meowracer
Cathlete
I read in Oxygen this month about this topic and it was explained better than I had ever seen it. Maybe I read it at the right time, in the right frame of mind, and the words were just right...don't know. Anyway, thought I would share was was said, taken word for word from the magazine...
The question was: "I recently returned to the gym after a long hiatus. I'm stepping up the cardio to lose fat, but worry about losing muscle. What's a girl to do?"
Answer: "First of all, if you step up the cardio but don't eat enough of the healthy stuff to help you recover after your workouts, you'll quickly become a thin-fat person. This is because your body will hold on to any fat you might have in order to "survive." You need to eat- both significantly and well - to lose body fat. "She needs to do both [cardio and eat] to strike a balance. It's not the cardio that will eat muscle; it's under eating and doing too much cardio that eats at muscle," says Keith Klein, founder and CEO of the Institute of Eating Management in Houston, Texas.
Here's a tip: Ask yourself if you want to look like an Olympic sprinter or a long-distance runner. Sprinters appear lean, look much stronger and have beautiful, shapely muscles because they train by doing high intensities for shorter periods of time - similar to many figure models. It's what Klein calls "high-intensity interval cardio training." He explains that performing cardio at high intensity for a short amount of time is the best way to reach your goal of a lean, well-toned physique. (And who wouldn't want to look like a figure model?) We recommend 30 minutes on the elliptical machine or stepmill. (The rolling stairs - yes, the hard one.) According to Klein, if you can do more than 30 minutes you're not working hard enough. You should be completely worn out after 30 minutes of high-intensity intervals. Start cranking up the intensity as high as you can safely manage and going until you can no longer catch your breath. Lower the intensity for a minute or two until you regain proper breathing and increase it again and go hard until you can't go anymore. Continue this pattern until 30 minutes are up, and repeat this five times a week. With a sound nutrition plan of six small meals a day that consist of one lean, high-quality protein, one serving of complex carbs and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, you'll begin to see results within a couple of weeks. And keep up the resistance training too, but there's no need to overdo it; stick to a modest three or four times a week. Klein says that if the circumference of your thigh is greater than 20 inches, you can take a pass on thigh training for a while and rely on your cardio to lean out and tone your legs. On your three designated resistance-training days, be sure to hit your back and shoulders (day one), chest (day two) and arms (day three). Good luck!"
Personally, I like to do weights more often and depending on what machine or cardio I am doing, I may very well go over the 30 minutes and enjoy it! (Cardio Coach for instance.) On my stepmill, just over 30 minutes and I am about tired but on the treadmill, 30 minutes isn't often enough. What I have done is increased my eating but I would love to hear from anyone who does more of what is suggested in this article. What I got from the article, for me, is that I can do cardio often without worry of losing muscle as long as I eat properly and continue weight training (but I'm just not sure about the one body part per week.)
The question was: "I recently returned to the gym after a long hiatus. I'm stepping up the cardio to lose fat, but worry about losing muscle. What's a girl to do?"
Answer: "First of all, if you step up the cardio but don't eat enough of the healthy stuff to help you recover after your workouts, you'll quickly become a thin-fat person. This is because your body will hold on to any fat you might have in order to "survive." You need to eat- both significantly and well - to lose body fat. "She needs to do both [cardio and eat] to strike a balance. It's not the cardio that will eat muscle; it's under eating and doing too much cardio that eats at muscle," says Keith Klein, founder and CEO of the Institute of Eating Management in Houston, Texas.
Here's a tip: Ask yourself if you want to look like an Olympic sprinter or a long-distance runner. Sprinters appear lean, look much stronger and have beautiful, shapely muscles because they train by doing high intensities for shorter periods of time - similar to many figure models. It's what Klein calls "high-intensity interval cardio training." He explains that performing cardio at high intensity for a short amount of time is the best way to reach your goal of a lean, well-toned physique. (And who wouldn't want to look like a figure model?) We recommend 30 minutes on the elliptical machine or stepmill. (The rolling stairs - yes, the hard one.) According to Klein, if you can do more than 30 minutes you're not working hard enough. You should be completely worn out after 30 minutes of high-intensity intervals. Start cranking up the intensity as high as you can safely manage and going until you can no longer catch your breath. Lower the intensity for a minute or two until you regain proper breathing and increase it again and go hard until you can't go anymore. Continue this pattern until 30 minutes are up, and repeat this five times a week. With a sound nutrition plan of six small meals a day that consist of one lean, high-quality protein, one serving of complex carbs and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, you'll begin to see results within a couple of weeks. And keep up the resistance training too, but there's no need to overdo it; stick to a modest three or four times a week. Klein says that if the circumference of your thigh is greater than 20 inches, you can take a pass on thigh training for a while and rely on your cardio to lean out and tone your legs. On your three designated resistance-training days, be sure to hit your back and shoulders (day one), chest (day two) and arms (day three). Good luck!"
Personally, I like to do weights more often and depending on what machine or cardio I am doing, I may very well go over the 30 minutes and enjoy it! (Cardio Coach for instance.) On my stepmill, just over 30 minutes and I am about tired but on the treadmill, 30 minutes isn't often enough. What I have done is increased my eating but I would love to hear from anyone who does more of what is suggested in this article. What I got from the article, for me, is that I can do cardio often without worry of losing muscle as long as I eat properly and continue weight training (but I'm just not sure about the one body part per week.)
