Cardio/weight loss

[Eli]

Any input appreciated:

My Goal: Im trying to lose my fat and tone up.

I figure the first thing I need to start with is cardio. Yesterday I ran 3.6 miles on the ellyptical (in about 37 minutes and burned about 500 calories, kept my heart rate around 160ish). Im thinking doing this about 5x a week (maybe just do 30 minutes everyday so 3 miles) would help greatly, and from there, do weight lifting.

Am I right on this? What kinda results should I expect, etc. Im 5'9 approx 180lbs, dont know what an ideal weight is but im just looking to lose the gut. Im trying to watch what I eat, etc, but thats kinda tough for a college kid, haha. Biggest thing im cutting back on is excessive drinking (beer), I lost a few lbs over the summer just from not drinking. As of right now- ive basically cut drinking out besides the occasional beer at Wing night or out to eat.

[SwiftGTiRacer]

a diet is 75% a good body. I would try and stick with water and juices. Cardio is great for loosing wieght. But i would deffenitly start lifting wieghts as well. Make sure you lift wieghts then run if your going to do it the same day. don't run first. 5'9" 180 is a good wieght if you have a low body fat %. Diet is the most important thing though. Good luck!

Swifty

[silver]

Just curious... Why lift weights first and then run??? I do it the opposite...

[SwiftGTiRacer]

Just curious... Why lift weights first and then run??? I do it the opposite...

I was reading on a body building forum about this. They talked about how much energy you use while lifting wieghts. They said if you run before your workout you'll loose most of that energy from running. I think thats right. You should also be lifting for a struggle to make any improvement. For example, don't do 10pds. curls and then stop after 3 sets and not feel anything. you should do, maybe, 20pds. curls for 3 sets for how ever many reps you choose. It should be your last couple of reps should be hard to get up. Hope that helps.

Swifty

[The Ren]

Im working on alot of Cardio.. I started last week.. and im doing it every other day.. (even though its a girly tape..) Im using "The Firm"... My best friend lost 65 lbs on it and is still loosing..

[silver]

Thats what i do when i do work out... I do my reps until I can start feeling it pretty much... I just always lifted weights and that stuff after I ran... I'll try it out though the other way, thanks

[Eli]

Thank you Swift for helping me set up a work out schedule, much appreciated!!!

[ruah_23]

Here's the best way if u want a major improvement.

Do cardio in the morning.As soon as u are awake start running arnd the neighborhood for at least 2 miles. Eat a big breakfast with egg and milk. If u are full, u can skip lunch or if u are still hungry have a light lunch. Eat salad, fruit ect ect for dinner and don't eat past 6 pm.

For exercise routine, the best thing if u wanna follow swift method is
Day 1 concentrate on ur weight lifting till ur muscle is all fatigue and cardio for a gd 20 mins.U can Do cardio for warm up or cool down period.Either way will work.
Day 2 Concentrate on cardio...which means burn as much calories as u can till u are really exhausted and feel like sleeping.

Rotate both and give a day/two to rest.Buy urself a multivitamin..It will give u more strength.

Gd luck and be careful!

[SwiftGTiRacer]

Ruah, i agre will everything u said except skipping lunch. you shoud eat 6 small meals a day if your trying to loose wieght. i know 6 sounds like a lot but 1 meal can be conciderd an apple, juice, and a bannana (for example).

Swifty

[C22H19N3O4]

During anaerobic exercise (exercise that does not require oxygen to produce the necessary energy, ATP, to carry out the activity, such as weight lifting), lactic acid (lactate) is formed when pyruvate (an intermediate substance in glucose metabolism) combines with hydrogen, in the presence of an enzyme, lactate dehydrogenase. Once lactic acid is formed, it quickly diffuses from the muscle into the blood, where it is buffered and carried away. If this didn't occur, you'd tire out very, very quickly. Eventually, though, as you continue to work out, the clearance of lactic acid can't keep up with its formation, and eventually builds up in the muscle and blood, causing fatigue. The acid build-up inactivates certain enzymes that are involved in energy transfer. It also decreases the muscles' ability to contract. These processes lead to fatigue. The lactic acid that has remained in the muscle can be reversed back into an energy source (pyruvate) during recovery or when the pace of exercise is slowed. How quickly this recovery can occur will vary from individual to individual. This process doesn't create more energy than you began with. Some of the lactate has dissipated from the muscle. Although some of the dissipated lactate may be converted into glucose during the Cori Cycle. Hope this info helps.

