question on BFL & modified cardio
 

I went thru every page looking for topics about cardio. even went thru the sticky you have on page 1. I read a lot, and have heard and read that too much cardio can hurt. I will list what I am doing, and what I am eating, and I ask you if you can help me out a little.

im a 28 y/o male weigh around 290. last time I did an electronic body fat tester it read about 32%. I am doing the BFL to the letter, but have increased my cardio frequencies.

I have been doing the 20 minute interval training, but now I do it twice daily, everyday except the free day.

the 1st session when I 1st wake up, the second session ill do when I get home from work. usually 12-14 hours from my 1st cardio session.

as far as the meals go its kind of monotonous, but I can do it with no problems.
the reason that I do this is for simplicity. I work five 12 hour days, and I cook everything on my days off, and portion everything out.

these meals consist of 4oz (after cooked) grilled chicken breast, and ½ cup of black beans 6 times a day, 6 days a week. and I throw in some steamed broccoli.

I am about to make another change, that will include whey protein powder in skim milk, with glutamine added, as well as creatine. I will consume this within the 30 min proceeding the a.m. work out, and this will replace one of my meals. I am also taking the new hydroxy cut formula (w/ caffeine). mostly for the HCA to keep carbs from being converted and stored as fat.

I do the weights before the cardio. i dont run longer, or faster, i just increase the number of times i do the running
I have been doing this for the previous 2 week(cardio only), and can see results in the mirror, and in my waist line. I don't use scales.

any pointers?

Assalamu'alaikum
Shane

wow, so you're doing 4 hours of HIIT a week instead of the recommended 1 hour? :eek: Where do you find the time? :eek:

When are you doing your workouts? All the advice that I hear is to do cardio after weights for maximum fat burning.

Personally I'd say I think you're overtraining which can lead to getting fed up with your plan, but more importantly can lead to injury, but what do I know, I'll wait for TrainerDan or someone else knowledgeable to comment properly on that!

Whew!

I'm tired just reading about your workout schedule....

I also read up on the BFL web-site. There are others who have increased their HIIT workout but the most I've read is doing HITT 6x a week...

Doogieb might be right in that you're overdoing it for yourself... BFL is a great program but don't get tired of it. Can you build in any more alternates to your eating? I too cook one day a week for the rest of the week. I try to build in some other meats (pork, tuna, steak) for variety. Can you change out some of your carbs to fruits? Helps for a more rounded eating program...

Sorry I can't help you more with your training questions.. Hopefully Trainer Dan will pop by soon to help.

Kiks

I do HIIT 3x/week and it's plenty! I can't picture doing it twice a day every day-I wouldn't get my weight training, my Pilates, my step, etc in! :)

I agree, it sounds like overtraining to me. But I'm no expert..

Whew! Definite overtraining there, Shane. I have to agree with Kiks - if you want to do extra cardio, do it 6x/week. Also you really need more variety in your diet than that. I work 12-hour shifts too, although only 2-3/wk, but I understand what it's like to work those long hours. While you're grilling chicken, put a beef roast in the oven and a pork roast in the crock pot, or something like that. You can make hamburgers with extra-lean beef and salmon on a George Foreman grill in about 10min. Cook up a big pot of brown rice and throw a bunch of sweet potatoes in the oven. Cottage cheese with fruit is a good easy snack - put it in the blender if you don't like the texture. You can also cook up big batches of oatmeal once a week for breakfast; whey protein powder is good in that. I've been just soaking oats in water overnight in the fridge and adding whey protein powder, glutamine and DaVinci syrup. Hope this gives you some ideas!

Jen

what i meant to say was that i do the weights before i do cardio. im not running harder, or faster, or longer just increasing the number of times i do the running.

on the food thing, im not tired of it, at least not right now im not. i suppose i will find something else. all my friends, and people i know say "how can you eat that crap all the time". i simply reply i have dedication. im in no way ready to give up, or quit. i just would like to see faster results.

if the the cardio im doing right now is too much, then ill quit. i don't need the BFL web site i have like 200 copies of the book in my home.

i have had several people say the type of cardio im doing is the best, that if i want to melt the fat away faster do it before and after slumber.

Assalamu'alaikum
Shane

I have found that lifting harder and heavier burns more fat than doing more cardio.

Try lifting hard for an hour 3 or 4 days a week, ONE session of TRUE HIIT on alternate days, and scrap the low-level cardio. It has been my experience that it really doesn't do as much as you might think.

