Question about fasted cardio

[drvinnybombat]

I'm planning on adding 3 morning sessions of 20 min moderate intensity runs after a whey shake with a meal right after. My goal is to get from 16% closer to 10%. Just want to get rid of the excess slowing me down. However this is all in an effort to train for a PT exam which requires good lifting/lower body strength (which I currently have). Is there going to be a significant detrimental effect on lower body strength, or is whatever burned muscle negligible in relation to strength?

Just to be clear, I have no interest in maintaining bulky appearance of muscle. I need stronger and faster, not bigger. I'm 100% performance based right now.

 

[Exercise123]

If you keep the exercise in the aerobic zone, you should be fine.

 

[Rosie Chee]

I'm planning on adding 3 morning sessions of 20 min moderate intensity runs after a whey shake with a meal right after. My goal is to get from 16% closer to 10%. Just want to get rid of the excess slowing me down. However this is all in an effort to train for a PT exam which requires good lifting/lower body strength (which I currently have). Is there going to be a significant detrimental effect on lower body strength, or is whatever burned muscle negligible in relation to strength?

Just to be clear, I have no interest in maintaining bulky appearance of muscle. I need stronger and faster, not bigger. I'm 100% performance based right now.

There is going to be no effect on lower body strength, detrimental or not, if your NUTRITION is on target for your goals. The same goes for muscle loss - your NUTRITION will determine this, and if you are stupid with your caloric intake (i.e. too low, or not enough carbohydrates, etc.), then you could lose muscle yes, but you CAN lose fat effectively and successfully withOUT muscle loss!

And for the record, muscle generally does not have a "bulky" appearance - not unless you have a lot of fat covering the muscle, or are a Mr. Olympia bodybuilder (and they did not get that by accident).

If you keep the exercise in the aerobic zone, you should be fine.

Regardless of what his heart rate is during fasted cardio, he will maintain lower body strength is his nutrition is adequate enough.

~Rosie~

 

[ZiR RED]

I'm planning on adding 3 morning sessions of 20 min moderate intensity runs after a whey shake with a meal right after. My goal is to get from 16% closer to 10%. Just want to get rid of the excess slowing me down. However this is all in an effort to train for a PT exam which requires good lifting/lower body strength (which I currently have). Is there going to be a significant detrimental effect on lower body strength, or is whatever burned muscle negligible in relation to strength?

Just to be clear, I have no interest in maintaining bulky appearance of muscle. I need stronger and faster, not bigger. I'm 100% performance based right now.

a. Increased fat loss from fasted cardio over fed cardio is a bit of a myth.
b. Cardiovascular performance/fitness in the fasted state is going to be comprimised. If your goal is to improve it, then anything that reduces the intensity of your workout will reduce your progress (ala, training fasted).

c. What type of PT test is this, and what are the components? You mention faster and stronger, but how are we defining fast? Are you running a sprint, an 800m, a mile, etc.
And what about strong? Is it the big three lifts like in a powerlifting competition, clean and jerk, or a max endurance test such as pushups or pullups to failure/timed?

Br

 

[sluggy]

a. Increased fat loss from fasted cardio over fed cardio is a bit of a myth.
b. Cardiovascular performance/fitness in the fasted state is going to be comprimised. If your goal is to improve it, then anything that reduces the intensity of your workout will reduce your progress (ala, training fasted).
Br

I'm with ZIR on this one, you should stay away from fasted cardio unless you like losing muscle mass.

 

[drvinnybombat]

Basically I'm going to have to jog up hill with 100 lbs. Short interval, like 5 minutes, but it gets most anyone winded and totally kills anyone without lower body strength. Then you immediately perform tasks like moving 50 lbs, which is only difficult because you're already fatigued.

My training has worked out pretty great except for one thing...I'm like 5 lbs, or more to the point about 8% over where I want to be. I just want to kill the dead weight to be tip top and I'm only 2 months out. I'd really like to keep my current training routine, because I'm progressing well. I just need to add some small change to lose a few lbs of fat without disrupting too much.

 

[ZiR RED]

Adding higher intensity interval training will benefit you in 2 ways.

First, you will train more specifically for the competition task. Running up hill requires different musculature and motor programming then jogging on flat ground.

Second, the metabolic response to HIIT is more beneficial for reducing body fat. Increased durations of raised metabolic rates post exercise and improved nutrient partitioning due to intramuscular enzymatic changes are most likely responsible for the adaptations:

Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8.
Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism.

Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C.

Physical Activity Sciences Laboratory, Laval University, Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada.
Abstract

The impact of two different modes of training on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism was investigated in young adults who were subjected to either a 20-week endurance-training (ET) program (eight men and nine women) or a 15-week high-intensity intermittent-training (HIIT) program (five men and five women). The mean estimated total energy cost of the ET program was 120.4 MJ, whereas the corresponding value for the HIIT program was 57.9 MJ. Despite its lower energy cost, the HIIT program induced a more pronounced reduction in subcutaneous adiposity compared with the ET program. When corrected for the energy cost of training, the decrease in the sum of six subcutaneous skinfolds induced by the HIIT program was ninefold greater than by the ET program. Muscle biopsies obtained in the vastus lateralis before and after training showed that both training programs increased similarly the level of the citric acid cycle enzymatic marker. On the other hand, the activity of muscle glycolytic enzymes was increased by the HIIT program, whereas a decrease was observed following the ET program. The enhancing effect of training on muscle 3-hydroxyacyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase (HADH) enzyme activity, a marker of the activity of beta-oxidation, was significantly greater after the HIIT program. In conclusion, these results reinforce the notion that for a given level of energy expenditure, vigorous exercise favors negative energy and lipid balance to a greater extent than exercise of low to moderate intensity. Moreover, the metabolic adaptations taking place in the skeletal muscle in response to the HIIT program appear to favor the process of lipid oxidation.

PMID: 8028502 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

If you like using the treadmill, then do 1 min high-grade runs separated by 1-2 min of flat walking.

Br

 

[waynaferd]

Some BCAA's and caffiene then the elliptical work great for me....gets me energized for the day, and I notice getting lean quicker than say doing cardio in the evening.

And having a whey shake BEFORE is not fasted , BTW.

Also some light cardio or HIIT after weights is a great time to burn some fat.

 

[benjiman]

this is the hardest thing about bbing is how to get ripped and cutt and still be masive and muscular.i am natrually kinda fat but all so have lots of big hard muscle and lots of fat.i love working out and hate cardio so i find myself spending all my time and energy on weights and by the time i am done i am to spent or scared i am going to be using up muscle doing to much cardio.how do i loose all this fat and keep building muscle to.then everybody says got to eat big to get big muscle which is true but i all so get big fat when i eat big.so damn hard.