Cardio Myths

[ricky_rocket]

I've been reading lots of different advice on cardio workouts. Please give your opinion on whether each of the points below is either true or false (and why if you know). Thanks

A) Doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach will be working off muscle rather than body fat.

B) Long cardio workouts work off the calories of your most recent meals rather than body fat.

C) Short cardio workouts work off the calories of your most recent meals rather than body fat.

D) Multiple short cardio workouts per day are better than one long one because it keeps your metabolism going and ultimately you burn more calories.

 

[ponyboy]

They are all false.

 

[CancerNV]

They are all true. ALL of them.

 

[sgtneo]

yeah cardio burns of calories and body fat getting lung capacity higher and heart rate lower, cardio is better done out side in fresh air rather than on treadmill

Neo

 

[Du]

I've been reading lots of different advice on cardio workouts. Please give your opinion on whether each of the points below is either true or false (and why if you know). Thanks

A) Doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach will be working off muscle rather than body fat.

B) Long cardio workouts work off the calories of your most recent meals rather than body fat.

C) Short cardio workouts work off the calories of your most recent meals rather than body fat.

D) Multiple short cardio workouts per day are better than one long one because it keeps your metabolism going and ultimately you burn more calories.

A. AM Cardio will burn off some muscle because of the low blood sugar levels youre at first thing in the AM. The same low blood sugar allows for better fatburning, so IMO, its worth it.

B, C. Cardio burns calories, simple as that. It doesnt debate whether to take from your pancake breakfast or your hamburger lunch. Cals are cals. Blood sugar is sugar. Stored fat is stored fat.

D. I agree with this. Short cardio (15-25 min, high intensity) raises your metabolism for a while after working, so a few a day would keep your rate high. However, youd get burnt out quick.

Of course, just my thoughts.

 

[KarlW]

I can see that D makes some sense.

 

[nikegurl]

here's one...

do i hate cardio b/c i suck at it OR do i suck at it b/c i hate it.

 

[Luke8395]

here's one...

do i hate cardio b/c i suck at it OR do i suck at it b/c i hate it.

The egg came before the chicken

 

[nikegurl]

if you say so - does that mean the sucking or the hating started my vicious cardio cycle?

 

[Purdue Power]

The egg came before the chicken

The form of the chicken came first in the mind of God. Without that form there would be no egg to hatch and turn into a chicken.

OR

Neither came first. The chicken has come from evolving from it's prehistoric reptilian ancestral dinosaurs.

Wanted to get both sides in there. Personally, I am an athiest, so I beleive the scientific explanation.

 

[CowPimp]

A) Doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach will be working off muscle rather than body fat.

There is definitely greater potential for your muscle tissue to be used as energy if you go running on an empty stomach, especially if your body fat levels are very low. That doesn't mean it will happen, but I don't take my chances.

B) Long cardio workouts work off the calories of your most recent meals rather than body fat.

C) Short cardio workouts work off the calories of your most recent meals rather than body fat.

I like du510's explanation. Basically, it doesn't matter which calories are burned, because your body is going to use whatever you have left later. Although typically, longer low intensity cardio workouts are more likely to draw from your fat stores. During higher intensity bouts of cardio, your body will look to glycogen stores for energy.

D) Multiple short cardio workouts per day are better than one long one because it keeps your metabolism going and ultimately you burn more calories.

I'm not really sure to be honest, although I do know that once a cardio session is completed your metabolism stays elevated for a period of time thereafter. So, it seems that this could be true.

 

[j rizz]

which would you rather burn.. fat stores or glycogen stores?? is it possible to burn both evenly??

 

[brogers]

which would you rather burn.. fat stores or glycogen stores?? is it possible to burn both evenly??

I don't think it matters. Daily caloric deficiet is what you're after. If you're not taking in enough calories to meet your needs your body will have to eventually tap its fat resources.

 

[Yanick]

the human body does not work in a clear cut way. you are never burning fat or glycogen or protein for energy, it is always a mix of all of them. you can just tip the scales in favor of one or the other and usually your body will compensate later on for that, as Cowpimp stated.

As far as doing multiple sessions of cardio a day, i don't see the point. High intensity cardio (sprints, HIIT w/e) has a high EPOC (excess post exercise oxygen consumption, or something along those lines) after you have finished, much like resistance training. That means that your metabolism stays elevated for a few hours afterwards, don't quote me on the time frame. moderate intensity cardio has an EPOC of like 2cals so its pretty much irrelevant. I'm sure you could do cardio a couple of times a day for nutrient partitioning or what have you, but why would you do all that cardio when you can just clean up your diet?

