High Intensity Cardio

[eye_candy]

In past when cutting have always done 30-60mins, low intensity cardio 60-70% of max heart rate etc... most of you know the drill, i understand the theory behind it, and how body needs that time to tap into fat stores of energy. My question is this, has anyone done shorter session but using things like intervals, so high intensity but only 20-25mins. I find the longer session get hard on muscle mass towards the end of deiting etc... after all bottom line is burn more that you take in?

 

[IJ26]

Ive never trained for show although I plan on doing one in the future but I played d-1 football and that is the type of running we did. I think its great for fast fat loss and holding onto your muscle mass. Our conditioning test was 14 100 yards sprints. Skill guys had 14 seconds for the sprint and 60 seconds to jog back to the start and then go again. I never lost muscle mass and always leaned out big time when doing this type of cardio. A lot of people wont do it bc it is so demanding but I think its worth it. Youve probably heard the analogy before. But look at all sprinters, they are ripped up and jacked but if u look at those longer distance runners. They look awful and are skinny as hell.

 

[Mr_Magoo]

while i like HIIT , i also like low intensity stuff, the problem with the sprinter/marathon analogy is that do u really think that sprinters just sprint? they do volume type strength workouts besides the sprints they do. also the marathon analogy is crap because what bodybuilder has actually ever done an exercise for 3 hrs straight?

 

[eye_candy]

Interesting

Spriters also need very good arobic base, so they can recover from the sprint workout.

I think i may do 2 interval session per week and 3 low intensity in terms of cardio and see how it goes.

 

[xcelbeyond]

IJ26 - do you think distance runners maintain 60-70% HR?!?!?!?

I think not!

xcel

 

[IJ26]

xcel, I know they do not maintain that HR. Im just making a basic analogy. I know sprinters are doing weight training as well as a ton of drugs not to mention that no bodybuilder would ever run a marathon. In my experience HIIT works just as well or better than low intensity cardio. I also stated that Ive never done a show so I cant attest to how catabolic HIIT may be once u r below a certain level of body fat since I have never been under 6.5% and to do a show u need to be below that percentage.

 

[Mr_Magoo]

my point was that im tired of the sprinter/marathon- HIT/Volume ideology because when HIT advocates compare their training to sprinting ho wmany sprinters truly sprint till they cant go any longer like HIT does with their sets? sprinters do repetitive work on sprints and exercises although at a good intensity which is very similar to volume bodybuilding routines

and to stop people from saying volume is like a marathon, this is just bs , what volume bodybuilder does an exercise for 3 hrs straight!? in the end volume workouts are more analagous to the training of sprinters

 

[balplayer]

seeing the talk about track and sprinters has peaked my interest in this thread. i ran track at CAC, a juinior level college in arizona in 99-2000. we competed with the universities and beat them regularly, u of a and az state you name it. we had alot of guys from africa jamaca (sp) mostly the st kits area. we trained like madmen on the track. kim collins who was in the 100meter final in the 2000 olympics was on our team that year then transfered to texas christian.

one of the workouts after our plyometrics we did everyday was to run 8 200 meter sprints. all of them under 24 secs. and jog until we came around the the starting point again then go again. this was the hardest thing ive ever done in any sport i have played. makes lifting weights seem easy. i was in the greatest physical shape in my life then, and i mean athletically. could dunk then and am only 5'9, now that i have been exploring bodybuilding i can barely touch the rim let alone run 200 meters.

 

[Brent D.]

what r ya do'n ta your self?

Where do the calories come from at a specified intensity level and how does this effect metabolism?

Answer these questions and you will plainly see that some variation in exercise protocol can co-exist!

Sprints place a high demand on glycogen stores just like resistance training. This is great for glucose metabolism but bad for knees and possible higher cortisol release leading to negative nitrogen balance. Not too much or else skinny, skinny, skinny and lean. Oh yea, and sick more often...yuck!

Low intensity cardio promotes a greater percentage of fat expenditure but requires a greater time commitment. Doesn't help glucose metabolism much though...

SIDE TRACK- What's wrong with the dieticians that tell the type-2 diabetics to do cardio when they should be pushing a heavy bar in the gym? “Lets slooooowly burn some fat but we won't fix the real problem”. Stupid!

Anyway to summarize, low intensity will burn fat and maintain muscle and is easy on the ware-out body parts. Interval training will promote better glucose metabolism and burn a little fat. Run on grass and keep your real knee joints away from the cutting surgeons for most of your life.

To the point, both are good but the truth is that in moderation, the combination can't be beaten!

Brent D.

P.S. Yes, cutting and surgeon in the same sentence is a redundancy

 

[granby140]

i toss in a hi intensity when i have extra energy or feel like it. But med intensity is a better way for most