Guest guest Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 I had to post this from 's site. It's an article entitled " Extra Cardio. " Extra Cardio Originally posted on the Body for Life Women's Club If you're a Body for Lifer thinking about doing extra cardio, here are some things to consider. Too much cardio will ruin muscle gains, and the lean muscle is what gives you a faster metabolism and permanent fat loss. Most cardio bunnies are soft with flat muscles and poor definition. Fat loss is harder for them because their resting metabolism is much slower than somebody with more muscle mass. If you have a lot of lean muscle, you burn calories at a higher rate even when you're just lounging around. If you sacrifice all your new muscle to the cardio gods, then you're stuck with never-ending cardio as the only way to burn enough calories to maintain your fat loss. That's not really a great solution. It's the same old cut-calories-cardio-your-brains-out trap that most of us have been muddling around in for years. Here's a good explanation of what happens. It reads like a scary bedtime story. Be good or the catabolic spiral will get you... ~~~ As you know, your body looks at muscle as a liability because it consumes so many calories to maintain. When you cut back on carbs and increase cardio, your body starts consuming its fast-twitch fibers (the valuable size and strength fibers) as it preserves the slow twitch fibers it needs to do the cardio. And long duration aerobics produces cortisol, a catabolic agent that breaks down muscle proteins. Worse, as your strength diminishes due to less fast- twitch fibers, the amount of weight you can lift decreases. With less load, your body starts dumping even more muscle as it perceives it as unnecessary. This is known as the dreaded catabolic spiral. Just look at marathoners, their body has literally eaten itself alive. ~~~ If this is your first BFL challenge, I would recommend following the program exactly as it's written. It's designed to maximize fat loss while maintaining or gaining muscle. Nearly all new Body for Lifers show up saying that 20 minutes three times a week isn't possibly enough. Actually, it's plenty if you do it at a near-death-experience intensity. Most people don't. They'll be outside walking fast, or maybe reading a magazine on a stationary bike and thinking, boy this can't possibly work. They're right! It won't work unless you *seriously* move it. When it's over you should be red-faced, drenched in sweat, breathing like a freight train, coughing up bits of your lungs, and flirting with the throw-up zone. If the thought of doing a few more minutes even crosses your mind, you haven't done it right. Think about how lean and muscular sprinters are. That brief high intensity stuff will get you really ripped without compromising your muscle gains. The calorie burn doesn't happen while you're doing the workout, it happens in the hours afterward when you're recovering from it. If you do that kind of intense interval training in the morning, you'll burn calories at an accelerated rate for the rest of the day. Then you get up the next day and do a brutal weight workout and get the same metabolic boost. And of course, you're eating the small protein and carb balanced meals, so you can throw the thermic effect of food into the equation too. Six days a week, you're a blast furnace. It's pure genius. That said, I do think that most people fall short on the rest of their daily activity. Just because the book prescribes 20 minutes of intense interval cardio doesn't mean that you have to lie motionless the rest of the day. You can still take a kickboxing class, ride a bike, do a favorite video, or any other fun recreational type activities that you enjoy. Just make the core workouts your priority. If you start to lack energy or feel like you're overdoing it, the bonus activities should be the first to go. Also, as you increase your activity it becomes even more important that you're eating all your meals and getting enough sleep. At some point there is a tradeoff where too much cardio hurts your results more than it helps. You want to stay out of starvation mode at all costs. Blah, blah, blah, blah... I just had to put all of that out there for consideration. I've done it both ways. Six meals a day, heavy weights, and brief high- intensity intervals got me the body I wanted. Cutting calories and doing a bunch of moderate cardio just left me pudgy, hungry and bored. :-) > > Hello all... > I'm sure that you guys have discussed this before, but I can't seem to > find a good answer. > I'm wanting to get in more cardio than the standard 3x20 minutes. I > have a lot of weight to lose and it's not moving fast enough for me so > I want to step it up. > Those of you that do extra cardio -- what works best? What do you do? > Add minutes to your regular time, or additional sessions? If you do > additional sessions, do you do them at the same time as your strength, > or totally separately? And HIIT or slower, longer? > > Any advice any of you have would be great! > > Thanks! > Robbin > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Thanks, that's helpful. I'll give it another week or two and count my calories carefully to make sure I'm getting the required deficit, and see how it goes. I guess it's just tough when you have a lot of fat on top of the muscle... My lean muscle mass is actually fine now, it's all the fat on top that's the problem... so while