I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
The category Your Health Questions attempts to take a more proactive approach to answering your questions so that everyone can benefit from the Q & A.
Scott wrote:
“First off very good site, very informative.
I am 33 5-11 170lbs. I just went from a split where I was doing 30 min low intensity cardio after the work out. I have been enjoying the full body workouts; I feel I get more out of it.
I am trying to maintain the muscle I have and get more ripped toned. Should I keep doing a low intensity cardio session after my work out or should I move to HIIT or some sort of other interval training on the off days?
I always read cardio after lifting or in the am is the best. So will I still burn fat doing cardio on the off days? Help!!”
Response:
First off, thank you for the kind words. I’m glad I can help someone with my babbling.
Second, I agree with you about full body workout routines. I find full body training to be far more effective at stimulating all kinds of gains than a traditional split routine.
Now, regarding your cardio questions, I have a couple responses and then I will discuss my reasoning:
- My opinion is that you should focus more on high intensity interval training (HIIT) than on aerobic cardio.
- If you insist on doing aerobic cardio at the same time as weight training, then it should be performed after weight training, but then you have to accept the drawbacks of doing cardio after weight training.
- If you insist on doing aerobic cardio, not at the same time as weight training, but on the same day as weight training, it should be performed in the morning, on an empty stomach.
- If you insist on doing aerobic cardio on a non-weight training day, then you have 2 choices:
- in the morning on an empty stomach – to maximize fat loss
- any other time of the day – used as active recovery
- If you plan doing HIIT, it should not be performed before a workout.
- Cardio in general works best when performed 8-10 hours before or after weight training, or on a separate day.
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