[Eli]

During anaerobic exercise (exercise that does not require oxygen to produce the necessary energy, ATP, to carry out the activity, such as weight lifting), lactic acid (lactate) is formed when pyruvate (an intermediate substance in glucose metabolism) combines with hydrogen, in the presence of an enzyme, lactate dehydrogenase. Once lactic acid is formed, it quickly diffuses from the muscle into the blood, where it is buffered and carried away. If this didn't occur, you'd tire out very, very quickly. Eventually, though, as you continue to work out, the clearance of lactic acid can't keep up with its formation, and eventually builds up in the muscle and blood, causing fatigue. The acid build-up inactivates certain enzymes that are involved in energy transfer. It also decreases the muscles' ability to contract. These processes lead to fatigue. The lactic acid that has remained in the muscle can be reversed back into an energy source (pyruvate) during recovery or when the pace of exercise is slowed. How quickly this recovery can occur will vary from individual to individual. This process doesn't create more energy than you began with. Some of the lactate has dissipated from the muscle. Although some of the dissipated lactate may be converted into glucose during the Cori Cycle. Hope this info helps.

Uhhh.... could you put that in lamens terms?

[ruah_23]

Uhhh.... could you put that in lamens terms?

All he's saying is that when you lift weight, you should allow your muscle to res after a period of heavy lifting.. When the muscle is tired out(full of lactic acid) less contractio occur= it becomes weak.

As far as swift comments, I said that because it depands on each individual's activities during the day. Some people just sit in the office all day while some requires great energy to do their job so take it this way. look at ur level of activity and u decide how much u shld each.

Remember there's no guarantee that each work out method is gonna give u the results you want. Some work for you and some don't.The best thing is to try it out and see which is best work out for you. It's the same thing like acne medicine. SOme people say that this type A med works wonder while other who use it has no effect at all....

P.S Pharmteg, Don't get me started on Action potential that topic is killing me.

[GirlieZ]

it is best to do a medium amount of cardio before you lift. Do at least 20 minutes. Always stretch after! Lift, depending on you build and what you want from your lifting plan. I lift for lean muscle ( I am a triathelte). I go between two exercises at a high rep low weight. Always warmdown! DO some more cardio, even if its light! STRETCH! And remember to always vary your workouts ie. run, swim, bike, skate. Good luck and be healthy.

[Eli]

Thanks. The plan is to run/jog for about 15-20 minutes before and then lift, run/jog for another 10-15 to cool down.

[coolZero]

Any input appreciated:

My Goal: Im trying to lose my fat and tone up.

I figure the first thing I need to start with is cardio. Yesterday I ran 3.6 miles on the ellyptical (in about 37 minutes and burned about 500 calories, kept my heart rate around 160ish). Im thinking doing this about 5x a week (maybe just do 30 minutes everyday so 3 miles) would help greatly, and from there, do weight lifting.

Am I right on this? What kinda results should I expect, etc. Im 5'9 approx 180lbs, dont know what an ideal weight is but im just looking to lose the gut. Im trying to watch what I eat, etc, but thats kinda tough for a college kid, haha. Biggest thing im cutting back on is excessive drinking (beer), I lost a few lbs over the summer just from not drinking. As of right now- ive basically cut drinking out besides the occasional beer at Wing night or out to eat.

This may work for you. If you do cardio as apposed to a fat burning exercise. Your blood sugar drops too fast and your Insulin kicks in, effectively stopping your metabolism. You will not burn fat when this takes place but burn muscle. You need to keep your heart rate in the fat burning zone. If your heate rate is way over that then you will not get the results you are looking for. Also the workout must be 45 min to 1 hr and here is why. It takes the body 30 minutes just to reach a level where it will burn fat after that you are burning fat very effecently. Brisk walking on a tread mill will burn more fat that the elipitical withthe high heart rate. The 160 rate is way to high depending on age you need to be closer to 120 - 130 (age taken into account)

Diet: If I told you to eat more and you would loose weight would you believe me? The fact is that is will. I started 6 weeks ago today myslelf because I wanted way more cut I started at 203 I am now 191. I now eat every 3 hours. Here is my daily break down.
Breakfast
4 egg whites roasted potatos cup of fruit
mid morning Protien shake baked potato w/broc
lunch grilled chicken salad w 1 cup steamed rice
mid afternoon Gilled chicken (Wendy's throw away the bread) borc potato (NO CHEESE)
Dinner Protien shake and huge bowl of mixed fruit
before bed 1/2 grape fruit

Water 3 liters a day or 100 oz. If you can drink 1 gal of water a day that alone will burn 300 cals per day. Just from drinking water.

