Originally Posted by sven
Evening all,
Here for some help and opinions... Read many similar threads but would like it to be specific to my situation.
I'm 27 soon 28 years old, 1.72 tall/short, and weighing 77kg. Having been very active since the age of 5 playing ice hockey and boxing I've always been fairly well built. Since my wife got pregnant 3 years ago I completely stopped everything and kept my heavy appetite up and gained weight! 2 months ago I decided to do something about it. Analysing my self: I eat between 2200 and 2400 calories a day, same as i have done last 2-3 years. For 2 months now I've been running 5km 4 times a week. As I've been consistant in my calorie intake I thought the running would make me start loosing weight but still 77kg +/- 200g as when I started.
Is it as simple as muscle weighs more than fat?
Any tips or pointers in the right direction are appreciated...
Thanks!
Ok, so i can understand why conventional cardio like running and going on machines like the crosstrainer are universally seen as "how to get fit" because when your on them, your heart rate and body tempreature increase, like when your running your 5km. The problem is that when you stop running, your heart rate decreases and your tempreature too, in short, you stop burning calories, this means that although running is good for you and it has its place, it is far from the most effective way to achieve fast and steady body fat decrease. (i am assuming that is your goal)
The problem stems, i think, from people misconstruing endurance = fitness; it is true that the two corellate, but that is not the be all, end all. See humans are not made for long, steady endurance based activities; we are made for short, sharp bursts of power, exerting massive amounts of energy in a small amount of time, A good example of this is the comparison between olympians. Marathon runners always look, at least to some degree, mal nurished and emancicated; whilst sprinters have buff, lean and full figures with defined muscles, obviously the more healthy looking of the two. Remember our food didnt always decorate shelves for us to buy when we choose, we had to hunt, once; like lions or lepards etc; the main reason for us being designed in this way i think
So, how do you lose body fat? well, there is a means to an end. Simply speaking you lose body fat if you burn more calories than you consume; but that sort of lol info doesnt help anyone, or we would all be fit and healthy, because almost everyone knows that right?
To make this whole process easier you can take 2 steps:
1. Build muscle mass.
Easiest way to do this is through wieght traning, doing compound exercises (Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Shoulder Press, Bent Over Rows etc etc.)
As well as FUNCTIONAL cardio, like the things u may have done at school (Jumping Jacks, Mountain Climbers, Burpees/ Half Burpees). Again, short sessions maybe 10 minutes or so with short rest times.
The reason you want to build muscle mass is quite simple; 1 pound of muscle is responsible for burning 50 calories:. More muscle = Higher Metabolism = More fat burn = Loose weight.
The reason this is so much more effective is due to the afterburn effect. Basically, when ur in the gym wieght training, you cause micro trauma within the muscle your working i.e. you break it down; once you are finished the workout, your muscles are in need of recovery, so your body looks for sources of neutrients. The first place it will always go is your stomach, if there is anything there it will break it down and use that as its fuel for recovery, once thats all gone, it will look to your fat storage and start burning it for neutrients. This principle is known as the Afterburn effect; simply put, your body will continue to burn calories for upto 48 hours after an intense workout in order to aid muscle recovery.
2. Strip body fat.
Here you focus more on isolation workouts rather than total body workouts, meaning a deeper exhaustion in the targeted muscles; this will mean metabolism will keep increasing, as muscle growth will still be taking place.
The main thing is your calories though. Keep it simple i eat chicken, broccoli and brown rice 5 times a day, just as an example. portions roughly 1.5 times your fist. Other acceptable foods would be wholewheat pasta, lean ground beef, lean cut steak, tuna (in brine/water), potatos, sweet yams, cottage cheese (low fat), talapia, salmon, lean cut pork, etc etc
Oh, just remembered; another factor that is rarely addressed, Sleep. you need to get in anywhere from 8-10 hours of sleep every day; this is essential so that muscle recovery is speedy.
If you follow these guidelines you should be set.
Please feel free to ask any questions if there is anything your unsure of, or i didnt explain in full, its late at night here so thats a big possibility xD...
