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Beefondemand
11-03-08, 12:43 am
Hey brothers,

I'm currently trying to tone down and have been doing empty-stomach cardio in the morning every other day and weight training in between. I've also cut my diet down pretty clean.

I was wondering if there's a difference between running fast vs. slow (jogging/speedwalking) and if one burns muscle more than the other. Of course, I would not want to burn my hard-earned muscle, just fat, but I also heard running in the morning on an empty stomach is catabolic.

Also, are there any health effects running in cold weather (less than 10 degrees celsius)? I enjoy running outdoors over treadmill and would hate to find out that it might be detrimental to health...

TEMPER
11-03-08, 1:08 am
as far as the cold-weather part goes...
just make sure ur warmed up and loosened up before u go... u dun wanna pull a muscle now.. but other than that as long as ur wearing some sweats or something there shouldnt be a a problem... unless its raining, then thats a different story..

i personally like to jog/run.. speedwalking just gives me shin splints

al77
11-03-08, 1:55 am
Always always always do low intensity cardio for fat burn. You have to stay at a low intensity speed however, and you need to do it for a MINIMUM of 20 min. You enter whats called the "fat burn zone" once you get to about 15-20 min (differs on different people) and thats when the actual fat burns off.


High intensity/fast cardio is found to burn more carbs than fats, which will ultimately just ruin the whole purpose of eating carbs and will allow energy loss. Also it's not very good on your joints and won't be as easy for people who is out of shape.

RepItOut
11-03-08, 2:54 am
what i found works best for me is interval training.. no more then 20 minutes on the treddy or outside or whatever i decide to do that day.. mixture of both slow and fast to keep the heart rate up there

simpleguy
11-03-08, 10:13 am
You enter whats called the "fat burn zone" once you get to about 15-20 min (differs on different people) and thats when the actual fat burns off.

wrong, you burn fat from the first minute... actually you burn fat even as you sit, or sleep


High intensity/fast cardio is found to burn more carbs than fats, which will ultimately just ruin the whole purpose of eating carbs and will allow energy loss.

high intensity cardio boosts your metabolism a lot, meaning you will burn more fat after your cardio session... why do you think there are athletes eating 10000 calories a day whilst exercising several hours at a high intensity? because their metabolism rate is enormous from the weight training, sprints and other high intensity activities, reason why they stay pretty lean

Aggression
11-03-08, 10:15 am
I've always done my cardio at low intensity, for at least 30min. I get my heart rate up to about 115-125 and keep it there for 30min. Works perfect for me.

vinzy17
11-03-08, 8:19 pm
a mix of 'slow' and high intensity cardio works for me

Ronnie Chop
11-03-08, 8:57 pm
I walk on a high incline. I get my heart rate to 168ish.

My stats are below. Is my heart rate to high to burn fat??? Thanks

thelunchbox
11-03-08, 11:29 pm
at a medium pace

mark
11-04-08, 3:59 am
week 1: off
week 2: fast
week 3: fast to medium paced, but i don't push it as hard... just whatever is comfortable
week 4: slow and easy
repeat

Aggression
11-04-08, 12:02 pm
a higher heart-rate is for cardiovascular health, and from experience, jackin up the intensity to 160-170 for me did nothing for me besides make me shrink in general. The last time i did a cut (the last 2 months), I kept my heartrate at 115-125, and got much better results. it was basically a powerwalk on an incline (3.0-3.5), but it did the job nicely.

Ir0nClad
11-05-08, 8:13 pm
You should do both. Perform low intensity after workouts when your glycogen is depleted, and perform HIIT on non weight training days in the morning with a small meal.

thatdude111
11-05-08, 8:40 pm
I walk on the treadmill on an incline, jog/sprint or do jump rope so my body doesn't get used to any cardio routine.

stumblin54
11-05-08, 9:08 pm
As you can tell here from the variety of answers, nobody knows what will work best. As shitty and cliche as this sounds, you must find out for yourself what does. Bodybuilders could go in circles for days on what the top method is, but I don't think you have the amount of time to sit around and wait to find out, do you?

