Getting leaner - cardio help!

Hey guys,

Anyone knows a great cardio routine that gets one leaner? I have access to a rope and my running shoes!

Many thanks!

-Alex

100-200-400-800 or 150-300-600-1200

repeat 3 or 4x. walk the half the distance ran to recover. You can either do it as a pyramid or a ladder.

you can alter the distances and play with it but you get the idea.

Getting leaner isn't about cardio, it is about giving your body what it actually needs when it actually needs and can use it and no more.

I see!! I'll try it tomorrow morning! Thanks!

slizzardman said:

Getting leaner isn't about cardio, it is about giving your body what it actually needs when it actually needs and can use it and no more.

So you mean like a diet? How am I supposed to know what my body really needs and WHEN it needs it? :shock: :shock:

That will be a central theme of my website that can be applied to all training modalities

slizzardman said:

That will be a central theme of my website that can be applied to all training modalities

Pretty much, yes.

3runMX said:

Hey guys,

Anyone knows a great cardio routine that gets one leaner? I have access to a rope and my running shoes!

Many thanks!

-Alex

Well, cardio does not get you leaner... :twisted: What I have discovered after 4 years of working out and 2-3 years of jogging etc... is that if you want to get leaner, you have to fix your diet.

One proof about it is that you can see all these big, strong guys who are working like crazy and are fat (and strong) as bears in the autumn.

It is all about nutrition. Cardio just helps.

I agree with Sliz and you, Zingam, but once you get the nutrition right, cardio helps quite a bit IMO. I always notice a difference when I'm doing cardio semi-regularly versus when I'm not (tho that was when my nutrition wasn't as clean).

Patrick Smith said:

I agree with Sliz and you, Zingam, but once you get the nutrition right, cardio helps quite a bit IMO. I always notice a difference when I'm doing cardio semi-regularly versus when I'm not (tho that was when my nutrition wasn't as clean).

Once you've got it all down, cardio along with proper carbs and protein does produce better results (as does resistance training, as it apparently helps "brown" white fat). However, until you get your nutrition properly in place you will have to work like a dog to hit single digit BF. When nutrition is in place, it kind of happens on its own as long as you are active in some way... it almost doesn't even matter what it is that you actually do.

Patrick Smith said:

I agree with Sliz and you, Zingam, but once you get the nutrition right, cardio helps quite a bit IMO. I always notice a difference when I'm doing cardio semi-regularly versus when I'm not (tho that was when my nutrition wasn't as clean).

1. It is a simple physics 1g (eaten) - 1g (expended) = 0g (change)

2. But then comes biology - the more you expend the more you want to eat

3. Psychology: Do you really want to get lean and suffer for it? If you really want it and have the will, you will overcome the urges in 2. and fix the formula i 1. :twisted:

Of course, unfortunately it is more complicated than. :roll:

I really do not believe when they say: "He eats too little but has a slow metabolism and that's why he is fat." Go tell that to the children in Somalia!

Haha, Zingam. Usually they say, "He eats too little" when all he is eating is pizza, cookies, ice cream, drinking soft drinks, and fast food.

Zingam said:

Patrick Smith said:

I agree with Sliz and you, Zingam, but once you get the nutrition right, cardio helps quite a bit IMO. I always notice a difference when I'm doing cardio semi-regularly versus when I'm not (tho that was when my nutrition wasn't as clean).

1. It is a simple physics 1g (eaten) - 1g (expended) = 0g (change)

2. But then comes biology - the more you expend the more you want to eat

3. Psychology: Do you really want to get lean and suffer for it? If you really want it and have the will, you will overcome the urges in 2. and fix the formula i 1. :twisted:

Of course, unfortunately it is more complicated than. :roll:

I really do not believe when they say: "He eats too little but has a slow metabolism and that's why he is fat." Go tell that to the children in Somalia!

HAHAHA! Not bad.

#1 is not exactly true. Hormonal responses to the type, volume, and timing of nutrient intake do alter this significantly, but this is about 90% true for someone with a very solid diet and 100% true for someone who is actually taking in the right nutrients at the right times.

