Getting Desirable Body Fat Level Through Cardio

Remember that with the goal of getting desirable body fat level, we are trying to build muscle and lose body fat. The muscle building component will be taken care of primarily through progressive resistance training and adequate protein intake. The fat loss component will come primarily through establishing a caloric deficit. Such a caloric deficit can be achieved by reducing your caloric intake, by increasing activity (including cardio) or through a combination of both The combination of resistance training and endurance exercise has been termed concurrent training in the scientific literature . Whether or not concurrent training will negatively impact your gains seems to depend on three main factors: frequency and intensity 

 
Frequency
 It will depend on the individual, we generally recommend keeping formal cardio sessions within the five sessions per week range. Individuals with significant weight to lose or those with less active lifestyles may want to be closer to the high end of that range, while leaner individuals or those with more active lifestyles, may want to stay closer to the low end of that range.
 
INTENSITY
 Research has also suggested that higher intensity cardio is more likely to interfere with muscle building goals, especially when performed frequently.

 We generally split cardio into two groups based on intensity: Low Intensity Steady State (or LISS) and High Intensity Interval Training (or HIIT). An example of an HIIT session would be repeating 20-second all out sprints on a stationary bike for six times. Each sprint would be spaced with 40 seconds to two Getting Desirable Body Fat Level Through Cardio  minutes of light cycling at a low intensity. This HIIT session would only last 10-20 minutes, including a light warm up and cool down. An example of a LISS session would be walking on an incline treadmill for 30 minutes at a moderate pace. There are pros and cons with each. 

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WHEN SHOULD YOU DO CARDIO?

 Now that you understand that cardio is simply a tool that you can use to assist with establishing the appropriate energy balance for your goals, you may be wondering if the timing of your cardio matters. Should you do it pre- or post-workout?

There is a substantial amount of scientific data that suggests the time of day you perform cardiovascular exercise will not impact your overall body composition and overall fat loss.

 With this in mind, we recommend that you perform cardio whenever it best fits your schedule or at a time that will allow you to be consistent.

 The only time of day we generally advise against doing cardio is immediately before weight training. A short 5-10 minute warm up is a good idea, whereas long or intense cardio sessions can zap you of energy that will be required to lift weights 

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CARDIO: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 

 
Your cardio plan should be tailored to your specific needs and goals • In general, we recommend keeping cardio to an effective minimum for fat loss