just got a treadmill and am looking for the best way to cut BF

[Skib]

hey guys,

we just got a treadmill here at my house and i am looking to take full advantage of it... i'm looking to shed a bit of BF and am looking for some of the most of efficient ways to do so... should i run every morning on an empty stomach? if so, for how long and how many days a week? should i eat something small before i do this? what's worked for some of you guys? i'm 23 years old, 5'11, 185 lbs and right now am probably around 16-18% BF... i love training with weights and try to make it to the gym for an hour-hour and a half anywhere from 3-5 days a week when school permits me...

any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated!

thanks!

 

[Caesar]

I wouldn't run on an empty stomach if i were you. I've tried it and found to lose more muscle than i would have liked. I suggest having a scoop of whey or egg whites in the morning before you do the cardio if you don't want to have carbs in you. Also, 3 or 4 days a week of running for 30 minutes at a good pace is a good place to start. Combine that with hard work with the weights, a clean diet with a 500-1000 daily calorie deficit and you'll be set.

My personal rule for cardio: If you can read, or hold a conversation while running, you're not going hard enough. Work past your comfort level. Hard work brings results (and great overall health).

 

[CowPimp]

The first thing that you should do is clean up your diet. Even if you think your diet is great already, there is probably something you can learn. Check it.

In terms of cardio, I personally only perform cardio on the days that I don't lift and just let my diet take care of the rest. My cardio doesn't really change bulking or cutting weight; I do it for health and conditioning purposes. You don't have to do the same, but I feel something like 3 days of cardio and 3 days of lifting is a great mixture for health and weight loss.

I highly suggest you do searches for HIIT cardio, Max-OT cardio, and Guerilla cardio. These are higher intensity forms of cardio that don't last as long as a traditional cardio bout, do more for your resting metabolic rate, and also improve anaerobic capacity.

I feel like fasted cardio is pointless. Either you are eating in a negative energy balance and your body is using its energy reserves or you aren't. Even if you oxidize fat while you're doing the fasted cardio, if you aren't eating a hypocaloric diet, then it will simply be stored again later. If you are eating below maintenance calories, then the fat will have been oxidized whether you did the cardio fasted or not. The only difference is that you are far less likely to breakdown muscle tissue for energy if you perform your cardio in a nourished state.