Here is why this kind of eating works. You need carbs period, you brain needs them , your muscles need them to grow (so you can burn more fat).
But you need the right carbs potatos and rice take a long time to convert into sugars this keeps your sugar level constant and help to rev the metabolism. When you eat bread (also a carb) or pasta. They convert to sugar real fast. this is ok if your going to run a 10k but your not right now so the result is a slowed down metabolism because your sugar level spiked.

Tryin to stave youself or skipping meals actually stops your body's metabolism because your body goes into starvation mode. The body thinks like this. Oh, I'm not going to get to eat so when I do I'll take what ever I get and store it as fat. If you eat every 3 hours the body goes oh well I'm gonna get fed here soon so I need to burn all this off and man it does.

Hitting the weights. If you do add weights go low and slow and deliberate in your work out exercise. Also here is why. Muscle fiber comes in three types slow, medium, and fast "twitch". Slow twitch muscle fiber maintains it shape longer that fast twitch muscle fiber. Once this is developed you can go up and be big if that is the goal, eventually.

Stay away from "processed" foods. Go with the whole natural foods.
Mayo is not a whoel food it is processed. Processed food will stop the fat burning process. Good news is one you get the metabolism reved up and running you can have a cheat day and it will not hurt you.

wow that was a lot but it does work. good luck

[ruah_23]

This may work for you. If you do cardio as apposed to a fat burning exercise. Your blood sugar drops too fast and your Insulin kicks in, effectively stopping your metabolism. You will not burn fat when this takes place but burn muscle.

have to disagree with you on this one lad. The body burn fat first than muscle as the last resort. Again that's look at a normal human being.

[SwiftGTiRacer]

CoolZero, I agree with what you said! Its always best to eat through out the day also. If your trying to loose wieght then eat in small amounts like listed above. If your trying to gain wieght, then of course add more calories to your diet. Either way, you need to eat sparatically through out the day.

Swifty

[C22H19N3O4]

As blood sugar levels drop, insulin levels drop and the pancreas produces the hormone glucagon and nutrients stored in the fat cells are released to the blood and used for energy. The management of this blood sugar rise and drop is important. If blood sugar levels go to high insulin feeds the muscle cells and deposits excess into fat cells. If insulin levels go too low, the muscle cells are being under fed. A slow rise in blood sugar provides good nutrition to the muscles and a slow drop allows glucagon to take from the fat cells. Timing your exercise to this blood sugar decline allows the muscles to receive from the fat cells more effectively. It is important to never exercise without having at least one meal left in your day so that muscles can recuperate from exercise.
Insulin is highly anabolic, but too much can work against you. That is why you have to find the right balance.
Originally Posted by coolZero
This may work for you. If you do cardio as apposed to a fat burning exercise. Your blood sugar drops too fast and your Insulin kicks in, effectively stopping your metabolism. You will not burn fat when this takes place but burn muscle
^^ Can you explain the biochemistry behind the insulin statement? Do you know the role that insulin plays?

posted by ruah_23:have to disagree with you on this one lad. The body burn fat first than muscle as the last resort. Again that's look at a normal human being.
^^ That's not necessarily true. Glycogen stores come first. Yes, the body prefers to burn carbs first b/c it's easier to break down. Once glycogen stores are depleted...then what? High levels of cardio risk dipping into muscle protein for fuel, which is counterproductive to keeping your muscle mass. So you have to find the right balance. If your statement were true then we would all be at 6% bodyfat with some simple cardio. You just can't overlook the fact that there will be some loss of muscle mass There are just too many different schools of thought on the best cardio routine and when do to perform cardio. You have to find what works for YOU. I'm sure original poster just wanted some simple answers..LoL.
P.S. Stay in your target heart range

