cardio & ephedra --> catabolic

[Destination230]

I am extremely happy with the gains I'm making on my primarily-Deca cycle (just a little test), I am putting on a lot of fat around my stomach.

So I thought about doing this:
(1) Reign in the carbs a little, while keeping protein through-the-roof
(2) Do some ephedra (eca) for the next 4 weeks (I have 6 weeks left on this cycle but I read that ephedra starts to become less effective after a month or use)
(3) Very-low-intensity cardio (heart rate around 100)


They say you shouldn't try to bulk up and cut up at the same time. And I'm defintely not thinking about "dieting" exactly, but I was thinking that these three steps wouldn't hurt or put me into a wildly catabolic state.

I found the following quote online and was wondering if anyone agrees or disagrees:

"Long and slow - this is essentially easy cardio, for example going for an hour walk every night. The intensity of this exercise won't be sufficient to put you in a catabolic state but will burn calories to help with fat loss."


I didn't find a similar quote on ephreda but I would be interested to hear if folks think its a bad idea.

This might be a topic for a different web site, but I thought that since I'm mid-cycle that would be significant when talking catabolic processes, so I thought this would be the best site to ask. THANKS.

 

[ridgeback]

First off..... how much Deca are you doing a week and how much test with it??

What is your weight?

What is your age?

Diet????

Then we can assess, as I don't agree with anything you stated above.

 

[Destination230]

400 mg of deca per week (200 twice weekly). I was going to work out clean this year but at the last minute decided on a mild deca cycle. Its been close to two years since I did any gear.

I'm doing just enough test to shut my F'ing friends up about "deca-only cycles". About 150 mg of test per week.

185 pounds, 45 years old.

300g protein, 400g carbs. I don't watch fat closely but I get plenty - a lot of red meat.

Nolvadex, Aromasin & Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) sitting on the shelf waiting for pct.

 

[ridgeback]

Ok... personally I would bring up the test a bit but if you feel comfortable doing that keep at it, Red meat will definately contribute to mid section fat(belly), the fats you want are from fish oils , omega 3,6,9's, avacodo, CLA etc.... an ECA stack might help, it always worked for me when I was younger, now my adrenal system can't take it so I diet better and more cardio.

Cardio should be a brisk walk and optimal heart rate for fat burning for a male your age should be in between 124- 130 beats /minute and do that for 30 minutes to start, if you are going to do an ECA stack remeber that your heart rate will increase and that will put you in the wrong zone which is a no no... It will be important to monitor your heart rate through your cardio session! Good luck.

 

[Trevdog]

I really don't buy into the whole "catabolic" cardio theory. In my opinion the best cardio for fat loss and fitness is higher intensity cardio. 100 beats per minute? Waste of time in my opinion.

 

[transporter protein]

In terms of high vs. low intensity cardio:

Carbohydrates and intensity go hand in hand. With higher intensity exercise comes a greater reliance upon carbohydrates to supply energy because they yield energy very rapidly (through a process called glycolysis). This means that fat will represent a lesser percentage of energy output during higher intensity exercise as well (fats take longer to break down, but yield more energy so they are preferred during low intensity exercise). With this being said...

Catabolism of proteins in the body (called "proteolysis") is most likely to occur when glycogen (stored carbohydrate) levels within the muscle drop significantly (aka: a lengthy bout of high intensity exercise usually > 2 hrs in duration). So yes, lower intensity exercise (cardio) will burn fat as the primary energy source, and the breakdown of proteins will not occur to a significant degree.

Just my take on this...

 

[Cheappinz]

Is ephedra legal these days? It goes back and forth..just wondering.