I’m new to the T-Nation and wanted to get some opinions. I’m 5’11",194lbs at aproximately 18% bodyfat. For the last 3 weeks, I’ve begun eating 6-7 meals a day in 2+hr intervals, which has boosted my energy level tremendously. I’ve also stopped focusing on trying to bulk up. Instead I’m weight training with less weight at higher reps, and concentrating on burning fat.
On days I lift, I’ve been running 1.5 miles and biking 5, then training. On off days, I’ve been running 3 miles and biking 10. With these changes, I’ve managed to lose 12 lbs. over the last 3 weeks. My theory being if my waist is smaller, the rest will seem bigger, addition by subtraction if you will. Then I can go back to trying to bulk up. Any advise?
Since you are doing so much biking/cardio, I would suggest trying to conserve muscle and strength by using heavier weights and low-to-medium reps (4-8) during your workouts.
It takes me appoximately 23 min to run 3 miles, and maybe 40 to bike 10 miles, which was going to lead to my next question. What is the optimum heart rate for burning fat? Should I back off the intensity of the cardio? My goal is to slim down and lower my body fat %. Any advise is greatly appreciated.
It takes me appoximately 23 min to run 3 miles, and maybe 40 to bike 10 miles, which was going to lead to my next question. What is the optimum heart rate for burning fat? Should I back off the intensity of the cardio? My goal is to slim down and lower my body fat %. Any advise is greatly appreciated.
If anything, you should increase the intensity. Go for HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). This is just as good or better for burning off the fat as the steady state cardio you are currently doing, but takes less time and is more muscle sparing. There are various protocols for HIIT. The basic idea is to sprint, then coast, and repeat a number of times. For example, you could run/bike flat out for 2 mins, then jog/peddle slowly for 1 min. About 5 repeats should be enough for these intervals.
The most intense method is Tabatas, named after Professor Tabata who first explored the technique. With this regime, you go as hard as you can for 20 secs, rest 10 secs, repeat 8 times. If you really go as hard as you can, this will leave you collapsed in a pool of sweat on the ground for 15 mins after.
I second the idea of you lifting heavier weights (without any forced reps/too many drop sets though) to conserve your most of your strength while leaning out.
Are you happy with your progress? If so, then don’t worry about changing to HIIT too much and keep doing what you’re doing. If you are starting to stall or want to try something different, go for the HIIT or Tabata stuff. But don’t underestimate the extreme puke-iness you will feel from Tabata. It’s no joke. 12 lb in 3 weeks sounds like a lot to me.