Cardio for out of shape

[Rich Knapp]

If you are serous on keeping the most muscle you have put on. Before you do ANYTHING get a pinch caliper ( a few bucks at any pharmacy) and do a 7 piont skin fold at the least and find your BF % and LBM.

THEN you know what you have and were your nutrition needs to be.

If you don't, you are just flying blind and everything is guess work and hopes and dreams.

Would you just jump in a plane and fly to the islands? No you would do your research, know the plane, engine size, how much fuel you need, then fly.

Do your body and all your hard work the same justice. Get your BF% and find your LBM.




Then we can accurately help you out and not just shooting general fitness info out in the wind.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by MVP

Thanks for reminding me.

At the moment, just checked the scales, I am 223lbs at 5'9".

I would love to be 175-185lbs and around 10% bodyfat.

What do you estimate my bodyfat% to be currently? I'd say around 28%.

Basing this on my knowledge of lean body mass and natural physiques, which is far from an exact science, I would put you 25-28%. Most likely no more than 28%. If I had to bet my house it would be 27% based on lean body mass predictions versus your height.

185 would probably put you close to 12% when all is said and done. You might lose some muscle mass along the way, a few pounds, so 185 is a good goal unless you go haywire and lose more mass than you should.

[Rich Knapp]

I'd put Steve at being close on his high end with the more than 28%.

Reason being is people think you Body Fat is only on the surface. They don't take into account you have Body fat between and around your organs also, and the more you can see on the surface the more inter fat you have also.

This is why people think they are only 4% when they are all ripped when in reality they are still 6-8% .

[MVP]

OK so I have some very knowledgeable guys posting in this thread, which is exactly what I wanted to see.

Just a couple of things I want to ask about. I am far from an expert on cardio conditioning or endurance, but I thought that doing things like sprints was responsible for increasing stroke volume and therefore decreasing resting heart rate. I was under the impression that the more long distance endurance work was responsible more for increasing a-vod (bodies ability to use the oxygen in the blood) in your slow twitch fibers as well as increasing mitochondria count.

From what I remember learning, and I could be wrong, was that the anaerobic glycosis stimulates stronger walls of the heart rather than increasing in the inferior dimensions like aerobic conditioning. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's the way ACE taught anyway.

One of the other reasons I choose aerobic cardio is the hormonal friendly exercise. With aerobic cardio, I will be using less catabolic hormones, which is essential during a cut phase.

I was thinking the EPOC created from sprinting and barbell complexes was going to create a larger overall calorie consumption over the day, when compared with slower long distance cardio? Again I am no expert on this sort of thing, just throwing a few things I had been told. There is a very good chance that I was told the wrong things, and so on.

What you were told was correct, but another reason I won't starting out with strict HIIT/tabata style cardio is the beta blockers I am on. I would like to naturally lower my BP and heart rate first, because me doing HIIT right now wouldn't end too well with my heart.

In terms of cardio programming, that will depend on your current fitness level. Could you say run for 30odd minutes at around 60ish% of max heart rate?

Absolutely not. There's just no way. When I left for the Army, I couldn't even run 1 mile in 8 minutes and 30 seconds.

With your qualifications as a personal trainer and nutrition consultant, you don't do bodyfat % tests? Should be easy enough to check if you need to know the exact %.

I do know bodyfat % tests, but I usually use the Army's tests which involvement measurements of the neck and the waste and I can't seem to find my ruler!

P.S. Nice looking gf too!

Wife , but thanks!

I have a pretty good knowledge. 10 year Marine Corps Infantry Officer and I worked at Parris Island for three years (8 cycles) so I know how to get people into shape. The key for me is just like lilting weights is to mix things up so you dont get bored. If all you do is steady state longer distance runs, it can get boring.

I probably won't get bored with steady cardio for a while, since steady cardio will feel like HIIT to me where I am so out of shape.