 

[ponyboy]

the human body does not work in a clear cut way. you are never burning fat or glycogen or protein for energy, it is always a mix of all of them. you can just tip the scales in favor of one or the other and usually your body will compensate later on for that, as Cowpimp stated.

As far as doing multiple sessions of cardio a day, i don't see the point. High intensity cardio (sprints, HIIT w/e) has a high EPOC (excess post exercise oxygen consumption, or something along those lines) after you have finished, much like resistance training. That means that your metabolism stays elevated for a few hours afterwards, don't quote me on the time frame. moderate intensity cardio has an EPOC of like 2cals so its pretty much irrelevant. I'm sure you could do cardio a couple of times a day for nutrient partitioning or what have you, but why would you do all that cardio when you can just clean up your diet?

What I have learned from exercise physiology is that basically when you are doing cardio your stores are depleted based on your heart rate level. So, if you are working at 60% of MHR you are using 60% glycogen (carbs) and 40% fats (roughly). If you are working harder at 80% MHR you are burning about 80% glycogen and 20% fats. So why don't we all do cardio at a lower heart rate? Because working at a lower HR you burn less calories overall.

60% of MHR for one hour might be 500 calories, meaning 300 from carbs and 200 from fats.
80% of MHR for an hour would likely be more like 900 calories, meaning 720 from carbs and 180 from fats.
A calorie burned is a calorie burned, therefore you are still losing weight but roughly the same amount from fat stores.

 

[sgtneo]

yeah the chicken would have evolded, and then evolved to lay the leg

Neo

 

[BigDyl]

D. I agree with this. Short cardio (15-25 min, high intensity) raises your metabolism for a while after working, so a few a day would keep your rate high. However, youd get burnt out quick.



I call that a long cardio session. Wtf, 25 min = short and intense? I'd fall off the trendmill...

 

[Lord_of_the_GYM]

So according to PonyBoy's explanation a low intensity cardio workout for 20 min will burn more fats than a high intensity workout for the same duration of time?

 

[Du]

D. I agree with this. Short cardio (15-25 min, high intensity) raises your metabolism for a while after working, so a few a day would keep your rate high. However, youd get burnt out quick.



I call that a long cardio session. Wtf, 25 min = short and intense? I'd fall off the trendmill...

Nothing worse then getting burnt out / overtrained.

Nah, I call it short. 5 min warm up, as fast a pace as you can keep for 15 min, then 5 min cooldown. We've all seen lots of people lightly jogging on the treadmill for 45-60 min at a time.

 

[zebra52]

You guys make me sad. The chicken came first by the creation of God. If God created the egg first, how would the chick survive? Evolution? From nothing to something? Takes more blind faith to believe that than it does in the resurrection.

p.s. I like HIIT... low cardio is toooo boring.

 

[Yanick]

What I have learned from exercise physiology is that basically when you are doing cardio your stores are depleted based on your heart rate level. So, if you are working at 60% of MHR you are using 60% glycogen (carbs) and 40% fats (roughly). If you are working harder at 80% MHR you are burning about 80% glycogen and 20% fats. So why don't we all do cardio at a lower heart rate? Because working at a lower HR you burn less calories overall.

60% of MHR for one hour might be 500 calories, meaning 300 from carbs and 200 from fats.
80% of MHR for an hour would likely be more like 900 calories, meaning 720 from carbs and 180 from fats.
A calorie burned is a calorie burned, therefore you are still losing weight but roughly the same amount from fat stores.

hey that makes perfect sense. Its cool that you can actually quantify it in some way, great info.

 

[ponyboy]

So according to PonyBoy's explanation a low intensity cardio workout for 20 min will burn more fats than a high intensity workout for the same duration of time?

More calories from fat but less calories overall - and not enough to make a difference. It's the calories burned that matter if you are simply trying to lose weight. If you are cutting for BB you are better off with HIIT - takes lots less time as well. Spending an hour or two every day at a low heart rate isn't too much fun.

 

[Lord_of_the_GYM]

More calories from fat but less calories overall - and not enough to make a difference. It's the calories burned that matter if you are simply trying to lose weight. If you are cutting for BB you are better off with HIIT - takes lots less time as well. Spending an hour or two every day at a low heart rate isn't too much fun.

But HIIT is not suppose to be done everyday rite. just 3-4 times a week. Can you please post a good link which describes the HIIT routine.

 

[ricky_rocket]

Short cardio (15-25 min, high intensity) raises your metabolism for a while after working, so a few a day would keep your rate high. However, youd get burnt out quick.

That's true about getting burnt out quicker (for me at least). I did a 15-20 minute high intesity cardio workout twice a day for almost a week. It was too much. One 30-40 minute workout 5-6 days per week seems more doable.