Fat loss vs. Muscle gains?
 

My current routine is:

Mon: Chest, Abs
Tue: Back, Traps
Wed: Legs, Abs
Thu: Shoulder, Forearms
Fri: Bis, Tris

I like this routine and have seen great progress from it along with a decent diet. My concern however is that I do ZERO cardio, and i'm getting eagre to strip the rest of the fat i have which doesn't seem to want to leave by just dieting and lifting... Previously i was following my 1 hour or so workout with a 45min bike ride/jog session. I was told that this was counter-productive due to glycogen stores being depleted. Any recoomendations for when to throw cardio into the mix in order to kick the fat loss into high gear would be greatly apprecaited. I keep my workout high paced in order to keep my heart rate up but i'm thinking it's not enough for the results i'm looking for. Again, i'd like to be able to continue to get the gains i've seen without jeopardizing the gains by adding a cardio session. :confused:

The best way I know of is to do the cardio session 6-8 hrs. before/after you weight train. Studies, along with personal experience, have shown that an short, intense cardio session is most effective. Endurance running, ect. will most likely eat away some muscle for fuel. You can also trim some carbs/fat out of your diet but this way will take more time. A third thing to try is to incorperate some supersets to raise your BPM's even higher.

Do you have a recommendation for a cardio session? Would it be better to do maybe, a two mile run/jog for 15-20 mins or w/e it takes as opposed to a 45-60 min bike ride or jog/walk? Thank you for the reply. Also, if i were to do the cardio session in the mornings (i lift in the evenings) should i do it before or after i eat breakfast?

I would say eat a small meal one hour before you do cardio consisting of mainly carbs. For cardio, I find it's better to do an intense 16-20 minute session vice an hour jog. You will burn alot more calories working as hard as you can for a short 16 minutes than you would jogging for an hour. If you want to run for cardio, then try windsprints. However long it takes you to sprint for 100 meters, double it for your rest period. Don't run on a treadmill, though. You can also use the stairmaster or bike if you put it on a harder level and push yourself. Eat another meal as soon as you get home from cardio. Oatmeal, cereal, or anything else with alot of carbs.

K, i'll try that, thanks again.

Hey yo 711 u should change ur member title to Forums Official Trainer. :D You are only two yrs older than me and knows a lot more.

i think in the max-ot cardio page they talk about depleting the glycogen if u run to long. which leads to depleting the muscles they say to do cardio for 16 minutes anything after this and your glycogen levels will decrease. theres much more info on this at the max-ot page i would leave the link but for some reason i cant find it...but its probably on the forum somewhere or someone will hook u up with it