Best Cardio: 200m Sprint or a 3 mile Jog?

[Testosterone]

I've been jogging/running 3-4 miles 3 times a week early morning and in the evening for quite sometime now. Although there has been dramatic fat loss but the serious side effect is that I've lost plenty of my power of late. Although I'm on good diet and consume 45g Whey Protein immediately after cardio without carbs, still I lose plenty of power when I'm on this type of Cardio. This cardio takes about 30 minutes non-stop.

I intend to change this routine and shrink this routine into highly intense 2-3 minutes routine which will be 2-3 sprints of 200m each.

Will this prevent the Muscle loss & Strength loss problem and still give me as good as results as my previous routine?
If not necessarily true, What precautions do I have to take in my first routine so that I do not lose my muscle size and strength?

I welcome all opinions of experienced athletes.

 

[atherjen]

I am a HUGE advocate of sprinting!!
I have been doing them for years... since I was 13 I remember correctly. They do wonders to your legs in recompositiong than simple running or steady cardio. Ever seen the legs of Olympic spinters vs. runners?? Not only can you build more power with them but IMO the overall metabolism kick that you get from these is very beneficial to any dieter. Ive read a few studies somewhere explaining how sprinting had anabolic effect vs prolonged cardio being somewhat catabolic.

precautions? make sure you do a light warmup prior, stretch only LIGHTLY(leave the length stretching after sprints/cooldown). Ease your way into them, dont go ALL out the first few goes. Make sure you have a quality pair of supportive sneakers as well. Oh and dont drink ALOT of water either-sip it. too much in your stomach and you'll puke it out!
last note-be ready to sweat like crazy.

 

[P-funk]

defenitly sprints over long duration cardio for me as well.

 

[kvyd]

ive read also sprinting can have effects on core strength and the fat loss brings abs right out

 

[Testosterone]

So, do you compare Sprinting to a high intensity training?
If yes, what would a post sprint drink would be? - Simple Protein or Protein + Carbs. I'm afraid if Post Sprint Shake which will include carbs conflict with the fat burning hormone that sprinting induces, so wouldn't it be better to take the carbs one hour later and simply drink Protein Shake immediately after sprinting?
On the other hand, sprinting can lower Glycogen levels much more effectively than jogging, So wouldn't it be just fine to take small amount of carbs?

It's all confusing -- !!
I need your throughts backed up by experience.
Thanks in advance!

 

[atherjen]

personally I have stuck to just protein and carbs post sprinting. and never choose high GI carbs either. thats just me though

 

[once was fat]

Suicides are the bomb. If you dont know what they are here you go.

It dosent have to be on a basketball court but its the best example.

Start at one end of the court and sprint to the nearest foul line and back. Next sprint to half court and back. Next sprint to the furthest foul line and back and last sprint the whole court and back. Do this without stopping. I like to call them sets. foul line half court other foul line whole court 1 set. Do 5 or 6 of these and you will be sweating like a mad man.

 

[Premo55]

^ I hate suicides. Worst part of every varsity team training session.

Peace.

 

[once was fat]

Originally posted by Premo55
^ I hate suicides. Worst part of every varsity team training session.

Peace.

But you have to agree they get your heart rate up really good and dam there painful.

 

[BettyBlu]

I have been doing sprints and noticed a big difference.
Here's a link http://www.musclemedia.com/training/hiit.asp
This one gets gradually more challenging. But it's a lot of fun, because you notice improvements immediately.

 

[atherjen]

Originally posted by once was fat
But you have to agree they get your heart rate up really good and dam there painful.

I suicides!!! but I think that it was just the satisfaction of beating everyone else on my team at them!
man do I ever miss ball practices!!

 

[arbntmare]

so.,.. i am trying to cause fat burning... i know doing long period of simple cardio will do the job.. but i am trying out the high intensity running business... 30-45 max speed 45sec cool down and redo...

i have only done it few times to 10-14 mins.. but i can probably do more casue i am tired after them but not completely tired.. was wondering what is the recommended time for this type of workout??

i know when i use to do simple cardio i would like to get to certain mile range.. usually about 4miles..

thanks

 

[atherjen]

20mins of intervals or sprinting will do the trick

 

[arbntmare]

hrm okay time to train to get to that level.. i hope i can do it, so how many times a week? 3 times sufficent to get me to lose 2 lbs of fat a week?

 

[Testosterone]

I would do it on non-training days, i.e., 3 times a week.
Evening sprints are more powerful than morning sprints.

 

[LAM]

Originally posted by Testosterone
Evening sprints are more powerful than morning sprints.

how do figure ?

the metabolism slows to a crawl once you go to sleep regardless of what type of exercise is perfromed during the day. to take full advantage of the increased metabolic activity (aka. Afterburn effect) from interval training it is best done early in the day..

but of course sprinting at night is always better than not sprinting at all...

