# morning fasted cardio???



## celltech21 (Dec 21, 2008)

morning fasted cardio???
Hi I'm planning to do fasted morning cardio and my goal is to be lean and get more endurance and stamina.
My question is how much BCAA should I take before and after cardio so I can lose fat and maintain my hard earned muscle lol and after I finish my fasted cardio how long should I wait till I have my breakfast after cardio
BTW I will also do my normal weight training to at least gain more muscle and how what kind of cardio should I do I mean should I do HIIT cardio or steady cardio?????


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## Gazhole (Dec 21, 2008)

Why do fasted cardio in the first place?

Getting lean is all about diet management, not cardio, and certainly not cardio with no readily available food energy.

Do a search in the training section, there have been many threads on this containing good information.


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## celltech21 (Dec 21, 2008)

the only reason i chose fasted cardio is because you can lose fat quicker than the other methods. And i heard if I take BCAA supplement it will prevent me from muscle breakdown


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## Gazhole (Dec 21, 2008)

celltech21 said:


> the only reason i chose fasted cardio is because you can lose fat quicker



The source of this conclusion?

My logic is that if you eat something pre-workout, that will provide more energy to enable you to work harder in the gym, and end up in a greater caloric deficit.

Rather expend 200 calories fasted, eat 200 calories and expend 500 due to that extra energy, ending up being in a deficit of an extra 100.

Read this thread:

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/training/75105-metabolism-kick-start-question.html

There is one way to lose fat and that is to maintain a negative energy balance (ie - take in less calories than you are expending).

There is one way to gain muscle ant that is to maintain a positive energy balance with an appropriate training stimulus (ie - take in more calories than you are expending).

You can't do both at the same time, and achieving either goal is as simple as that. Its not EASY, just simple. There are no special techniques or supplements, just diet management and hard training.


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## Skib (Dec 21, 2008)

a couple summers ago i did morning fasted cardio while on ephedrine and caffeine and then would eat breakfast and go weight train... i did get fairly lean but in retrospect it probably wasn't a very smart approach and i probably lost more muscle than i thought at the time...

i've been cutting for the past few weeks with good results but still wasn't able to get down to as low of a body fat percentage as i hoped... i blame it on not being as strict as i could've been... going to bulk for a few months and cut again right before summer and try to be more strict... it isn't easy though... but one thing i did find is it is much easier to "diet" the fat off than try to exercise it off...


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## Skib (Dec 21, 2008)

also, if you skip the cardio and just lift heavy while maintaining a caloric deficit you'll be less likely to lose much muscle mass as you're in a sense convincing your body that it has a reason to hold onto the muscle you have... i've tried a couple different approaches to fat loss and so far what worked best for me was:

-lift heavy for short sessions no more than 4 times a week (i like 2 days on, 1 day off)
-eat a high protein and higher fat (healthy fats) diet for comfort
-limit carbs to only around your work outs (pre and post)
-refeed every 4-6 days


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## yazy10 (Dec 21, 2008)

*cardio on a empty stomach*

this guy i know tolled me when i get up in the mornings to do cardio on a empty stomach and then in 3-4 hours hit the gym and after do a bit of cardio. is this a good way to lose lots of body fat and gain lean muscle. cos i did it for a week and lost 3kg.


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## Skib (Dec 21, 2008)

again it's a good way to lose fat and LOSE LEAN MUSCLE... you're not gaining any muscle by doing this... if you don't care about losing muscle and just want to be skinny then go for it...


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## Gazhole (Dec 21, 2008)

Yeah, what Skib said.

You can lose a lot of WEIGHT where you really want to lose FAT.

Seriously, you guys are making it way too complicated to avoid managing your diets.

Count your calories, adjust them to suit your goals, and train hard. It's THAT SIMPLE.


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## AKIRA (Dec 21, 2008)

yazy10 said:


> this guy i know tolled me when i get up in the mornings to do cardio on a empty stomach and then in 3-4 hours hit the gym and after do a bit of cardio. is this a good way to lose lots of body fat and gain lean muscle. cos i did it for a week and lost 3kg.



No.


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## Lobo2009 (Dec 21, 2008)

I seem to disagree with many people on this forum (but in agreement with people on other forums).

I have 1/2 serving whey in the morning followed by 45 mins cardio (jogging outdoors) and then another 1/2 serving whey + 1/2 banana straight after cardio.  I eat breakfast 30 mins later.

I currently do this 4 times a week (and push weights the other 3 days).

Ive previously got myself very lean like this (see avatar) and I felt much fitter.  I infact went up to cardio 7 days for the last 6 weeks of my diet and found this helped drop the last bits of fat.  Im doing this again now (but starting with 4 days).  I have never tried dieting without cardio.

As you say you would like to improve stamina and endurance, you will have to do cardio to be able to do this.


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## P-funk (Dec 21, 2008)

I don't think anyone here advocates doing fasted cardio and neither are you - so i don't understand what you are diagreeing with.

patrick


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## Lobo2009 (Dec 21, 2008)

P-funk said:


> I don't think anyone here advocates doing fasted cardio and neither are you - so i don't understand what you are diagreeing with.
> 
> patrick



Im not talking specifically about this post, but in general in previous posts many people have been against using morning cardio to diet.

