscle strength and hypertrophy."

Kenny Croxdale

Would fasted cardio (AM) reduce cortisol levels since they're at the highest upon awaking in the morning??

 

[Kenny Croxdale]

I have bee doing a little research into HIIT and it seems to be the way to go and may actually help you to gain muscle. Where the; I have to stay on the tread mill for an hour may actually break down muscle. Very interesting at the least. I plan on changing up my cardio tomorrow at the gym.

An Hour of Cardio

Research has demonstrate running for a hour creates a specific catabolic effect.

Specific means the catabolic effect is on the legs, not the upper body.

Thus, running will "Shrink" the size and strength of your legs.

Cardio with Drs Norton and Wilson (Audio Seminar)
Muscle College with Dr. Layne Norton & Dr. Jake Wilson! The Doctors talks CARDIO!!!

This is an excellent audio exchange of research information on this topic by Drs Norton and Wilson.

Fasted Cardio

In the research presented by them, they go into how Fasted Cardio does NOT lower body fat percentage based on research Brad Schoenfeld, PhDc.

"Abs are make in the kitchen."

While cardio helps in fat lost, diet is the real key.

Cardio Cuts Into Recovery

Another problem with cardio is that it decreases you recovery time.

Thus, one of key is to find out what is enough and what is too much.

This innovative High Intensity Training Method appears to be a viable method.

How To Get Fit With 3 Minutes Of Exercise A Week

This research has demonstrated that Three 20 second Sprints performed Three times a week will make you fit and keep you fit.

This method also elevates you metabolic rate.

Documentary

Is Three Minutes of Exercise Enough? (2:28 minute Cliff Notes)
High Intensity Training - Horizon: The Truth About Exercise - BBC Two - YouTube

This provides you with a "Snapshot" perspective.

A "Snapshot" never give you the whole picture.

The Truth About Exercise: Hour BBC Documentary
The truth about exercise - a BBC documentary

This is a full hour documentary. This provide you with a greater in depth analysis of the results.

The Intensity-Time Relationship

There is an inverse relationship between Intensity and Time.

When Intensity goes up, Time goes down.

Went Time goes up, Intensity goes down.

The "Three Minutes of (Cardio) Exercise A Week Program

It doesn't sound like much.

However, if you preform it as prescribed, it will toast you.

Tabata Protocol

This is a somewhat similar method in which you cardio is 4 minutes.

Research demonstrated an anomalous effect. It produced both an aerobic and anerobic effect...as most High Intensity Interval Training Programs do.

Take Home Points

1) Diet is the key to decreasing body fat.

2) The objective of cardio in burning body fat is to increases you post training metabolism (Excess Post Oxygen Consumption, EPOC).

3) High Intensity Interval Training is the key to EPOC...a post elevated metabolism.

4) Short HIIT Programs ("3 Minutes Per Week" or the Tabata Protocol) create the EPOC metabolic effect without placing you in a catabolic state.

Kenny Croxdale

 

[Kenny Croxdale]

Would fasted cardio (AM) reduce cortisol levels since they're at the highest upon awaking in the morning??

Intense Exercise Elevates Cortisol

"During strenuous and sustained exercise...causes the release of cortisol."

"...Blood levels can be regulated to a significant degree during exercise by controlling glucose availability. ...When athletes were given a 6 percent carbohydrate solution during exercise, cortisol levels dropped by almost 80 percent compared to subjects receiving water." Page 39-40/Nutrient Timing/Drs John Ivy and Robert Portman.

Nutrient Timing

This is a great book. It examines how your training session is enhanced with a Pre, Peri and Post Workout Beverage.

Growth Hormone Via Fasted Cardio

Another factor that is touted about Fasted Cardio is that it produces the release of Growth Hormone. This is true.

Research has shown that carbohydrates ingested before, during or after a training session trigger insulin release.

Insulin depresses Growth Hormone Release.

However, that's not the whole story.

Dietary supplements affect the anabolic hormones after weight-training exercise.
Dietary supplements affect the anaboli... [J Appl Physiol (1985). 1994] - PubMed - NCBI

Research by Ivy demonstrated that elevation in Growth Hormone rebounded 6 hours post workout.

Thus, you're not missing the "Growth Hormone Effect" if you ingest a Pre, Peri and Post Workout Beverage.

EAS Supplement-National Strength and Conditioning Clinic

The Fasted Cardio and Pre, Peri and Post Workout Beverage issue was addressed by Dr John Ivy at this clinic that I attended in Seattle, October 2011.

As per Ivy, an individual who trains in a fasted state and ingest nothing afterward has wasted his/her training time.

Rather than creating an anabolic environment for muscle growth, their fasted training has placed them in a catabolic state.

That meaning that you burned fat and worst of all you burned muscle, as well.

Kenny Croxdale

 

[hypo_glycemic]

Intense Exercise Elevates Cortisol

"During strenuous and sustained exercise...causes the release of cortisol."

"...Blood levels can be regulated to a significant degree during exercise by controlling glucose availability. ...When athletes were given a 6 percent carbohydrate solution during exercise, cortisol levels dropped by almost 80 percent compared to subjects receiving water." Page 39-40/Nutrient Timing/Drs John Ivy and Robert Portman.

Nutrient Timing

This is a great book. It examines how your training session is enhanced with a Pre, Peri and Post Workout Beverage.

Growth Hormone Via Fasted Cardio

Another factor that is touted about Fasted Cardio is that it produces the release of Growth Hormone. This is true.

Research has shown that carbohydrates ingested before, during or after a training session trigger insulin release.

Insulin depresses Growth Hormone Release.

However, that's not the whole story.

Dietary supplements affect the anabolic hormones after weight-training exercise.
Dietary supplements affect the anaboli... [J Appl Physiol (1985). 1994] - PubMed - NCBI

Research by Ivy demonstrated that elevation in Growth Hormone rebounded 6 hours post workout.

Thus, you're not missing the "Growth Hormone Effect" if you ingest a Pre, Peri and Post Workout Beverage.

EAS Supplement-National Strength and Conditioning Clinic

The Fasted Cardio and Pre, Peri and Post Workout Beverage issue was addressed by Dr John Ivy at this clinic that I attended in Seattle, October 2011.

As per Ivy, an individual who trains in a fasted state and ingest nothing afterward has wasted his/her training time.

Rather than creating an anabolic environment for muscle growth, their fasted training has placed them in a catabolic state.

That meaning that you burned fat and worst of all you burned muscle, as well.

Kenny Croxdale

^^ I was curious. . Thanks