The Truth About Cardio

Great article! The only thing it didn't cover is CV endurance! If you have trouble climbing your stairs at home or just going for a walk, you need ti improve your CV endurance, thus cardio is the Rx to use! The article only talks about building lean, defined muscle. Of course, I guess the magazine IS a bodybuilding mag or figure competition mag and not geared to the everyday exerciser! I still love it and it gave ME food for thought as T AM trying to reduce BF and increase LMM!

Thanks for the post!

Tricia
 
Yes, the article was written for figure athletes- or someone who is in good shape wanting to cut body fat.
 
Nothing is absolute. Doing only short sessions of HIIT and heavy weight work is a recipe for disaster for me. I lean down by doing circuit workouts and both HIIT and steady state cardio. And I think steady state cardio is crucial for good heart health. Besides, I have no desire to be in a figure competition.
 
andtckrtoo said:
Nothing is absolute. Doing only short sessions of HIIT and heavy weight work is a recipe for disaster for me. I lean down by doing circuit workouts and both HIIT and steady state cardio. And I think steady state cardio is crucial for good heart health. Besides, I have no desire to be in a figure competition.
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I thought the article was advocating both High intensity & SS cardio:confused:
I lean out the quickest with 3 days interval and 5-7 days SS.
 
I found the article interesting and am glad you posted it. My one curiosity is about the no cardio workout before weights. This is typically how I do my workouts b/c I don't have the energy after weights to do cardio. Also, this is how some of Cathe's DVDs are set up (like Body Max 2 for example). And what about circuit training? Just curious. I guess I'm not a figure athlete so maybe it's slightly less important for me...still seeing results.

Thanks again for the article,
Heather
 
Cynthia, I read that article when it was posted on FA and really enjoyed what he had to say. I like the fact that he didn't bash SS cardio, I need SS cardio along with intervals. SS keeps me sane and keeps my joints from feeling like they're being overused from intervals and HIIT. I visit that site everyday just for the articles, (too bad they don't have many as many articles as they used too) not really interested in anything else on there. I was happy to see someone say postive things about SS for a change!! I think it gets a bad rap these days for some reason. I like it, so that means I'll do it and actually doing cardio is what really matters anyway.
 
hriacobacci said:
I found the article interesting and am glad you posted it. My one curiosity is about the no cardio workout before weights. This is typically how I do my workouts b/c I don't have the energy after weights to do cardio. Also, this is how some of Cathe's DVDs are set up (like Body Max 2 for example). And what about circuit training? Just curious. I guess I'm not a figure athlete so maybe it's slightly less important for me...still seeing results.

Thanks again for the article,
Heather
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That was a great article, & I was happy to read I'm doing my cardio right (a happy accident, I love cardio in the a.m., just don't have the energy or desire for it in the p.m.).

I also loved the debunking of the myth that too much cardio burns muscle. I'm not a dr. or physiologist by any stretch, but I always thought the body burned carbs first, fat second, & muscle last. I would think if you still have fat to burn (& let's face it, most of us do, certainly I do!), you really aren't going to burn muscle unless you're seriously overdoing it. And I do the BCAAs so I guess I'm good.

Heather, I was wondering the same thing. I only do cardio & weights together once or twice a week, but I always do cardio first for the same reason as you. Also b/c I feel like it kicks up my metabolism, so it's really moving when I start lifting & the weights keep it going, as opposed to a moderate metab boost w/weights & then kicking it up w/cardio.

Also, as we always say, different bodies respond to different methods so, while I liked the article b/c it's pretty much what I do, perhaps it wouldn't work for everyone.
 
I personally find cardio after weights a better choice for me. I like to give 110% to my weight training and what's left over to cardio.
When my body fat gets under 18%, I do 2 cardio sessions a day. I love SS and find it is beneficial to my overall fitness and mental health:p.
 
Great article! Thank you for posting it.

I love doing weights before cardio too. I feel like I can give the lifting my "all". PLUS I usually lift anywhere from 30-40 minutes so by the time I start in with the cardio, I'm burning almost all fat! :) At least, that's how a personal trainer explained it to me. She also went with the philosophy of "do the kind of cardio you know you will do". :)

Lisa
 
fit44 said:
I personally find cardio after weights a better choice for me. I like to give 110% to my weight training and what's left over to cardio. .
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ITA
And I think it's safer as well: one is less likely to get seriously injured from cardio done when pre-fatigued (from the weights) than from weight work done when pre-fatigued (from the cardio).

Actually, my ideal set-up is to do an extended warm-up cardio (12-20 minutes, which includes dynamic stretches and some cardio, but not HIIT), then do weight work, then finish with more cardio.
 
this is a very nice study, but it is a bit vague. the following is the main part of the email I sent to PN in response to it:

....

I read the article describing the study and the results. Granted, this is not for an academic audience, but inquiring minds would like to know more.

