Q:
A few weeks ago I asked you about training for a triathlon and a figure competition at the same time. I was wondering if you could explain how too much cardio can affect muscle loss and why we should limit our cardio to 50mins.
A: Great question. In prep for a triathlon you need a totally different type of diet with plenty of carbohydrates. Figure competition diets do not favor a high carb diet on a day in and day out basis, for the most part. If you are eating enough calories and or carbohydrates you will be able to exert more energy and will have more glycogen in your muscle bellies to sustain you longer. When you are using energy for fuel, our first energy source is Carbohydrates and when you do not have the carbohydrates in your stores to be burned, your body turns to protein (i.e. muscle wasting) when you performing higher intensity cardio. Figure and fitness competitors or those trying to lose body fat tend to do lower intensity cardio for a duration to stay within a fat-burning range. High interval cardio is also an option but only exerting high intervals a few minutes at a time and bringing your heart rate back down before bringing it back up. this is a great way to get your metabolism up and not dig into muscle but it is a fine line. HIT should be limited as one gets closer to a show and is carrying less body fat. I think you should not do more than 45-50 minutes of cardio a day because that is what is realistic. Our bodies are machines and get use to what we do very quickly. They are smart. If we are doing 2 hours of cardio a day, everyday, our bodies will need this amount of cardio to maintain your current condition. You have no room to go but up. If you want to drop weight or make changes to your physique, you need to increase cardio and who has time to do massive amounts of cardio. It is not realistic. 30-50 minutes a day is realistic, even 4-5 times a week. With the proper nutrition, you should not need to do much more to get in and stay in the best shape for life. This is a learning process, for sure. What I would recommend is doing 30-50 minutes a cardio 4-6 days a week to start and incorporating a few sessions of high interval training. Happy Cardio!