 

[Testosterone]

Early morning, body is robbed off glycogen. An all out sprint demands Full-Tank Glycogen levels. Jogging or Cardio is different thing altogether, you can do it empty stomach.
Evening time, body has better reserves of carbohydrate fuel so that sprints become more intense.
After all its all about intensity!

 

[LAM]

Originally posted by Testosterone
Early morning, body is robbed off glycogen. An all out sprint demands Full-Tank Glycogen levels. Jogging or Cardio is different thing altogether, you can do it empty stomach.
Evening time, body has better reserves of carbohydrate fuel so that sprints become more intense.
After all its all about intensity!

ATP is the primary energy source used during sprinting, not glycogen..

 

[Testosterone]

What accounts for ATP?

 

[LAM]

Originally posted by Testosterone
What accounts for ATP?

http://www.nismat.org/physcor/energy_supply.html

 

[Jake]

"Although I'm on good diet and consume 45g Whey Protein immediately after cardio without carbs, still I lose plenty of power when I'm on this type of Cardio. "

Eat carbs after you sprint or do any cardio. Your getting very little benefit from the protein if it consumed alone. Your body is starved for simple sugars after any cardio, and will burn out anything you eat in hopes of finding them. You would be better off eating the protean with a comparable of greater amount of carbs, about an hour after you are finished cardio.

But ya, sprints are a better form of cardio for fat burn and increasing VO2 max, but not for endurance.

 

[sli]

can you break down a 20 min interval of your sprints for me, Atherjen (or anyone else)? I wanna try!

 

[Testosterone]

Eating simple carbs immediately after cardio: Will the insulin rise will not conflict with the fat burning hormones that are induced after a cardio? Or will the complex carbs can do the trick?

Originally posted by Jake
Eat carbs after you sprint or do any cardio. Your getting very little benefit from the protein if it consumed alone. Your body is starved for simple sugars after any cardio, and will burn out anything you eat in hopes of finding them. You would be better off eating the protean with a comparable of greater amount of carbs, about an hour after you are finished cardio.

But ya, sprints are a better form of cardio for fat burn and increasing VO2 max, but not for endurance.

 

[Rich46yo]

I'd forget the running all together and instead do 20 mins to 30 mins on a stair stepper/eliptical type trainer. In my 20s I made the mistake of running way to much,then,lifting afterwards. Eventually I was running 30 to 40 miles a week and trying to keep up a lifting schedual. Eventually it not only caused me to regress but actually broke my body down and caused injury. If I had a time machine to go back I would have eliminated "running" completely from my workout.

But thats how powerful the "high" is from running serious distance. If I had to do it again I'd walk,bike,row,stair step,eliptical, for shorter times and more intensity. We used to do suicides for football. Yeah they are intense but all that twisting/stopping/starting can cause injury.

Testo only you can answer this but its very possable your overtraining. Running 3 miles 3 times a week, if your young, shouldnt make you regress with your weights, as long as your working out right. Your going to have to give your body one or two days a week to completely rest, as I didnt do in my type-A20's, you'll never gain.

Overtraining is the most insidious enemy to making gains for an athlete. Many goal driven,type-A's, "as I was", in their late teens,20s, and early 30s never know they are doing it. And dont believe anyone that tells them they are.

By what your telling us here I'd say your overtraining...................take care............Rich

 

[LAM]

Originally posted by Rich46yo
I'd forget the running all together and instead do 20 mins to 30 mins on a stair stepper/eliptical type trainer. In my 20s I made the mistake of running way to much,then,lifting afterwards. Eventually I was running 30 to 40 miles a week and trying to keep up a lifting schedual. Eventually it not only caused me to regress but actually broke my body down and caused injury. If I had a time machine to go back I would have eliminated "running" completely from my workout.

But thats how powerful the "high" is from running serious distance. If I had to do it again I'd walk,bike,row,stair step,eliptical, for shorter times and more intensity. We used to do suicides for football. Yeah they are intense but all that twisting/stopping/starting can cause injury.

Testo only you can answer this but its very possable your overtraining. Running 3 miles 3 times a week, if your young, shouldnt make you regress with your weights, as long as your working out right. Your going to have to give your body one or two days a week to completely rest, as I didnt do in my type-A20's, you'll never gain.

Overtraining is the most insidious enemy to making gains for an athlete. Many goal driven,type-A's, "as I was", in their late teens,20s, and early 30s never know they are doing it. And dont believe anyone that tells them they are.

By what your telling us here I'd say your overtraining...................take care............Rich

long distance running isn't even in the same ball park as doing sprints !

long distance running is extemely catabolic and will keep your cortisol levels high for hours after training even AFTER the consumption of a high GI drink and spiking insulin after training.

the treadmill/stair stepper is a complete joke as compared to doing sprints. doing interval training with sprints is probably the BEST way to preserver LBM while losing body fat...