Also, the OP talks about taking BCAA before/after cardio so I think he isnt specifically reffering to completely fasted cardio either.


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## Merkaba (Dec 21, 2008)

Fasting cardio is old magazine news.  Dead it. 

If you want to get lean, count calories.  Otherwise I agree with Gazhole.

You can lose weight and think youre doing great then after two months you realize you've lost muscle mass too.


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## celltech21 (Dec 22, 2008)

OK thanks for the replies everyone. Can you please give me steps on how do I lose fat because I'm curious about losing my fat and I want to become lean and this is what I dont get they said you need to burn more calories than you eat and you will lose fat?????
So what should I do should I just burn more calories than I eat everyday and will I lose fat because I know I will lose my hard earned muscle too


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## celltech21 (Dec 22, 2008)

btw is it possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time??? if its not possible should i just stop my weight training and focus more on cardio and fat loss?????


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## Merkaba (Dec 22, 2008)

As a general rule you can't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.  If you haven't really trained before or in a long time you may be able to but it will be limited.  So yea pick which one you want to do.  You create a surplus or deficit of say 20% or 25% and go at it.  In either event you should realize that cardio is a very very inefficient way of losing fat.  However some cardio is good for the other usual reasons.  You do not kill yourself in the gym to accomplish anything.  You merely set your body up to do what you like it to do for the rest of the other 23 hours of the day.    

How are you counting calories?  We usually recommend FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal so you can see what youre taking in.  Its important to also have an idea of your carbs,fats,protein,fiber.


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## AKIRA (Dec 22, 2008)

Lobo2009 said:


> I seem to disagree with many people on this forum (but in agreement with people on other forums).
> 
> *I have 1/2 serving whey in the morning* followed by 45 mins cardio (jogging outdoors) and then another 1/2 serving whey + 1/2 banana straight after cardio.  I eat breakfast 30 mins later.
> 
> ...



Thats actually what I used to do religiously.  Now I add oatmeal.  Gotta have some carbs that dont come from milk.


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## celltech21 (Dec 22, 2008)

ok guys I found this new supplement called leukic and it is a anabolic compound, they claim that you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time with the help of this supplement. Is this true or false????


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## Lobo2009 (Dec 22, 2008)

AKIRA said:


> Thats actually what I used to do religiously.  Now I add oatmeal.  Gotta have some carbs that dont come from milk.



Do you mean you used to do this pre-cardio or just generally every morning?

Does anybody else do morning cardio here or am i the only one?


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## Merkaba (Dec 22, 2008)

celltech21 said:


> ok guys I found this new supplement called leukic and it is a anabolic compound, they claim that you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time with the help of this supplement. Is this true or false????


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## diablomex (Dec 25, 2008)

Lobo2009 said:


> Do you mean you used to do this pre-cardio or just generally every morning?
> 
> Does anybody else do morning cardio here or am i the only one?



i was thinking about doing it for a couple of days because of the holidays.but i was  wondering,how to do it.so as for as i know drink a shake as soon as you get up,do the cardio eat breakfast about 30-60 min after.then later on do the wieght training then 20 min of cardio then another shake with creatine.i was planning to do this maybe starting tomarrow.but just this week for holiday reasons.then  the next week i just do around 20 min of cardio after wieght training except for leg days, then maybe implement morning cardio on the weekend.maybe thats over doing it. i use to do cardio (20-30 min ) after wieght  training a couple of months ago. i just tried to  bulk up after so i cut it off my routine, plus my job got a little more demanding, so i didnt really have time for it.i hate cardio.but i think i need to bring it back.let me know what you guys think. i know you will.thanks


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## Built (Dec 25, 2008)

What are your goals with regard to the cardio? For what purpose are you doing it? This will drive your timing, frequency, and nutrition.


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## diablomex (Dec 25, 2008)

Built said:


> What are your goals with regard to the cardio? For what purpose are you doing it? This will drive your timing, frequency, and nutrition.



just to trim down  some bodyfat


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## Built (Dec 25, 2008)

You're doing cardio for fat loss? Don't bother. That part's diet. Just eat a little less.

If your goal is to improve your general conditioning, now that's a different story.


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## diablomex (Dec 25, 2008)

Built said:


> You're doing cardio for fat loss? Don't bother. That part's diet. Just eat a little less.
> 
> If your goal is to improve your general conditioning, now that's a different story.



i thought thats what you would say.i was just concerned because, you know how some of us ( me) get around the holidays. i though a little cardio can help me trim down , some . i already workout pretty hard.but what do you mean as conditioning, do you mean heart rate and stamina.but i hear you what your saying about diet, you are proabably going to say to maybe go down 500 calories or so. but you dont think i should put it in,after my  wieght training and if so for how long. i use to to use the treadmill at a slight angle at a moderate rate for around 20 min


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## Built (Dec 25, 2008)

You can do a little cardio if you like - it's not going to hurt you, and sure, it'll burn off a few cookies. If that isn't enough, fix your diet.


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## diablomex (Dec 25, 2008)

Built said:


> You can do a little cardio if you like - it's not going to hurt you, and sure, it'll burn off a few cookies. If that isn't enough, fix your diet.



i hear you


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