How Much Cardio?

[Matt12579]

Hey everyone, i have a question to propose. I am 5-10, about 170 lbs. Ive been training for over a year and have become a little confused about cardio. I realize that morning cardio, before my first meal is a great way to burn off excess bodyfat. This summer, well since near the end of May, i have been in a real rut. I had all of these intentions to add poundage to my bench max before i went back to college in August. Now its the beginning of July and i have gotten nowhere.. The problem is that ive increased the morning cardio, to about 30-45 min. 4 days a week. Then it seems that when i do my weight workout, my bench press sucks.. The reason i do cardio is because i want to get rid of the excess fat around my ab area. My midsection doesn't look all that bad, but i need to get more toned, so i can start to see my abs!.. Other than burning my extra fat, i despise cardio.. I want to build lean muscle.. I eat pretty well most all of the time, drink about a gallon of water a day... I also try for a lot of protein, moderate fat and carbs.. I had being doing a 4-day split, with two days upper body, two days lower body.. But last week i felt so dang tired! I mean i felt like i had no energy when i got to my weight workout in the afternoon.. I decided to back off this week.. So far i haven't done any cardio and i worked out on monday afternoon and wednesday afternoon. I plan to workout on friday, but my question is this.. How much cardio is ok to burn a little extra fat off, but not hinder me from strength gains,especially on the bench press. I amthinking maybe 20-30 min.. 3-4 times a week in the morning, but what does everyone else think? My new workout split looks like this..
monday
-chest, biceps
wednesday
-legs,shoulders,abs
friday
-back,triceps,abs
I've decided to try shortening my workouts and working each muscle, except abs, once a week.I feel i was overtraining for about the past 6 weeks
I would appreciate any advice, best of luck to everyone in their training

Sounds like you are heading in the right direction with your workouts, especially keeping your cardio between 20 to 30 minutes. You haven't mentioned your diet? What is it like? That is the key to fat loss. Find out where your calories are coming from and make adjustments there. Keep a food log for 3 days to see what your break down is. It is interesting to see what you really eat.

[Fudomyo]

Well I'm in the no cardio camp. Cardio after 8 hrs of fasting is a great way to lose muscle. Hopefully you have proved that to yourself. Sure it's a great way to lose weight, but that is not what we are after. We just want fat loss, no muscle loss.

Cardio is best for raising your metabolism, if you are calorie deprived. 10-15 minutes of hauling ass cardio, will tell your Thyroid to quit slowing you down.

70% of your calories burned are spent on keeping you warm (metabolism)
15% on cardio (exercise)
15% on digestion

You want your metabolism higher, so you burn more calories throughout the day. If you are not exercising, your fat reserve can fuel your body no problem. If you are exercising, you burn up your glycogen (which is low after 8 hrs of fasting), and then you use you protein reserve (ie muscles). Burning fat is just a slow metabolic process.

So if you are not dieting, cardio doesn't do a thing for you (well except burn muscle). Your metabolism should be in high gear (6 meals!) already.

So for gaining on your bench, eat a nice low fat diet, around your maintenance calories.

If you want to lose weight, diet (500-1000 cals below maintenance). You can still gain on your bench, but it will be slower. Losing weight and gaining muscle can be done, it's just a 95 step process, and it's still slower than when you are eating more.

I lost 40 lbs of fat last year, and +23 on muscle. No cardio (no counting squats).

Fudo

[GraemeK]

i have to say i love cardio!!

but i guess i'm going to have to cut it down to bulk...

when i run at 10.5-11.5km on an incline of 4% for 1 hour it feels good! i think cardio can become adictive :-)

i believe you only have to do 20mins x 3 times a week to keep heathly?

Graeme.

[Lee J B]

not sure about 20min , but i do know that 3 times a week is plenty as long as you make sure to lift !! i would say 20 - 30 or 30 - 40 min though.

[Piper]

I used to think that cardio was the only way to go for fat loss, but in the past few days that I've been on this board, I have changed my mind. As long as you are lifting right. I'm cutting cardio out of my programme, although I do cycle to work and to the gym (15 mins each) and I play soccer 2-3 times a week, so I suppose I don't really need much gym cardio anyways...

[Lee J B]

that is plenty of cardio !

[Piper]

lol.. yeah but it's the good kind... It's not like work... It kinda comes by choice... I just like soccer too much.. and well cycling... have you ever tried to drive in dublin????? or any city for that matter.

I lost 40 lbs of fat last year, and +23 on muscle. No cardio (no counting squats).

There is your cardio Fudo. Squats are a great cardio workout.

[Fudomyo]

Squats and calves. Everyone looks at my funny when I say no cardio except for squats. Apparently they've never done them correctly..... :P

I'm surprised at what a set of leg press calf raises will do for the old heart rate.