The Good, The Bad, The Fat The Skinny of Extensive Cardio

Wanted to address this for the masses based on the post I put up on my status.

Here is a good starting point http://exercise.about.com/cs/cardioworkouts/l/aa022601a.htm

Now understand this. As you can see they listed it in a 30min time frame. Here is the deal. When you go past a certain time frame of intense cardio and past your zone, you effectively go from burning fat to burning muscle. Laymen’s term muscle is easier to break down and utilize then fat and when you need energy now it’s going to go for what it can get and fast.

The other flip of the coin that I also see with my climbers is that the body knows that if you’re going long periods of time with cardio, it’s going to need energy to sustain you. Some day climbs can burn off in the upward 5ks in caloric expenditure. The body is then going to ration out that source of energy. Doesn’t mean you’re losing weight in the since of it being body fat. You’ll lose more lean muscle mass then anything.

This is what body builders understand. Not to say that cardio isn’t done by them because those who care about increasing their cardiovascular capabilities to carry that extra poundage of lean muscle implement good cardio. And extensive cardio is not the only way to get a good caloric burn or even a better one (I’ll address this another time).

So, if you’re doing that intense cardio, you need to increase your protein intake to not only replenish your caloric need but to feed your muscle mass as well as your electrolytes. You can try old fashioned eating and water to replace them but it’s not as effective. Plus you end up consuming unwanted calories.. That leaves you with a replacement beverage. I don’t care for the majority of them on the market because they are not made synergistically for the body.

If your active MR is say 1700 and you’re doing caloric deficit (keep in mind a standard rule of thumb, for men= do not go under 1800 calories and for women do not go below 1200 because you’re not able to give your body the required nourishment it requires for optimal health) technically you can do a 500 caloric daily deficit to hit 1200.

Now let’s say you worked out and you burned another 600 calories doing sustained cardio for an extended period of time instead of a combination of callisthenic and or resistance training.. Now you took in 1200 you burned 600 which leaves your body running on 600.. Not good.

This is why I say on days you work out you should increase your caloric intake because your body, from your workout has just depleted the bodies resources. Your electrolytes, damage at the celluar level occurs, tissue needs repairing and good old Cortisol is on the rise running rampant, your energy levels will be low and so on and so on OH not to mention your metabolism will also slow down after the training. WHY because that type of cardio tappers off vs another type of cardio which causes it to rev up after your done.

So be leery Of how you approach your caloric intake and extensive cardio and understand that the body will try its best to preserve your life even when you’re not.