[quote]CargoCapable wrote:
The advice I gave her will absolutely aid in boosting her metabolism and toning her body, to suggest otherwise is assinine.[/quote]
Heads up, everybody. I’m about to get asinine.
Cargo, your training advice was:
“Also, when you finish your 5k, at least twice a week, do some jump roping” and, regarding lifting, “I think a 3x10 or 3x12 is appropriate.”
I’m disagreeing with both of these points because…
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Simply tacking jump rope on top of the existing routine is poor training economy. Not only aren’t we clear on exactly how Libra is lifting (we later learned she seems to use higher reps. We’ll get to that in a minute), but she’s already doing what I’d consider to be the high end of cardio, quantity-wise, so it makes no sense to tell her “do some more cardio, that’ll help.” If you were suggesting a jump rope session instead of a few running sessions, that would’ve been more acceptable.
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A 30-something minute run will lead to decreased jump rope intensity due to general fatigue. Not only will the calorie burn from the running impact how hard the jumping rope can be, but coordination will likely be impacted as well. Some people have a hard enough time jumping rope without tripping multiple times.
This is something you learn after spending time dealing with clients who get frustrated when they trip several times per minute. These interruptions will obviously effect training intensity. In another post, you talked about “high intensity rope work, sprints if you will, on the tail of a 3 mile run…” I believe you’re underestimating the ability of the average person to do “jump rope sprints”, let alone do them right after a half-hour of running hills.
- Jumping rope immediately after the run can increase the risk of shin splints. Mid-to-long distance running by itself can lead to shin splints/shin strain in some people, even experienced runners. The OP is running on some “very steep hills”, the steeper angle of which can further increase the chance of shin splints.
Jumping rope, by itself, can lead to shin splints in some people, especially those new to or freshly returning to the exercise. Adding the lower leg work of jump rope immediately after steep hill running may lead to excessive stress on the calf, ankle, and foot structures.
- The OP’s nutrition (coming off a “super low carb” diet, recently re-introducing carbs and fats, pretty low calorie considering the exercise cost) doesn’t currently support an increase in activity. Adding jump rope on top of the training she’s already doing will increase her daily calorie expenditure even more, which makes it that much more urgent that she make the necessary nutrition tweaks.
If anything, it makes more sense to fine-tune the existing training while making diet adjustments, not necessarily increase the training while diet changes are still in-process.
- While 3x10-12 is a long-standing and super-basic routine, it isn’t appropriate for the OP because of her current situation and goals. With older women especially, building bone density needs to be considered whether the client realizes it or not. Resistance training at a higher intensity (relatively-heavy weights) is much more effective in improving bone density, compared to lighter weight/higher rep training.
Also, while I do understand what you’re saying about Nautilus/Weider/Mentzer/Arnold, yes, different coaches have different training methods, but hands-down, I see the fastest changes in women’s physiques as soon as they begin lifting relatively-heavy on a consistent basis.
That’s why I firmly believe (no pun intended) that the fastest way to address Libra’s loose skin and cellulite is to ditch higher rep work and get into a well-designed lifting plan that has most of the work heavy and lower rep.
And to address one more issue:
[quote]CargoCapable wrote:
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
[quote]CargoCapable wrote:
Just kidding, high intensity work following steady state is smart and effective.[/quote]
I would argue the reverse would be true [/quote]
which ever order you prefer, jumping rope is a high intensity exercise when executed as such and has its effective place.[/quote]
It’s not a matter of preference. It’s a matter of it being flat-out less effective to do high intensity cardio after steady state. From a calorie-burning perspective, if you’re going to use both methods in a single session (which isn’t really necessary in the first place), you’ll get the most benefit from doing a period of higher intensity work and then extend the total calories burned by “coasting” with some steady state work to finish the session.
Believe it or not, I’m not trying to hijack this thread or get caught up in an argument. Just explaining my point of view. If Libra is getting confused by all this or has any other questions, definitely toss them up.
