Cardio for Cutting

[TightEnd81]

For a cutting routine, on days that i don't lift, i do HIIT in the morning on an empty stomach. Is that sufficient for the day, or should i be hitting the track again hours later for more cardio?

thanks guys

[TightEnd81]

No info for a brotha?

[Bogart]

What kind of a routine are you doing? I assume you are talking about running. It usually takes the body 10-15 minutes before it will get into the fat burning mode depending on the kind of training you are doing. You say you are doing HIIT style training but that might not be enough. Start with a 15 minute warm-up at a steady pace (keep a conversational pace) and then get into another 15 minutes of HIIT and that should be enough. You can always up the intensity and the time if you want.

Doing cardio first thing in the morning is ideal to lose the fat. The reason being is that your body's glycogen stores are at it's lowest. Glycogen is the bodies main source for fuel and when it is depleted your body has to resort to other types of fuel such as adipose tissue (fat) and sadly muscle.

Another thing to think about is your diet. Try and stay away from the simple carbs such as sugars. Eat more complex carbs such as oatmeal to give your body the fuel for the day. Don't eat 3 hours before bed. Try to maintain a healthy diet throughout the day and eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism high and in the fat burning mode.

[TightEnd81]

yeah i was doing about 10, 30 second sprints in the morning every other day on non lifting days,on lifting days i would go to the gym around 12pm, and then hit the bike for about 45 mins or jump rope around 6pm. i'll start by doing the 15 minute jog first. I do follow a cutting diet set up by MP. It never feels like enough though, im trying to cut down to about 10-9% bf and am currently around 12%. Sometimes i look in the mirror and think my stomach looks worse!

[Bogart]

Cardio is most effective if done 30-45 minutes for losing fat. You don't want to go to intense as your body will will turn to other sources for fuel so stay real light with the running unless you want the HIIT style. On your non lifting days do the 15 minutes at a slow pace then jump straight into 60-120s. That is either a fast walk or a jog barely faster than walking for 120s and full out balls to the wall sprint for 60s. Do that for about 5-6 reps and you will be smoked. Hell you even up the reps if you want. I don't know how good at cardio you are so you will have to make the final decision.

[Bogart]

And if the 60/120s aren't intense enough for you then lower the time for the walking or jogging but I would keep the sprint time about the same.

[amazingjordan]

AAHHH 60/120s, the daddy of cardio, love it. Followed by 150 flutterkicks

[Bogart]

Yeah I personally do 60/60 for 10 reps whenever I get into cardio mode with a 10 minute warmup and a 10 minute cool down. That is the only way I can do cardio for some reason.

[TightEnd81]

yeah those are rough... i was doing jog for 15 seconds then sprint for 30, about 10 sets till my knee started hurting a bit so i switched to jumping rope, i do about 50 hops at face speed then just slow pace jumps for about 20 seconds

[Bogart]

Cardio is a not the easiest to do even at a low intensity. You have to go for so long just to reap any benefits from it. I really hate cardio.