1. 3 mile track workout

Jog 1 mile
Follow with 3 sets of one lap at goal pace with one lap recovery (1 and a half mile total)
Finish with 2 sets of half a lap sprint followed by half a lap recovery (half a mile)

2.Spartan Run
Run 1 mile
100 push ups
100 abs of choice
Run 1 mile
75 push ups
75 abs of choice
Run 1 mile
50 push ups
50 abs of choice

Yeah it'll be a while before I would be able to do something like this. Right now, I could not run a mile without stopping.

Start with some walking a few days a week and then have two days where you do more of the intense conditioning workouts like I listed.

Notes taken.

I like harder conditioning workouts because I am not going to live my life counting every morsel of food I eat. Its much easier to bust your ass in the weight room and on the track and then eat to fuel those workouts.

I 100% completely agree.

If you are serous on keeping the most muscle you have put on. Before you do ANYTHING get a pinch caliper ( a few bucks at any pharmacy) and do a 7 piont skin fold at the least and find your BF % and LBM.

I already have one here at the house. I'm not sure why I haven't used it in a while, but I do believe I lost the chart that came with it that shows the age and inch calculations.

Would you just jump in a plane and fly to the islands? No you would do your research, know the plane, engine size, how much fuel you need, then fly.

Great points.

Do your body and all your hard work the same justice. Get your BF% and find your LBM.

I sure will. I'll update with my % before the afternoon is up.

Then we can accurately help you out and not just shooting general fitness info out in the wind.

I appreciate it, Rich!

Basing this on my knowledge of lean body mass and natural physiques, which is far from an exact science, I would put you 25-28%. Most likely no more than 28%. If I had to bet my house it would be 27% based on lean body mass predictions versus your height.

So I was somewhere close to your predictions as well. I'll agree with 25-28%.

185 would probably put you close to 12% when all is said and done. You might lose some muscle mass along the way, a few pounds, so 185 is a good goal unless you go haywire and lose more mass than you should.

Wow, at 5'8", 185lbs and 12% would be a monster! I wouldn't mind being that size at all.

I'll update with accurate bodyfat% soon guys!

[MVP]

Guys, I am currently 31% bodyfat at 5'7" 223lbs. I just checked height, weight, and bodyfat%. My LBM is currently 153.8lbs

[MVP]

Well it seems we have a bit of a confusion here. I checked my bodyfat % with my calibers, and it read just below "30" for the inches thing or whatever. I matched that with my age on the chart, and apparently I am 26% bodyfat according to the bodyfat pinchers.

The first method I used was the Army's "neck and belly button" method. I am not sure to which of these methods I should go by? I don't look 26% bodyfat. IMO, I look around 30%. I guess I'll leave which one should be more accurate to some of you guys that have been in this game much longer than me.

[wesrman]

Sure this thread wasnt just a sneaky way of showing off your hot wife? :P

[wesrman]

Originally Posted by Rich Knapp

I'd put Steve at being close on his high end with the more than 28%.

Reason being is people think you Body Fat is only on the surface. They don't take into account you have Body fat between and around your organs also, and the more you can see on the surface the more inter fat you have also.

This is why people think they are only 4% when they are all ripped when in reality they are still 6-8% .

Excellent post as usual Rich.

There is a lot of good info in this thread already so i wont anything technical, but one thing i would suggest is that you find a type of cardio you enjoy and using variety. there is nothing worse than boring cardio. Things like jumping rope, shadowboxing, burpees, dumbell swings, biking etc. will keep it fun.

[MVP]

Originally Posted by wesrman

Excellent post as usual Rich.

There is a lot of good info in this thread already so i wont anything technical, but one thing i would suggest is that you find a type of cardio you enjoy and using variety. there is nothing worse than boring cardio. Things like jumping rope, shadowboxing, burpees, dumbell swings, biking etc. will keep it fun.

If only I had a heavy bag I could definitely do some boxing. I used to box amateur back when I was a senior in high school. I was 5'8" 155lbs back then though.

I'm just not sure which bodyfat % I should really use. The calibers are suggesting 26% when the method used by the military is suggesting 31%.