Stumblin

al77
11-05-08, 10:52 pm
wrong, you burn fat from the first minute... actually you burn fat even as you sit, or sleep



high intensity cardio boosts your metabolism a lot, meaning you will burn more fat after your cardio session... why do you think there are athletes eating 10000 calories a day whilst exercising several hours at a high intensity? because their metabolism rate is enormous from the weight training, sprints and other high intensity activities, reason why they stay pretty lean

Bro, there are tons of articles on this, you may burn calories the first minute, but you don't burn the actual fat.

Lawnmower Man
11-06-08, 12:01 pm
what i found works best for me is interval training.. no more then 20 minutes on the treddy or outside or whatever i decide to do that day.. mixture of both slow and fast to keep the heart rate up there


This is what works best for me too

simpleguy
11-06-08, 12:25 pm
Bro, there are tons of articles on this, you may burn calories the first minute, but you don't burn the actual fat.

I don't mean to argue, but I don't know what you would define as the 'actual' fat... cause you burn the same fat while you sleep and while you are doing cardio

well, anyway, I'm done, I guess everybody has different opinions and that's what makes us different so everything's cool

Tiny
11-07-08, 2:49 pm
Dudes, there are some ridiculous answers here and the sad part of that is that there are plenty of PROVEN athletes available on this board who have time and time again DEMONSTRATED that they know how to get the fat off - many post good info here and still I have to wonder if anyone reads it. True, there are numerous approaches and philosophies BUT there are certain universal basic truths. Shedding fat through "cardio" (actually it is not cardio because true cardio would be too fast and improve cardiovascular performance but not be most efficient or effective at burning off bodyfat) is ALL about HEART RATE. Where should YOUR heart be? That varies, based mostly upon age and conditioning. Charts are widely available and even printed right on most treadmills - if need be, next time you are in the gym approach a treadmill and locate your general range - this is a starting point. Next you need to get yourself a heart rate monitor. You can get a decent but relatively inexpensive one from Walmart or on-line or whereverthefuck. You need to do a minimum of 20 minutes because initially you will be running off of liver glycogen reserves and it is estimated to take 10 - 12 - maybe as much as 15 minutes to exhaust this supply and actually get most directly into those fat reserves. Now, however much time it takes you to get your heart rate into your chosen range or zone does not count towrds that 20 minute minimum. Initially, start out with only a couple 20 minute sessions a week - like literally only 2 sessions. When the fat stops coming off, you increase either the duration of those sessions or you create a third one. You incrementally step things up to keep the fat coming off. In the end I get to where I may be doing an hour at a time - maybe - depends just how nutty lean I m aiming to be. If you jump right in from the get go with both guns blazing, sure a good bit of fat is going to come off but eventually you are going to be doing the shit 24-7 to get that last bit off. Just enough IS enough. Best to approach this first thing in the morning on an empty stomach - drink water, don't dehydrate yourself on the treadmill. You can also get some liquid L-carnintine (Universal has it) - drink some of that prior to your sessions and you will burn twice as much off - no bullshit - try it and see. Try it yourself and show up ripped like I will be at The Cage . . . or not.

Aggression
11-07-08, 2:59 pm
"cardio" (actually it is not cardio because true cardio would be too fast and improve cardiovascular performance but not be most efficient or effective at burning off bodyfat) is ALL about HEART RATE.

Exactly. I believe a heart rate for a 20 year old male is 130 for fat burning? And for cardiovascular work, its around 160.

Reacher34
11-08-08, 2:43 pm
Shedding fat through "cardio" (actually it is not cardio because true cardio would be too fast and improve cardiovascular performance but not be most efficient or effective at burning off bodyfat) is ALL about HEART RATE. Where should YOUR heart be? That varies, based mostly upon age and conditioning.

I really wish people would listen to advice/facts like this. Not anybody on this Forvm, but people in general. At my current gym and the two I trained at previously, there was a very common sight: incredibly large, out of shape, plain old fat people on the treadmills/elipticals going at it like they are trying to race the Flash. They show up everyday and do their thing, which is commendable, but they're losing only minimal bodyfat, maybe none after a certain point.

Meanwhile, myself and some others are going at a clip that makes us just reach that magical fat-burning heart rate, and the shit works! Maybe I'm the ignorant one, maybe they don't care that they're overweight, maybe they just want the cardiovascular effects. That's fine. But I feel that if those people were simply educated, they wouldn't bust their asses for weeks on end trying to lose weight, only to get frustrated by the lack of results and quit.