Hey Built :)

The original poster said he was doing HIIT twice a day! Not even like recreational cardio, HIIT! :eek:

Hi Huggy,

We understand you want to burn the fat faster, but doing what you are doing isn't necessarily going to do it.

Like all things it takes time to do it properly, guildines say that you should not lose more than 2lbs of fat per week for health reasons. Keep an eye on your BF% to make sure it is body fat you are losing and not lean body mass.

If you carry on doing all that cardio and not getting the results then your dedication may falter.

See, that's just it. I don't think it was HIGH INTENSITY though, because he said he was doing it for 20 minutes twice a day. I'm in REALLY good shape, and the most I can do on HIIT is about 8 minutes, and I feel like I'm gonna PUKE when I'm done.

I think it might have been just interval training:


My feeling is probably what you're thinking doogie - do less of it, and do it harder.

i don't know what one would call it, but i'm doing it based off of the BFL book

heres what i do on the tread mill. everything is MPH according to the read out. i cover like 2.05 miles, and the read out says i have burned somewhere between 500 and 600 calories

1 5.0
2 5.0
3 5.5
4 6.0
5 6.5
6 7.0
7 5.5
8 6.0
9 6.5
10 7.0
11 5.5
12 6.0
13 6.5
14 7.0
15 5.5
16 6.0
17 6.5
18 7.0
19 7.5
20 5.0

i know after that minute that i run that 7.0 pace im ready to bump it down to 5.5, and after i run that 7.5 pace on the 19th min im ready just to shut it down instead of doing the cool down. call it whatever you will, but i know im workn my butt off.

Hi there - it SOUNDS like you're working your butt off!

I don't believe the "calories burned" things at all - you lose fat, or you don't. And the distance covered for HIIT doesn't matter either. It's the intensity.

You ARE doing interval training. I don't think it's HIIT, but you didn't say it was. :)

Now, my feeling is that MORE cardio is going to be too catabolic to muscle tissue. Every one is different in their tolerance to cardio. Mine is low- I tend to do well as a "weekend warrior" for cardio, and stick to lifting during the week. I will be adding some true HIIT back into my program sometime soon. Do a google search on HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training and see what you come up with.

One way to do it is to sprint/jog on a track or by blocks.

On a track, you could use a stopwatch with two timers, and try jogging for a minute and a half, and sprinting FLAT OUT for half a minute. Repeat 4 or 5 times.

On city blocks, you could try jogging two blocks, then sprint FLAT OUT for a block. Repeat this whole pattern 4 or 5 times (like sets). It's partly anaerobic, very hi-intensity, and BRUTALLY hard, but it's over with quick. I could not POSSIBLY do this for 20 minutes. I can barely manage 8.

Do it on non-lifting days, say, three times a week instead of your usual cardio.

I personally don't advocate MORE cardio for fat loss because it never helped ME as much as diet and lifting.

Diet and lifting should take care of body composition/fat loss. Cardio can be a nice extra hit, but for me, it's not the main story.

i dont believe what the machine tells me either. and i know distance deosnt mean anything. i always belived in frequency, intensity, and time. i was only relaying what the machine indicated. i know on all the high points of the work out(minutes 6, 10, 14, 18, 19) i am exceding what the average target heart rate is for my age group. and its over 170 bpm.

i am not calling it hiit as you do, i know that according to the book, that i am doin what i am supposed to do. i just was asking here if i did it twice a day, and 6 days a week would that be too much. as a couple said yes, but some were focusing on my diet and nutrition which wasn't a concern for me.

Assalamu'alaikum
Shane

I believe you may catabolize too much muscle doing the amount of cardio you are doing, but everybody is different. If you are comfortable doing it, keep it up until you stall. If you would like to try something else, consider my suggestion re HIIT.

Either way - I wish you continuing success!

- Built

Hey Huggy Bear, I also have upped my cardio. I am at the Gym at 6:00 am and I do 45-60 min of cardio, I put the treadmill on a medium incline (9) and work my way up to the highest (15) I set the speed at 3.5 mph and stay at this speed for the duration of my training. I try to do this twice a day everyday. I also do my weights 4 times per week. Since I tweaked the BFL program I have seen increadible gains in muscle size and strength, I also do not weigh myself but my clothes are just hanging off me, My shirts are tighter in the shoulders and in the arms. I have eliminated the free day, and this has been the best thing I have done; I feel better when I don't splurge. I have grown to love all the foods I eat.