Is This Cardio Overkill?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Okay, so I’ve been dieting down slowly again for about 2 months or so now. I think I’ve lost somewhere around 15-20 lbs, but that’s a guess, because I haven’t weighed myself. I’m finally starting to get down to a level where my body isn’t complete repulsive, but it’s time to kick it into higher gear. It’s time to start a true “cutting” phase.

As of now, which I’m starting today, I’m doing just less than 30 minutes of pretty intense cardio right after my lifting sessions, and on my off days I’m doing 60 minutes of pretty intense cardio. All this is on an elliptical.

My cardio today looked something like this, though definitely more varied:
1 minute 17 Resistance
1 minute 16 Resistance
1 minute 15 Resistance
1 minute 14 Resistance
Repeat
2 minutes 12 Resistance

And then I’d pretty much repeat that over and over for a painstakingly boring hour.

I’m thinking about (on off days) doing an additional bit of cardio in the evenings, maybe around 30 minutes of fairly intense intervals, say something like:

2 minutes 15 Resistance
1 minute 13 Resistance
1 minute 12 Resistance (Sprinting final 30 seconds)
1 minute 10 Resistance

And then repeating that.

I guess my question is if you guys think this is overkill or not. I’d like to bump up cardio so I can still eat a fair amount of calories without it affecting the diet too much.

To put things in perspective, I burned just under 800 calories during my 60 minute session I just got done with.

Thanks in advance.

2

Have you tried fasted cardio in the morning?

How many days a week are you doing cardio? Every day? That’s a lot of time on that fucking elliptical. Are you getting results?

3

That is alot of fuckin cardio man. If you have calipers and eat enough to keep a constant 2-3 loss a week you are fine. If you almost faint one day then you’ve done too much. Still…that’s like cutting for a contest(take it a little easier.)

4

[quote]analog_kid wrote:
Are you getting results?[/quote]

this.

If it isnt working enough, then either add more or cut calories. Remember to leave yourself somewhere to go- starting off with 60-90 minutes on your off days makes it pretty tough to progress. Have you tried HIIT? 15 ass kicking minutes is way better than 60 slow boring minutes in my mind…

5

agreed. or tabata sprints. even though they suck major ass they work big time when thrown in once or twice a week

6

[quote]analog_kid wrote:
Have you tried fasted cardio in the morning?

How many days a week are you doing cardio? Every day? That’s a lot of time on that fucking elliptical. Are you getting results?[/quote]

Yeah, I’m incorporating fasted cardio into days where I have no time to work out at all, like tomorrow, I have class 9-2, and work 3-10. I’ve really just started this regimen this week, so it’s tough to gauge from just that.

[quote]Steel88 wrote:
That is alot of fuckin cardio man. If you have calipers and eat enough to keep a constant 2-3 loss a week you are fine. If you almost faint one day then you’ve done too much. Still…that’s like cutting for a contest(take it a little easier.)[/quote]

Yeah, I don’t really like to use calipers because I still have so much loose skin on my belly, and this complicates my readings. Plus, I’m not really too concerned with numbers. I just want to get down to a level where I can start a long-term bulk. I know it’s similar to a BB’ers cutting regimen prior to a contest, but I’m okay with that. I’d rather lose a bit of muscle and strength in a month or two rather than just stick in limbo for an even longer time… Because I’ve been losing weight the last 2 years, it’s been tough to make any real progress in the weight room numbers-wise.

[quote]spadesofaces wrote:
analog_kid wrote:
Are you getting results?

this.

If it isnt working enough, then either add more or cut calories. Remember to leave yourself somewhere to go- starting off with 60-90 minutes on your off days makes it pretty tough to progress. Have you tried HIIT? 15 ass kicking minutes is way better than 60 slow boring minutes in my mind…
[/quote]

Yeah, I like doing HIIT a lot. It’s tricky for me because I get DOMS in my adductors when I do sprints (from caloric deficit,) so it’s tricky mixing that in with my leg days. Instead, I’m going to attempt to do Tabata once a week, but if it’s too much on my body I don’t feel bad pushing it to once every two weeks. I guess a big difference is that I’m not just half-assing it for an hour on the elliptical; I don’t think I had a spot on any of my clothes earlier that wasn’t wet.

Anywy, thanks for the replies guys. I think I’ll just see how my body feels after this initial week, and change things from there if I need to. I know when I went and did my 30 minutes a little while ago my legs felt fairly taxed from the workout earlier, so we’ll see.

7

Thats one boring as hell cardio regime you have going there. Unless you live in the North Pole I can’t thing of many/any reasons why you would not get outside and do something.

Then again if you have lost a legitimate 15lbs of fat then maybe it’s worth it.

This is worth a reading.

8

[quote]SSC wrote:

Yeah, I don’t really like to use calipers because I still have so much loose skin on my belly, and this complicates my readings. Plus, I’m not really too concerned with numbers. I just want to get down to a level where I can start a long-term bulk. I know it’s similar to a BB’ers cutting regimen prior to a contest, but I’m okay with that. I’d rather lose a bit of muscle and strength in a month or two rather than just stick in limbo for an even longer time… Because I’ve been losing weight the last 2 years, it’s been tough to make any real progress in the weight room numbers-wise.

[/quote]

If you read the link I’ve provided you will see that you can measure as many as 7 sites to give you a pretty accurate assessment of bf. It’s proved invaluable while bulking or cutting and it helps me keep a good record so that I don’t go overboard. If you don’t want to be specific though just make sure that your lifts don’t suffer too much while trying to lose weight and you’ll be fine.

If you want to give calipers a try you can read the three skinfold links right under composition.

Good luck