Cardio?

[pecha]

Is doing cardio in the morning better than in the evening as far as results?
If running before going to sleep is as effective as running right after the sleep then is it necessary to eat afterwards?

[86 IROC-Z]

What are you goals? Burning fat, general health, speed, etc

[310stanger]

cardio is best done on a fairly empty stomach so you burn fat. Do cardio however it fits your schedule really. Any cardio is better then no cardio. you can eat after cardio, you need to replenish all your blood sugar ie glucose, just dont eat something saturated in fat. Fruit, a sandwich, something like that.

[pecha]

burning fat

[LS1WS6]

It is said that the morning is best and the reason for it is that your body is in a fasted state meaning that your last meal was probably 8-10 hrs before you woke up. Your glycogen levels will be really low in the morning and your body will pull more energy from your fat stores while in that state. This is the time you will burn the most fat for energy(low glycogen levels). Only other time you would have low glycogen stores would be after working out. Cardio can be done at any time and you dont need to have your glycogen stores to be low to burn fat off, it will just take more time on the treadmill to get into fat burning if you do it say middle of the day or after dinner. Im just pointing out the absolute best times though anytime is better than not doing it at all.

[pecha]

I read somewhere that even if you run early morning you should still eat something before.
Is it true?

[86 IROC-Z]

I read somewhere that even if you run early morning you should still eat something before.
Is it true?

protein shake would be good if you want to preserve muscle.

[pecha]

so what's gonna happen if I just get out of bed and do cardio? muscle mass will be used or fat?

[LS1WS6]

you kinda defeat the purpose if you eat something and you really shouldnt be running to burn fat, you will be out of the target heart range which is around 130bpm or less. If anything take some bcaa's and maybe some caffeine.

[86 IROC-Z]

so what's gonna happen if I just get out of bed and do cardio? muscle mass will be used or fat?

catabolism

[pecha]

ok so the best plan is to just wake up and go to the gym, no food before?

[LS1WS6]

so what's gonna happen if I just get out of bed and do cardio? muscle mass will be used or fat?

this is why you dont run or go above 130bpm on an empty stomach. With low glycogen levels you dont want to push your heart rate up too high cause then the body will go from a fat burning state to a muscle burning one due to not having enough energy from glycogen stores so the body (while under stress--over 130bpm) will steal the energy it needs from breaking down muscle, not a good thing..

[pecha]

so what happens if I go running after some food? am I burning fat even running with my heart rate being 150?

btw I say running but what I really mean is using elliptical trainer, I need to use some weight before I switch to running because of my knees

[LS1WS6]

Well if you eat something before you do cardio in the morning and then hit it hard doing 150bpm your basically doing a cardio work out (cardiovascular training) rather than fat burning and since you want to take weight off this would not be the way to go. Sure cardiovascular training is good for the ticker(heart) and lungs but your after burning fat.

[pecha]

ok
thanks guys!
I'll be trying to hit the gym on the empty stomach then or if I go in the evening I'll do some weight lifting before I do cardio.
Sounds like a good method, right?

My real problems are junk food and consistency in working out.

[LS1WS6]

just to give you an idea of what i did

[IMG] [/IMG][IMG] [/IMG]

[pecha]

how long did it take you?

[LS1WS6]

went from 285 down to 190 and took 2 years to do it though the last 6 months i added way more cardio espically the morning and dropt the most weight.. Currently up to 210 but trying to add more muscle and will cut down again before summer so its an ongoing thing with me. Hope to have a six pack for summer and not a keg..

[pecha]

I'm at 240 now and my goal is 180lbs without any help from pills

[LS1WS6]

i was 240 in mid march and got down to 190 by the end of june. Thats with 1hr of cardio in the morning, go to work, then back to the gym to lift and another 45min of cardio 6 or so days a week though i probably lifted weights on adv 4-5 times a week but cardio 6 days a week..