 

[Testosterone]

I fully agree that long distance jogging /running is EXTREMELY CATABOLIC. Although you lose fat like crazy, feel "LIGHTWEIGHT", but you also lose LOT of STRENGTH which is exactly we DO NOT want while going to the gym.
After all we do not go to gym to curl 50 Lbs for 50 reps!
Rich46yo...you must be missing some point brother!

 

[elitist]

Sprints in the morning, no question....glucagon is up....insulin is way down....burn baby burn!!!

 

[Jake]

Eating simple carbs immediately after cardio: Will the insulin rise will not conflict with the fat burning hormones that are induced after a cardio? Or will the complex carbs can do the trick?

It will slow the hormones down a bit, but fat loss is a marathon, not a sprint. You will still experience significant loss. What I was talking about there was the post running protean drink. Your body will not process the protean on its own because it is starved for sugars. So you will get very little benefit out of it. You would be much better off eating something like a tuna sandwich (bread for carbs, tuna for protean) after the run.

In general just eat a balanced meal after the run, just like you should after a workout. Eating only protean or only carbs in a meal is pointless.

 

[elitist]

*protein

I disagree with you Jake. Although I cannot cite the literature directly, I have found that whey protein taken alone after HIIT does have signifigant merit. The high leucine and isoleucine content of the whey is not supposed to be utilized by the depleted muscle. The whey is there to act as a stand-in in lieu of the carbs. It will undergo gluconeogenesis naturally, being used to bring your blood sugar back up to norm,and it will fulfill the need for readily available aminos in the abscence of carbs, thereby stopping your liver from tapping into muscle amino stores for energy., Perhaps just as important, it does NOT have the same insulin promoting/halting fat utilization effects of the bread on that tuna sandwich you spoke of. The wheys sole function is to spare muscle amino stores, and extend adipose tissue liberation so your trigylceride blood level maxamizes, and the mitochondria in your bodies cells have the opportunity to metabolize the fat for energy in your self induced depleted state. I personally have found that 30 grams of whey w/glutamine taken directly after my sprint intervals did not interferewith my fat loss goals whatsoever.
Not to mention as an added benefit of the whey,it act
ually helped me stay fuller afterwards. I use the whey as a "bridge" persay, between my post sprint catabolic/fatburning state to my first solid meal of the day
( low GI carbs at this first meal should be an understood necessity to not totally blunt any residual fat utilization post the intervals).This way, I avoid the insulin release that always comes with the carbs, and keep my GH
levels up for a good 45 or so mins. after my sprints to maximize the fatloss. Then when I get to my meal, I have taken full advantage of the hormonal window following my sprints while at the same time sparing precious muscle from the cortisol that comes with the GH afterwards. I have tried the post carb method, and after trying both, I disdain from any carb intake after my runs, but never neglect the shot of whey to my system. I swear by this. Give it a try, and draw your own conclusions from your respective results. I'm quite sure you will agree it is the optimal anabolic/anti-catabolic formula following any high intensity fat loss endeavor.

 

[LAM]

Originally posted by elitist
I disagree Jake. Although I cannot cite the literature directly, I have found that whey protein taken alone after HIIT does have signifigant merit. The high leucine and isoleucine content of the whey is not supposed to be utilized by the depleted muscle. The whey is there to act as a stand-in in lieu of the carbs. It will undergo gluconeogenesis naturally, being used to bring your blood sugar back up to norm., but it does NOT have the same insulin promoting/halting fat utilization effects of the bread on that tuna sandwich you spoke of. The wheys sole function is to spare muscle amino stores, and extend adipose tissue liberation so your trigylceride blood level maxamizes, and the mitochondria in your bodies cells have the opportunity to metabolize the fat for energy in your self induced depleted state. I personally have found that 30 grams of whey w/glutamine taken directly after my sprint intervals did not interferewith my fat loss goals whatsoever.
Not to mention as an added benefit of the whey,it act
ually helped me stay fuller afterwards. I use the whey as a "bridge" persay, between my post sprint catabolic/fatburning state to my first solid meal of the day
( low GI carbs at this first meal should be an understood necessity to not totally blunt any residual fat utilization post the intervals).This way, I avoid the insulin release that always comes with the carbs, and keep my GH
levels up for a good 45 or so mins. after my sprints to maximize the fatloss. Then when I get to my meal, I have taken full advantage of the hormonal window following my sprints while at the same time sparing precious muscle from the cortisol that comes with the GH afterwards. I have tried the post carb method, and after trying both, I disdain from any carb intake after my runs, but never neglect the shot of whey to my system. I swear by this. Give it a try, and draw your own conclusions from your respective results. I'm quite sure you will agree it is the optimal anabolic/anti-catabolic formula following any high intensity fat loss endeavor.

Excellent point !

the addition of BCAA's before and after HIIT would definelty be of great benifit...