Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Today's question is about combining strength / weight training with aerobic exercise.
"- Is there such thing as "too much" aerobic exercise when trying to lose fat? I feel like I've got a lot of fat to lose, and need to incorporate aerobic activity to keep improving my cardiovascular fitness, and burn up some calories.
I'm not just jumping into this - I've been a long time jogger, averaging 18-20 miles a week for the past several years, and ran a couple marthons about 5 years ago... but with the yourbusinessbody challenge, I'm stepping up the intensity and consistancy.
As stated before, my primary goal is to lose fat, maintain / muscle mass.... I know the muscle will show when I strip off the excess fat.
I enjoy both weight training and aerobic exercise like running. Currently on a "Push - pull" routine split is -1) back/ biceps, 2) chest, shoulders, triceps 3) Legs - Abs are done on non-weight training days. I also practice Karate two days a week.
A little more background - 35 year old male - 230 pounds at about 24.5% bodyfat (according to Tanita Bodyfat scale,% confirmed by trainer). I consider myself healthy and have no joint/ knee problems, aside from some back injuries some time ago.
Mon: 6:00 am: 1/2 mile warm up - 2.5 miles "Fast" - 7:00 / mile pace - total run is 22:00 - heart rate tops at 175 bpm - (95% effort) - followed by 40 minutes weightlifting.
Tue 6:00 am - 6 miles easy - 9 -10/ min/mile pace - Abs
wed 6:00 am 1/2 mile warm up - 2.5 miles "Fast" - 7:00 / mile pace - total run is 22:00 - heart rate tops at 175 bpm - (95% effort) followed by 40 minutes weightlifting.
Evening: Karate 1.5 hrs -
THur 6:00 am 6 miles easy - 9 -10/ min/mile pace - Abs
Fri 6:00 am 1/2 mile warm up - 2.5 miles "Fast" - 7:00 / mile pace - total run is 22:00 - heart rate tops at 175 bpm - (95% effort)followed by 40 minutes weightlifting.
Sat 6:00 am - 6-8 miles - "tempo" run at 8:00/mile pace - Afternoon - Karate 1.5 hours
Sun - long walk, rest, no weights, no karate, no running. Definitely stretching.
I know diet is a key component, and I'll start a diary and will share it later.
My fat loss has been slow and steady - over the month of August I dropped 6.5 pounds of fat - but I feel a bit disappointed - I wanted to drop 10-12.
Should I reduce calories or increase aerobics? How much is too much aerobic exercise when "cutting" for a contest?
ps. This contest is helping me get very clear on my business goals too - I'm looking at my business in new ways - and am very excited about the changes occuring in my business too!"
- Dave
Answer: First of all, congratulations on your weight loss, Dave!
6 1/2 lbs in a month is nothing to be disappointed about.
In fact, if one is doing it right (weight loss) expect to lose 4-8 lbs each month and no more (8lbs being extreme after you've been dieting for a couple of months).
After reading your current workout program, here is my advice:
Do the weight training before the cardio.
The purpose of cardio after weights is that you'll have more energy for the weights if you hit them first.
After the weight training you will have depleted most of your glycogen stores and therefore you should be able to burn a higher number of calories from fat while performing the cardio (30-40 minutes maximum for each cardio
session).
Ultimate fat loss comes from an increase in LBM, and as a result, an increase in your metabolism.
This means you'll be burning more calories 24 hours per day. Bigger muscles burn more calories.
As far as reducing calories - you want to eat as much as you can but not more than you need.
The easy way to do this is to calculate your food intake for 3 - 5 days. Add up the total number of calories and then divide by the number of days.
Example - you eat 2000 calories on day 1, 1800 calories on day 2, 22oo calories on day 3.
Divide by 3 and you get 1800 calories . In this basic example, your average caloric intake would be 1800 calories.
The next step is to subtract say, 30o calories a day for a couple of weeks to encourage fat loss.
Note - try to keep your body guessing by dropping 200 one day, 3oo another day and 400 on day 3.
Drop the most calories (400 in this example) on your non workout days.
I would recommend these two suggestions (lift weights before cardio and, secondly, averaging and subtracting calories) to get the most out of your fitness program!
Good luck, Dave!
