For a person (athlete or non athlete) i know that during low intensity exersise fat stores seve at the primary fuel and when intensity goes up the main fuel source switches to Carbs.
Now my question is for someone trying to lose fat, which is better for weight loss… Tempo (intervals at 60-70% “TALK” pace) or Long slow distance runs?
Also, after the exersise during recovery which is being utilized?
Quik - you don’t look as though you’re carrying BF…
But anyway - Just a few quick points to anyone when trying to loose a little body …
It obviously depends on the % bodyfat - but regardless the best way to get it off is to slowly start working at it.
Tidy up diet - Don’t go on a diet, but just start tiying up the diet slowly but steadily and getting the good healthy eating habits formed for at least 4 weeks. Make sure what’s going into the body is good and healthy first.
The basics
Food Combining :
Use 5-8 meals throughout the day.
Try to avoid large combinations of Carbs and Fat in the one meal.
Try to taper Calories slowly as the day progresses
Macro Nutrients :
Protein : Use Protein at every meal.
Carbs: Complex Carbs used early in the morning, Simple carbs Only post-workout.
Fats: use Fish, Falx and nuts to maintain fat intake and feeling of saiety.
Increase your daily energy expenditure. The basic formula of Calories in = calories out is key. Slowly increase the energy expended each day.
Exercise Options for weight loss for sprinters:
Sprinting and Tempo - simple as that - tempo sessions with proper post workout nutrition will help reduce bodyfat and maintain LBM better than long slow Cardio once pateince prevails.
Other methods can be used - slow based cardio, HIIT, Fartlek etc - but the negative effects on performance out-weigh the positives.
Weight-lifting is also a help - but IMO it alone will not reduce BF (this is a hot issue), though it will help maintain LBM.
Exercise Nutrition:
Post High Intensity workout days use Simple carbs and whey immediately after exercise.
Post Tempo workouts use standard C&P meals.
> “Also, after the exersise during recovery which is being utilized?”
Carbs if still in the system - though highly unlikely - so therefore Fat and in more extreme cirumstances LBM or protein until the next insulin spike.
Thanx for the response. The question was just a general question. Not for me. LoL. Im around 4%.
thanx for the reply.
Anyone elsE?
I was thinking that - I think I remeber a photo from way back (am I right?) and you were in daaaaamn good shape.
good post 23.
A calorie deficit of ~100-150 cals per day should yield good results in the long term. Clemson?
You could be right athlete - I’m not sure.
I don’t focus too much on counting calories - not because I don’t agree with it but because personally I feel that calories should be the last stage in ‘dieting’.
Calories can also tend to distract from the main focus of proper nutrition - get good food choices first.
Just pick good foods and eat 5/6 times a day etc. (like above) and get the habits formed.
Once this is tied down - perhaps then you can start to count calories and see if the figure is too high or too low - but you’ll already have a good idea of this from the mirror.
(Note: ‘mirror’ - not ‘scales’ )
And then depending on this you can raise or lower the total meal cals.
no23 and athlete_400m are correct. A loss of 150 kcal/day most days of the week (3-4) will yield a loss of roughly 1 pound per week. Also, as no23 says, eat 5 small meals throughout the day, this will cause less fluctuations with insulin and blood sugar levels keeping them more constant, especially a concern if you are diabetic, more so for Type II rather than Type I.
Also, if this person, is not a huge fan of calorie counting as most people aren’t then have this person just continue with exercise and let him/her eat whatever they want. He/she will still lose weight regardless and gain all the physiological benefits from physical exercise. As long as Calories out > Calories in. There was a study done by Robert Ross, 2000 (I’ll see if I can find the actual articles reference, its in my school stuff) which demonstrated this.
He took 2 groups, say group A and group B, with one group he made them reduce their daily caloric intake by 700 kcal for 12 weeks with no increase in physical activity and with the other group he made them maintain their normal daily caloric intake and had them walk for 60min (1 hour) everyday for 12 weeks. The results showed that both groups lost the same amount of weight (16 pounds) but that the 2nd group had “more bang for their buck” because they were able to gain all the physiological benefits derived from exercise (ie, decrease in fat blood lipid profile, increase in CV fitness, etc.).
So steady activity for roughly an hour or so will provide better bodyfat reduction?
I’ve heard and believe that increasing muscle mass increases caloric utilization but will this necessarily correlate specifically to fat loss? Or will this just increase the possibility for the body to go into a catabolic state?
Would you detract someone from doing a 60 minute walk (or whatever exercise you can speak normally during) and then following that up with an intense weight training session? Or would you recommend they do it with weights followed by steady cardio activity?
I have roughly 25% BF and desperately do not want to remain an overweight statistic. Any suggestions would be happily received.
Love this forum and the info you guys toss around.
For fat loss -
Note: this is NOT an optimal approach for sprint training.