[coolZero]

As blood sugar levels drop, insulin levels drop and the pancreas produces the hormone glucagon and nutrients stored in the fat cells are released to the blood and used for energy. The management of this blood sugar rise and drop is important. If blood sugar levels go to high insulin feeds the muscle cells and deposits excess into fat cells. If insulin levels go too low, the muscle cells are being under fed. A slow rise in blood sugar provides good nutrition to the muscles and a slow drop allows glucagon to take from the fat cells. Timing your exercise to this blood sugar decline allows the muscles to receive from the fat cells more effectively. It is important to never exercise without having at least one meal left in your day so that muscles can recuperate from exercise.
Insulin is highly anabolic, but too much can work against you. That is why you have to find the right balance.
Originally Posted by coolZero
This may work for you. If you do cardio as apposed to a fat burning exercise. Your blood sugar drops too fast and your Insulin kicks in, effectively stopping your metabolism. You will not burn fat when this takes place but burn muscle
^^ Can you explain the biochemistry behind the insulin statement? Do you know the role that insulin plays?

P.S. Stay in your target heart range

Your right that did not read right after reading it this morning it was late last night when I went into it. What I was going for was the intense cardio will burn sugar first in the blood stream causing the fast drop of the sugar level, with Insulin present, then the muscle will be under fed at this point. The desired effect is not reached by the subject trying to loose weight. This discourages the person and usually leads to giving up or going through the endless cycle of fad diets that never work.

and yes our person was probably looking for a simpler answer lol.

Also Pharm_teg hit it too (recuperate from exercise) and I ment to mention that last night. Rest!!! Your body needs rest so don't over work it. It will love you back for it.

Thanks everyone for all the stuff this is becoming one of my favortie threads lots of good info and debate, which is how it should be.

[Eli]

I'm sure original poster just wanted some simple answers..LoL.
P.S. Stay in your target heart range

Yes sir, more complicated answers are fine its just Im completely lost in understanding them as Im just taking BioProcesses and im horrible at science, espcially chemistry. LOL

But im glad yall are giving me so much info to work with! Thanks

[ruah_23]

You have to find what works for YOU. I'm sure original poster just wanted some simple answers..LoL.
P.S. Stay in your target heart range

Remember there's no guarantee that each work out method is gonna give u the results you want. Some work for you and some don't.The best thing is to try it out and see which is best work out for you. It's the same thing like acne medicine. SOme people say that this type A med works wonder while other who use it has no effect at all....

That's what I said...

[Eli]

If anyone cares... heres an update on me.

Been doing the elliptical for about 3 miles (sometimes more) each day. Usually do it for 20-25 minutes when I first get there, go lift weights, and then get back on the elliptical for another 20-25 minutes.

Purchased an Ipod to help keep me motivated to go alone as well, got boring by myself even though we got plasma TV's in front of the elliptical you cant hear them and its usually on the news or VH1 so id rather listen to my music, haha.

[ruah_23]

Purchased an Ipod to help keep me motivated to go alone as well,

That's actually a gd investment.I can't work out w/o my Mp3 player.Soon enough u will be feeling that way.

[SwiftGTiRacer]

keep it up man! post back up about this in a couple of weeks and let us know if you've noticed any changes.

Swifty

[Eli]

keep it up man! post back up about this in a couple of weeks and let us know if you've noticed any changes.

Swifty

Will do- im trying to eat more smaller meals as well... definately a hard change, but im trying...

[blurred visions]

Try reading the book, "Body For Life" by Bill Phillips. It really helps for motivation, I read the book and completed his training and lost nearly 60 lbs.

[C22H19N3O4]

Body for Life is played out. It was interesting when it came out YEARS ago but it's the same nutritional and workout routines bodybuilders have been using for decades. The fundamentals don't change. The gimmicks change every week. You want some real info, buy Dan Duchaine's "Underground Bodyopus." It came out in 1996 but the basics remain the same. The only good things Bill Phillips did was create Muscle Media and EAS.

[blurred visions]

I was just giving input dude. I did it and lost a lot of weight, thats the bottom line. I went from being lazy and FAT to developing a 6 pack.

[b18hb]

read/buy "the abs diet" great book. really informative. men's health magazine highlyrecommends it for doing what you're trying to do.