Anyone else cut with little or no cardio?

[goonstopher]

I know I hate cardio but do not mind dieting so I just never do cardio. Maybee under 8-9% for 20 minutes 2-3 times a week. In my experience it has worked very well and with a good cutting cycle I put on muscle while loosing fat.

I've heard bodybuilders do the exact opposite before competition and will keep cals high and do tons of cardio. One I am friends with does this.

I was wondering if there is something bad about just adjusting your diet to keep metabolism going aka carb and calorie cycling rather than cardio?

Anyone use either of these very different approaches?

[youreintrance]

This is a very good question.

I've read on many boards about this topic, and there are as many opinions as their are answers.

One thing I haven't seen brought up is that insulin release would be greater with more calories (supposing the calories are from carbs), which would prevent that last bit of bodyfat to be released into the bloodstream to be used as fuel.

I believe Lyle McDonald has stated that it would not matter until you got down to a pretty low bf%, and then to pare away that last bit, you'd need to cut the calories.

I hope this thread gets some respone. I'm wondering how to get my damn handles off after I'm pretty low bf!

[mr_meanor]

if you aren't disciplined enough to do cardio you aren't disciplined enough to cut

just my opinion

[goonstopher]

How can you say that? Cardio is alot less discipline than having a perfectly planned and exectuded diet. You need to put in the work no matter what but cardio is alot less discipline than NEVER messing up a meal for weeks at a time and having perfect nutrient timing and calrie cycling...

This is about effictiveness VS dislike. I simply do not like cardo because of the time ti takes and always feeling dizzy durring it. Also it scars me to burn muscle but that may be unfounded fear

[sixfeetfour]

Originally Posted by goonstopher

I've heard bodybuilders do the exact opposite before competition and will keep cals high and do tons of cardio. One I am friends with does this.

I bet you would find most of them are taking T3 to keep shreaded while still keeping high calorie diets. There's more to it than just alot of cardio.

[mr_meanor]

Originally Posted by goonstopher

How can you say that? Cardio is alot less discipline than having a perfectly planned and exectuded diet. You need to put in the work no matter what but cardio is alot less discipline than NEVER messing up a meal for weeks at a time and having perfect nutrient timing and calrie cycling...

This is about effictiveness VS dislike. I simply do not like cardo because of the time ti takes and always feeling dizzy durring it. Also it scars me to burn muscle but that may be unfounded fear

exactly my point man, cardio sucks, I hate it in fact I do not know one person who enjoys it (doesn't mean they don't exist) I have to force myself to jog or get on a stationary bike after a hitting the weights.

I can diet all week long as long as I have my one meal a week I splurge on and have somethig I am not supposed to (just something that helps me not the best to do when working up for a show)

just my personel experience might not suit everyone

[goonstopher]

Originally Posted by mr_meanor

exactly my point man, cardio sucks, I hate it in fact I do not know one person who enjoys it (doesn't mean they don't exist) I have to force myself to jog or get on a stationary bike after a hitting the weights.

I can diet all week long as long as I have my one meal a week I splurge on and have somethig I am not supposed to (just something that helps me not the best to do when working up for a show)

just my personel experience might not suit everyone

I got your point but it doesnt really address what my concern is. Is it better to keep more msucle and burnt more fat to:

Very low cal and no cardio
Higher cal and alot of cardio

OR is there negligable difference

[mr_meanor]

Originally Posted by goonstopher

I got your point but it doesnt really address what my concern is. Is it better to keep more msucle and burnt more fat to:

Very low cal and no cardio
Higher cal and alot of cardio

OR is there negligable difference

my answer would be low cal more cardio than usual, or high cal lots of cardio and that is only if your diet is very strict and you are consuming "good" calories

nothing scientific just personal experience

[jbrand]

Originally Posted by goonstopher

I got your point but it doesnt really address what my concern is. Is it better to keep more msucle and burnt more fat to:

Very low cal and no cardio
Higher cal and alot of cardio

OR is there negligable difference

That's easy, choice 1. Cardio isn't manditory by any means, it has very little metabolic effect post-training and the only real benefit is the calories you expend during the actual exercising. It's all a matter of calories in/calories out, cardio is nothing but an addition to a diet, never a replacement for eating habits by any means. I'd plan a perfect diet and allow for a slight caloric deficit before doing cardio any day of the week. Also, take into consideration the lowered caloric intake + training volume -- cardio can and will contribute to overtraining. Just my 2 cents.

[goonstopher]

Originally Posted by mr_meanor

my answer would be low cal more cardio than usual, or high cal lots of cardio and that is only if your diet is very strict and you are consuming "good" calories

nothing scientific just personal experience

I've gotten to a very ripped state on almsot no cardio and am more of an endo than anything else so I knwo i can control my diet I was just wondering if this super strict diet (2200-2400 cals) at 200-205 lean is too low and if say 2800 with mroe cardio would be better.

What I do works but im worried about muscle thats all... and people on higer cals and mroe cardio tend to see more full