For example, I could not tell whether the results are after accounting for the drop outs or not. It would be useful to report Tables 2-7 both for the initial sample and also for the final group excluding drop outs. It would also be useful to know the timing of the drop outs (first day is very different from the day before last day), and clarify in Table 1 whether the sample size is before or after drop outs. (e.g. if it is before, steady state results must be based on 17*20%=3 or 4 people).

...
 
I don't know - there've been some times I thought I was going to seriously hurt myself doing one of Cathe's step DVDs!!! LOL

I may have to try to reverse my set up a couple of times and see if it does help me out. I just always feel so fatigued after weights that I don't think (key word most likely) I could do cardio.

Heather

kathryn said:
ITA
And I think it's safer as well: one is less likely to get seriously injured from cardio done when pre-fatigued (from the weights) than from weight work done when pre-fatigued (from the cardio).

Actually, my ideal set-up is to do an extended warm-up cardio (12-20 minutes, which includes dynamic stretches and some cardio, but not HIIT), then do weight work, then finish with more cardio.
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thanks for the post

When I was in college I had the best results by doing a circuit weight class (the cardio was a bike) and following that up with a steady state workout of speed walking on the track for about 3 miles. Isn't 4-DS the other way? With the cardio first and then the weights?

I do intervals not true HIIT. Do I need to restrict that the same way HIIT is only supposed to be 3x a week? Just curious, if anybody knows I would appreciate even a guess.
 
kathryn said:
ITA
And I think it's safer as well: one is less likely to get seriously injured from cardio done when pre-fatigued (from the weights) than from weight work done when pre-fatigued (from the cardio).
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I've been doing it for 20 years, no injuries yet (knock wood). Also burning fat is more important to me than building muscle, so I'd rather start w/cardio before I do my weight routine, which is way too intense to do before cardio.

[/quote]Actually, my ideal set-up is to do an extended warm-up cardio (12-20 minutes, which includes dynamic stretches and some cardio, but not HIIT), then do weight work, then finish with more cardio.[/quote]

Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? My understanding is your HR has to be up for at least 20 minutes before your body kicks into fat burning mode. If it goes up, then down, then up, it seems like a much less efficient fat burning w/o (that's if burning fat is your goal).
 
LauraMax said:
Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose?
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Taking your time to warm up (using cardio) benefits the weight training session. So, like you said, the objective is not fat burning until cardio session number 2. When you warm up, respiration rate increases, which increases blood flow to the muscles, which makes it easier for muscles to move through the range of motion during weight training with less risk of injury. I have read that warming up effectively and stretching before and after weight training makes you less sore (from DOMS).
 
Vee said:
Taking your time to warm up (using cardio) benefits the weight training session. So, like you said, the objective is not fat burning until cardio session number 2. When you warm up, respiration rate increases, which increases blood flow to the muscles, which makes it easier for muscles to move through the range of motion during weight training with less risk of injury. I have read that warming up effectively and stretching before and after weight training makes you less sore (from DOMS).
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Huh? Who wants to be less sore? ;)

20 minutes seems like an awfully long WU to me. If I did a 20 minute WU, I'd have to cut my weight training or "real" cardio short. There's no way I'd have that kind of time, & I'd rather tack it on to my fat-burning cardio than use all that time as a WU.

Personally, I prefer to do 2-3 sets of about 60-70% of what I lift for each BP as a WU before lifting.
 
:) Laura :) you make me smile!

Kathryn said she takes 12 to 20 min to warm up and do dynamic stretching. The physiotherapist at my gym would love to see everyone do that.

I take 5 minutes to warm up and 5 to stretch, too. Doing say 10 minutes of cardio before stretching increases flexibility during stretching a lot more than a rushed warm up. I love doing cardio before yoga for this reason.

I must let Kathryn speak for herself! LOL!

Laura, I rarely do warm up sets...too rushed....but when I do it does feel better when I do the real sets.
 
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Vee said:
:) Laura :) you make me smile!

Kathryn said she takes 12 to 20 min to warm up and do dynamic stretching. The physiotherapist at my gym would love to see everyone do that.

I take 5 minutes to warm up and 5 to stretch, too. Doing say 10 minutes of cardio before stretching increases flexibility during stretching a lot more than a rushed warm up. I love doing cardio before yoga for this reason.

I must let Kathryn speak for herself! LOL!
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Oh no! You said the "S" word! :eek: I have to admit I'm not much good w/stretching. I do about 10-12 hours a week of cardio & weights, & I have a tough enough time fitting that in. I know I should do more stretching, but I just don't know when I could. :confused: I do have a good WU routine though, so far it's protected me from injury so I'm sticking with it.

Stretch Max was gathering dust on my shelf so I gave it to my sis. Truthfully, I have a really tough time staying still for even 20 seconds, I get all kinds of antsy & distracted. I got booted from my old ju jitsu class b/c I refused to meditate. :eek:
 
This is a good thread. You hear so many different things about cardio.

I'm a huge "less is best" believer.

I do about 2 hours a week of cardio and thats it. At the most I'll do 2 1/2 hrs. a week.

I say do what your body responds to the best. We are all different and we all know our own bodies. Mine tends to like lifting better then cardio.
 
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