Cardio?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

How much Cardio is necessary to get lean and cut? What is too much? Is high intenstity/short duration best?

2

Both are good. The idea is to periodize your training so you do not get stale. Too much cardio and you might lose muscle mass.

3

I would definitly (and do) sprint. Gives you the most from the time you put it. 2-3 sessions a week for fat loss; anything more would be excessive.

4

Joel Marion got me into early mornin’ sprinting. I hate treadmills and stationary bikes. Even interval rope work seems to work better then 30-45 mins of lower intensity cardio. For me, anyways.

5

I hope that’s a different “Alex” answering your question…otherwise that’s just odd.

6

I definitely agree with Joel on the suggestion of sprinting. Sprinting is a hell of a workout for burning fat.

7

I find that interval jump roping as well as heavy bag training (which is primarilly anaerobic), works well for me.

All boils down to the individual.

8

There is a lot of individual variation (as I’m sure you know) when it comes to trying to get lean. Some people can get away with no cardio at all and just manipulate diet, and some have to diet and do quite a bit of cardio to lean out. For most, however, the early morning cardio seems to work really well, especially if you’re hitting the gym at night. I would say that you probably wouldn’t want to do more than 4 or 5 early morning sessions, as they can be catabolic. Obviously, how lean you want to end up will dictate how much cardio and dietary restriction you will need.

9

Ive started doing 15 minutes on the bike before my post workout stretching session just to see what happens.

10

Hi, Joel

What kind of periodization are you using for your sprint program?

I have been using 10 x 25 yrds 10 min rest and repeat per the 50 yard dash article.

Thanks, KraigY

11

High intensity/short duration is the best for fat loss. I just got this from Charles Staley
http://www.myodynamics.com/newsletter/0502.html

Check out the first article, The Tabata Protocol: High Intensity Exercise Superior For Fitness and Fat-Loss Objectives.

12

I find it much easier to use a timed interval approach as opposed to distance. Two of the sprinting programs that I reguarly do can be found @ http://www.tcnj.edu/~marion4/cardio.html