Part of this is that our metabolisms have a ~40% up/down regulation ability built in, based on how much we eat. We are powerful homeostatic organisms lol! That is why every other day restrictions tend to work very well for people, as it seems to take ~48 hours for fasting metabolism to set in. A 24 hour restriction doesn't cause a large overall metabolic shift, but it does cause a shift in the individual macronutrients used for energy , that being a general shift towards fat for energy and a moderate conservatory effect on protein and glycogen. Might move resting metabolism from 70% fat close to 80%, maybe slightly more, but the important part is that it keeps the body from generating an overall downregulation in metabolism when the restrictive period is kept below 48 hours and is followed by appropriate food intake for at least a day afterwards.

The nitty gritty on this stuff is quite interesting to me, there are a number of stages you can take advantage of while still following the basic rules and putting on muscle or at least maintaining 100% of your lean mass.

Josh since this is a topic of interest to you.

What's your take on the genetic role in body fat. There seems to be at least a three sided debate regarding obesity.

The a calorie is a calorie camps

The calorie isn't a calorie camps

The genetic, the body is self regulating and will do all it can to maintain a certain weight / muscle to fat ratio camps

How do you think fighting obesity and getting very lean compare?

I'm personally split between the camps two and three.

One practical thing Ive heard of people doing is taking a walk right after they wake up for about half and hour. Supposedly this fasted walking will help you burn body fat off without hurting strength gains. I haven't really tried to make much sense of it, but my guess is that your glycogen stores are pretty much gone in your liver when you wake up so you start producing energy from the fat. Also the exercise is pretty much aerobic and doesn't require a great deal of instantaneous energy.

Anyway like everyone else has said. Diet is main factor.

slizzardman said:

HAHAHA! Not bad.

#1 is not exactly true. Hormonal responses to the type, volume, and timing of nutrient intake do alter this significantly, but this is about 90% true for someone with a very solid diet and 100% true for someone who is actually taking in the right nutrients at the right times.

Part of this is that our metabolisms have a ~40% up/down regulation ability built in, based on how much we eat. We are powerful homeostatic organisms lol! That is why every other day restrictions tend to work very well for people, as it seems to take ~48 hours for fasting metabolism to set in. A 24 hour restriction doesn't cause a large overall metabolic shift, but it does cause a shift in the individual macronutrients used for energy , that being a general shift towards fat for energy and a moderate conservatory effect on protein and glycogen. Might move resting metabolism from 70% fat close to 80%, maybe slightly more, but the important part is that it keeps the body from generating an overall downregulation in metabolism when the restrictive period is kept below 48 hours and is followed by appropriate food intake for at least a day afterwards.

The nitty gritty on this stuff is quite interesting to me, there are a number of stages you can take advantage of while still following the basic rules and putting on muscle or at least maintaining 100% of your lean mass.

I have incorporated into my eating habits since December 24 h fasting once a week. Although I do not to it at the same time each week. I am doing everyday some workout/cardio. My goal is to drop my BF to 7%, so your information is very important to me. I am also on a relatively restricted diet.

My cardio performance has improved during this time. I have no idea what happens to my strength because I've injured my elbow 2-3 weeks ago and I've stopped any exercises that use it last week. I might take 1-2 weeks to recover.

I have reduced my weight from 181 pounds to 146 since June last year. I've lost about 6 pounds just in January. I have probably 8-9 pounds of BF to lose still. I wonder whether I am not getting way too light for my height.

I wonder what would be the best strategy to get rid of these few pounds at that stage. Somehow I don't see that my body shape changes and it is the abominable pear shape. :roll:

I also think of starting two 30-45 min cardio workouts each day, incl. the strength training.

My goal is to lose the fat and to concentrate on body weight training/gymnastic exercises and Blairbob advised me to ditch weight lifting.

I am not in a hurry but I really want to finish the fat loss program and start the harder phase: maintaining low level of body fat all the time while gaining strength, flexibility and skills and maybe even muscle.

What are you actually doing with your diet? Restrictive means a lot of things.

I will suggest this: keep an honest food diary with times, portions and all snacks logged. Keep if for a week or two as close to daily as you can. Only complete days count. Do NOT change anything you do, it is vitally important that you eat exactly as you typically eat. Any changes will completely change the evaluation and make it useless for you.

What is your height, weight, and approximate body fat %?

What is your weekly activity level? Sports, workouts, how long, how hard (perceived exertion from a 2, which is lying on your back breathing to, 10 which is an all out sprint at max speed or lifting over 90% of your max in a lift or performing FBE that you can not perform for more than 6-8 seconds). Label each with how long the activity lasts and the average perceived exertion rating.