Scott
www.yourbusinessbody.com
www.fullforcefitness.net
"- Is there such thing as "too much" aerobic exercise when trying to lose fat? I feel like I've got a lot of fat to lose, and need to incorporate aerobic activity to keep improving my cardiovascular fitness, and burn up some calories.
I'm not just jumping into this - I've been a long time jogger, averaging 18-20 miles a week for the past several years, and ran a couple marthons about 5 years ago... but with the yourbusinessbody challenge, I'm stepping up the intensity and consistancy.
As stated before, my primary goal is to lose fat, maintain / muscle mass.... I know the muscle will show when I strip off the excess fat.
I enjoy both weight training and aerobic exercise like running. Currently on a "Push - pull" routine split is -1) back/ biceps, 2) chest, shoulders, triceps 3) Legs - Abs are done on non-weight training days. I also practice Karate two days a week.
A little more background - 35 year old male - 230 pounds at about 24.5% bodyfat (according to Tanita Bodyfat scale,% confirmed by trainer). I consider myself healthy and have no joint/ knee problems, aside from some back injuries some time ago.
Mon: 6:00 am: 1/2 mile warm up - 2.5 miles "Fast" - 7:00 / mile pace - total run is 22:00 - heart rate tops at 175 bpm - (95% effort) - followed by 40 minutes weightlifting.
Tue 6:00 am - 6 miles easy - 9 -10/ min/mile pace - Abs
wed 6:00 am 1/2 mile warm up - 2.5 miles "Fast" - 7:00 / mile pace - total run is 22:00 - heart rate tops at 175 bpm - (95% effort) followed by 40 minutes weightlifting.
Evening: Karate 1.5 hrs -
THur 6:00 am 6 miles easy - 9 -10/ min/mile pace - Abs
Fri 6:00 am 1/2 mile warm up - 2.5 miles "Fast" - 7:00 / mile pace - total run is 22:00 - heart rate tops at 175 bpm - (95% effort)followed by 40 minutes weightlifting.
Sat 6:00 am - 6-8 miles - "tempo" run at 8:00/mile pace - Afternoon - Karate 1.5 hours
Sun - long walk, rest, no weights, no karate, no running. Definitely stretching.
I know diet is a key component, and I'll start a diary and will share it later.
My fat loss has been slow and steady - over the month of August I dropped 6.5 pounds of fat - but I feel a bit disappointed - I wanted to drop 10-12.
Should I reduce calories or increase aerobics? How much is too much aerobic exercise when "cutting" for a contest?
ps. This contest is helping me get very clear on my business goals too - I'm looking at my business in new ways - and am very excited about the changes occuring in my business too!"
- Dave
Answer: First of all, congratulations on your weight loss, Dave!
6 1/2 lbs in a month is nothing to be disappointed about.
In fact, if one is doing it right (weight loss) expect to lose 4-8 lbs each month and no more (8lbs being extreme after you've been dieting for a couple of months).
After reading your current workout program, here is my advice:
Do the weight training before the cardio.
The purpose of cardio after weights is that you'll have more energy for the weights if you hit them first.
After the weight training you will have depleted most of your glycogen stores and therefore you should be able to burn a higher number of calories from fat while performing the cardio (30-40 minutes maximum for each cardio
session).
Ultimate fat loss comes from an increase in LBM, and as a result, an increase in your metabolism.
This means you'll be burning more calories 24 hours per day. Bigger muscles burn more calories.
As far as reducing calories - you want to eat as much as you can but not more than you need.
The easy way to do this is to calculate your food intake for 3 - 5 days. Add up the total number of calories and then divide by the number of days.
Example - you eat 2000 calories on day 1, 1800 calories on day 2, 22oo calories on day 3.
Divide by 3 and you get 1800 calories . In this basic example, your average caloric intake would be 1800 calories.
The next step is to subtract say, 30o calories a day for a couple of weeks to encourage fat loss.
Note - try to keep your body guessing by dropping 200 one day, 3oo another day and 400 on day 3.
Drop the most calories (400 in this example) on your non workout days.
I would recommend these two suggestions (lift weights before cardio and, secondly, averaging and subtracting calories) to get the most out of your fitness program!
Good luck, Dave!
Scott
www.yourbusinessbody.com
www.fullforcefitness.net
# posted by Scott @ 6:56 PM 
