Cardio timing and discussion

Zibilyonik

I've asked quite a lot of people about this and got a lot of weird answers. I'm trying to decide on my cardio time as well as the cardio type which is best suited for someone my weight and body shape. I'm 104kg and 179cm and have been recently doing HIIT with 6*1.5 min intervals. Is it better to keep doing it or switch to LIST? Also some people recommended me to do the cardio before breakfast and go to gym twice a day. Will i suffer a lot if I start doing that? I don't mind the time spent in gym since I'm already on a loose program from university classes. Would be pretty helpful to hear your opinions on this. Thank you!

mmapags

Honestly, none of that matters. Do the cardio when you can fit it in to your schedule. Timing is irrelevant. HIIT the way you are doing it will increase cardio fitness but is not necessarily advantageous for calorie burning. See study here: https://acefitness.org/certifiedarticle/6300/ace-sponsored-research-hiit-vs-steady-state/
There is no specific cardio best for your body shape. Don't over complicate this. Do what you prefer when it best fits into your schedule. This is not nuclear physics.

dragon_girl26

I would have to agree that I think you're overthinking this. The best time to workout is the time in the day that works best for you. My times vary depending on what I have going on that week. What is your goal from cardio? Building endurance? Strictly as a tool for weight loss?
No need to complicate it. The important thing is picking something that you will stick with and helps with whatever goals you are trying to meet. For weight loss, though, you can do exactly 0 minutes of cardio and still lose. It's all about the calorie deficit.

rybo

It pretty much doesn't matter. You are only looking to burn calories, just do what you like and what's most convenient. Change it up if you want to prevent boredom, but one isn't necessarily better than the other.

DX2JX2

Agree with the above. You're overthinking it. Go with a routine that works for you and will work for you over the long term. I personally like HIIT better than steady state cardio but mix up my workouts so I don't get bored. I try to target HIIT routines 2-3 times per week and use steady state cardio for easier "active recovery" days in-between. Of course two sessions per day at the gym will burn more calories per day but the danger is that you'll end up with two lackluster workouts instead of one great one.

In my mind, I think of HIIT as an overall health builder...not only will it burn calories but it will also help to build muscle and strengthen your cardiovascular system as part of the routine.

Low intensity cardio will burn calories but it's a much less efficient workout. The trade off is that it's mentally/physically easier than interval training so it works for those days when you need time to recover. Since it's easy to fall into a 'rut' with low intensity cardio, I still make sure to up my goals every couple of weeks or so to continue to push myself physically.