cardio time

[hulkroid]

Ok im like any other person when i don't want to be flat but i don't want to lose alot of size. Im not really a high bf% person. im still pretty lean but i look a little soft. id like to harden up but not lose alot of size as i don't have alot. anyhow what cardio should i do for how long how often yada yada.
i have access to the normals...exercise bike, treadmill, stairmaster.

 

[Mark Kerr]

I do things a little different than most. Personally, I feel intervals are the best cardio (for me). I do cardio 3X per week (2X if I am lazy or bulking...which just gives me an excuse to be lazy, anyways).

Sprint for 30 seconds, and then lightly jog for 30 seconds. Repeat. If you are just starting, try doing 6 of these intervals (3 there, 3 back). You will be surprised at how far you can go.

Every 2 weeks, I drop one interval day and I just jog for 30 min. (15 there, 15 back). It changes things up.

Another advantage to this is that it can be done anywhere and isnt boring like normal cardio.

[MK]

P.S. I am young, so I dont know if intervals are good for your age (whatever it is). Some of the older guys can help you out there.

 

[Ramstein II]

Two schools of thought: low intensity long duration which burns a higher % from fat but fewer total calories versus high intensity short duration or intervals, such as sprints which burns less fat while exercising but more calories and maybe more fat after the session. Personally, I get good results from low intensity long duration, such as walking, for 30-50 minutes a day, every day. Sometimes I throw in some intervals for a short time, such as jumping rope or hitting the heavy bag or doing a stair climber etc... However, I take such a beating from weights that I just can’t seem to keep up the high intensity cardio. Walking has never interfered with my weight lifting, whereas I can feel an immediate effect from high intensity cardio–I feel instantly weaker (probably from glycogen depletion). Plus, I do high volume weight workouts for periods of time that have short rests between sets and incidentally resemble an interval cardio workout in that I keep my heart rate elevated while lifting, so I kinda get the benefits of sprinting by lifting. Obviously, preferences vary. That’s what works for me.

 

[hulkroid]

I have a really high endurance and i am young so would lets say 3.5-4miles jogging 3x a week work well for me. Plus im getting into boxing so im going to try and hit the bag after my runs. (or after i get off the bike)

 

[pgjy]

At 41 I can't jog the way I used to. Lately I've been doing the spinning class at the gym. Not everyday, 3x a week. It lasts 45min and is a great workout and it's not the same each time. One day is strength training next will be endurance,then heart rate and so on...I've dropped some bf in the past month,
about 4%. Burns between 400 - 700 calories per class.
My wife does it w/ me and she is looking good.

 

[Ramstein II]

Remember, a training session should proceed from skilled movement to unskilled movement–specific to general. Shadow boxing/form work, mit work, sparring, should come before bag work, and bag work should come before jogging or jumping rope–at least that’s how I learned to box. I don’t spar anymore or compete in boxing or brazilian ju jitsu or any other martial art, but I still practice my martial arts (boxing and bjj) and adhere to the idea of specific work before general. Also, bag work is probably more anaerobic than jogging. If you go at the bag for a while you’ll get your temperature up and break a good sweat which will get your body primed to burn fat, just as lifting weights would. Then when you do the low intensity work (jog) you’ll be in the fat burning zone. You may find that jogging after boxing will leave you pretty gassed and you’ll go into your run with an elevated heart rate which will tire you out more quickly. You could separate the sessions.

You can do heavy bag intervals that will kick your butt–the bag always win. I like 30 seconds sustained hitting followed by 5 seconds rest for 5-10 intervals at the end of 3 3-minute rounds of heavy bag work.

Is this too much for you? Depends on your diet etc.... Personally, jogging turns me into a string bean–even 30 minutes 3 time a week, but I have a fast metabolism to begin with and respond rapidly with weight loss to that type of sustained work. Be careful not to become too glycogen depleted or you’ll burn some serious muscle while doing all this cardio. It’s called “hitting the wall” when you are out of glycogen and there is nothing left for your body to burn except muscle and fat. Opinions obviously vary on this as some do these low carb diets that would leave you glycogen depleted going into your workout. You’ll have to decide if that’s a good idea for you.

 

[Grizzly]

I do my bag work on my "off days". You could give that a try if you like. I've also found skipping rope to be both great cardio and great for your calves.

On the other hand, I also do my full MMA workouts on both "off days" and "training days", so....

 

[hulkroid]

Thank you for the comments. yes i understand the physiology. Your cell undergoes cellular respiration by using single molecules of glucose which is obatined for glycogenolysis. When the cell runs out of glucose it still needs to make ATP in which case its first alternative is lipids and then muscle. so i usually try to stay away from that and get an insulin spike somewhere close to my workout. I think i will put my boxing on days that i don't run.