Best cardio for retaining muscle

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cthakkar1985
cthakkar1985 Posts: 137 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Cutting right now debating between a few days of 20 min HIIT or steady-state 45 mins on the elliptical. Any tips?

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    resistance training will help you retain muscle.
  • cthakkar1985
    cthakkar1985 Posts: 137 Member
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    Yep, already lift 3-4 days/week but I like to do some cardio too so I can eat more
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
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    I lift 5 days per week and do HIIT twice a week x 20 minutes while cutting. No strength loss for me...
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
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    Swimming is both cardio and resistance.
    So that would give you extra cals.
    But if you are lifting on an established progressive compound routine you don't need cardio for muscle retention, just do what you like.

    Cheers, h.
  • jsuh1993
    jsuh1993 Posts: 28 Member
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    Erging... Mostly leg muscles + abs & arms!
  • trumpetsarecool
    trumpetsarecool Posts: 17 Member
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    Insanity is a great way to get cardio and plyo into your routine!
  • cthakkar1985
    cthakkar1985 Posts: 137 Member
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    Thanks for the tips, will look into insanity!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,579 Member
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    If you're consuming enough protein and carbs, muscle "sparing" still happens even if you do cardio.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • mmarie_3
    mmarie_3 Posts: 57 Member
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    Definitely HIIT. I do it on stair master or recumbent bike mainly
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,389 Member
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    Depends on the deficit you want to create. Most people could easily burn a lot more calories in your 45 minute steady state example over 20 minutes of intervals. A lot of times I actually somewhat combine the two, doing steady state work for the major calorie burn, and then adding some high intensity intervals near the end to engage more anaerobic muscle use.

    It's reached a point where I don't even know where to draw the line to what people consider HIIT, but I guarantee that anyone that could do true Tabata protocol HIIT on my elliptical for 20 minutes is superhuman. As in literally, the human doesn't exist that I know of.
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
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    It's reached a point where I don't even know where to draw the line to what people consider HIIT, but I guarantee that anyone that could do true Tabata protocol HIIT on my elliptical for 20 minutes is superhuman. As in literally, the human doesn't exist that I know of.

    Because momentum? Tabata is super short intervals, yes? Not superhuman by a long stretch, just curious.

    FWIW rowing is my fave ATM, engages more muscles than most things, usually no waiting for it since it isn't popular, and doesn't require special padded pants or shoes like a spinning class.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,389 Member
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    @ilex70 Tabata did sell his name to all kinds of new HIIT routines from what I can tell. But the original protocols are fairly brutal. Twenty seconds at 170% of VO2max, then 10 second rest. Repeat 7-8 times. When I did it on the elliptical I hit the upper end of where it measures power. By the last interval or two my low heart rate was in the 170 range, and the upper near 185. That's a big heart rate rise for a little over two minutes of exercise.

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