I don't want to LOSE muscle, and certainly don't mind gaining a little,I just need much more fat to come off. We'll see.... > > > > Hello all... > > I'm sure that you guys have discussed this before, but I can't seem > to > > find a good answer. > > I'm wanting to get in more cardio than the standard 3x20 minutes. I > > have a lot of weight to lose and it's not moving fast enough for me > so > > I want to step it up. > > Those of you that do extra cardio -- what works best? What do you > do? > > Add minutes to your regular time, or additional sessions? If you do > > additional sessions, do you do them at the same time as your > strength, > > or totally separately? And HIIT or slower, longer? > > > > Any advice any of you have would be great! > > > > Thanks! > > Robbin > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Are you eating lots of fruits and veggies (at least 10 servings), or do most of your carbs come from starcy sources? How " free " are your free days? Are you really and truly hitting a level 10 intensity on your interval cardio? Those are all things I'd make sure are dead-on before I even consider any extra stuff. > > > > > > Hello all... > > > I'm sure that you guys have discussed this before, but I can't > seem > > to > > > find a good answer. > > > I'm wanting to get in more cardio than the standard 3x20 minutes. > I > > > have a lot of weight to lose and it's not moving fast enough for > me > > so > > > I want to step it up. > > > Those of you that do extra cardio -- what works best? What do you > > do? > > > Add minutes to your regular time, or additional sessions? If you > do > > > additional sessions, do you do them at the same time as your > > strength, > > > or totally separately? And HIIT or slower, longer? > > > > > > Any advice any of you have would be great! > > > > > > Thanks! > > > Robbin > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Well, out of your questions, fruits and veggies are my biggest weakness. What happened to the core book's plan of veggies at 2 meals a day? That's about what I'm doing. Plus, some fruits as a carb. Carb sources are rarely starchy. Maybe one a day (sometimes 2) of whole wheat pasta or bread. The rest are otherwise usually potatoes or fruit. Free days? Virtually non-existent. One free " meal " I had regular pasta instead of whole wheat (ha) and this weekend there was butter in the omelet I ordered. That's the extent of my free days, though I'm trying to at least give myself permission for a free meal. It's so soon, I feel guilty. Level 10 -- cardio, absolutely. I usually cry at the end and often think my 9's are 10's. I physically usually can't do that last minute at my goal speed, but I sure as heck try and almost die doing it. With the weights I'm not consistently hitting 10's yet, mostly because of trial and error with different weights, exercises, etc., but I'm logging everything and it gets better each time I try. I need more hamstring workouts I can do at home! I want to double check my portion sizes by calorie counting this week and see how it goes. I can't really complain too much, I'm doing well but the progress has slowed and since I have so much FAT to lose (with a good amount of muscle underneath that fat!), I just want to give it my all!!! Thanks for all the checks, and if you have any other insights, I'd love to hear about any and all!!! Robbin > > > > > > > > Hello all... > > > > I'm sure that you guys have discussed this before, but I can't > > seem > > > to > > > > find a good answer. > > > > I'm wanting to get in more cardio than the standard 3x20 > minutes. > > I > > > > have a lot of weight to lose and it's not moving fast enough > for > > me > > > so > > > > I want to step it up. > > > > Those of you that do extra cardio -- what works best? What do > you > > > do? > > > > Add minutes to your regular time, or additional sessions? If > you > > do > > > > additional sessions, do you do them at the same time as your > > > strength, > > > > or totally separately? And HIIT or slower, longer? > > > > > > > > Any advice any of you have would be great! > > > > > > > > Thanks! > > > > Robbin > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 Basically, veggies at 2 meals is a start, but more is better. 's post from Alwyn Cosgrove's blog (above) shows that the thermic effect of digesting veggies is higher than any other food, so the more veggies you eat the more calories you burn just sitting around. If you want a good goal, aim for getting in some veggies at every meal. > Well, out of your questions, fruits and veggies are my biggest > weakness. What happened to the core book's plan of veggies at 2 meals > a day? That's about what I'm doing. Plus, some fruits as a carb. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 Got it, thanks. I'll give it a shot! > > Basically, veggies at 2 meals is a start, but more is better. 's > post from Alwyn Cosgrove's blog (above) shows that the thermic effect > of digesting veggies is higher than any other food, so the more > veggies you eat the more calories you burn just sitting around. If > you want a good goal, aim for getting in some veggies at every meal. > > > > Well, out of your questions, fruits and veggies are my biggest > > weakness. What happened to the core book's plan of veggies at 2 > meals > > a day? That's about what I'm doing. Plus, some fruits as a carb. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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