(See previous post for nutrition guidlines)
Steady Fasted State Cardio:
First thing in the morning or post weight training session.
Duration: 20 - 40 mins - ideal - 25-30 mins
HIIT:
Not reccomeneded on an empty stomach or post weight training.
3-4 Hours (min) before or after Weights
About 3:1 ratio Rest to Work.
Interval Work:
400m Steady runs
2 or 3:1 recoveries
Max # 10
Walking:
Long 30 min walks twice a day
First one - fasted state before breakfast
Second one - 30mins to 1hr before bed
… and Yes increased LBM will increase fat ultilisation.
Like I posted above - if you’re a sprinter and you want to loose weight - Do training ala CFTS including ALL the tempo work and watch the diet carefully - this will be sufficient for fat loss and will also maintain performance goals.
First, its important to understand that we are talking about general related fitness and not performace related fitness. The latter, uses specific training regimes to yield specific results.
rabidpanda, the study was merely trying to show what kind of results would be yielded from dieting (reducing caloric intake) vs. exercise. It showed, that if you exercise and don’t care what you eat (provided that you keep your diet the same and not increase the daily calories) you will still lose weight and gain all the physiological benefits that go along with exercise. Thus, you achieve your goal of losing weight and better your overall health without having to pain-stakingly count calories and wonder if this food is ok to eat vs. this food.
With respect to general related fitness, the best advice would be to use “common sense, moderation and variety” both in terms of exercise and mostly with nutrition.
vito I totally agree I was just trying to glean some extra info that you’d possibly be able to infer from the study and from your own personal experiences.
This is what I need. I have 15% body fat and I think that it’s slowing me down in my sprinting. I don’t know what the benefits would be of lowering my body fat by a couple %s would be on sprinting but this info has been helpful.
Why is tempo better than than LSD? (Long slow distance)…Just curious.
During a long slow dist. run your HR most likely will rise the first few mins and then remain at a steady state for the remainer of the run. However when doing tempo, since it is at a faster pace your HR will go higher then drop, go higher then drop… When it goes higher it will be above what it would be during the LSD run and in between reps since the rest is short it may go back down but it will most likely still be elevated as high as it would be during the LSD run. Alll in all I think that your average HR would be higher during tempo thus burning more calories??
Anyone<?>
Not necessarily a higher average HR via an LSD, since HR will increase in this case as well later on due to other issues (e.g., heat)
i don’t think that HR is the point here -or at least not only; fuel utilisation and participation of a higher number of FTF during tempo are rather more crucial
others?
perhaps your right.
However isnt MET values determined by HR or a I wrong?
i don’t think so, or if this is the case, i wouldn’t trust it much… 
a MET is defined as a multiple of the resting metabolic rate, with 5kcal being approximately equal to 1 L of O2 consumed; therefore, you might have average values of 250 ml for men, which then are better devided by BW to have ml.kg-1.min-1, which is more accurate for runners, etc
besides, if that was the case, after positive adaptations to exercise, where submaximum HR gets lower for the same load, energy expenditure would be less, which obviously isn’t the case…
nice. you cleared it up. I am still a student and I had a rough time last year with the class “Cadiovascular Fitness Assessment and Programing”. I dont remember the the things we “learned” very well.
Now… lets get a bit back on track here…
well… if it’s only fat loss that you’re looking for (I’m not sure if this is allowed, but it’s not a banned substance)
Most body fat can be lost through exercise and nutrition, but usually we all have “trouble spots” these can be targeted locally by sub dermal injecctions of phosphatydil choline, this is a drug used to treat high trygliceride levels and get rid of the fat in the veins (so it’s usually used intravenously). The product is called lipostabil endoven (i think, not sure) but it’s made by aventis pharaceuticals. It produces localized fat deposit destruction, like an injectible liposuction, however it is not known if the fat can return (unlike lipo) and it leaves a bruise that lasts for 3 days.
It’s currently being used in NY and is touted as being to liposuction what botox was to the facelift.
Cheers
Well when looking at calories alone, speed is not an important issue. Its physics, speed is the independent variable here; its volume (distance) that dictates the number of calories burned. Keep in mind, we are talking strictly about calories here.
For example, say you have two people with the same somatotype. One walks (briskly) a mile, the other jogs a mile. Clearly, one is working at a higher intensity, but in the end, they both burn the same amount of calories (relatively).
This is where alot of lazy peeps will turn and say “well heck!! why do I have to train at a higher intensity (and sweat and get winded, etc) if I can burn the same amount of calories if I simply walk and not have to deal with all those self-perceived bad things” (ie, sweat, etc)?
The answer is simple, distance is a product of the FIT principle. Thus, if you jog the mile, in other words increase the intensity, yes, you will burn the same amount of calories, but you will also take advantage of the other health benefits, such as, increase your CRF (VO2 Max) and this contributes to a more healthy independent life. It has been shown time and time again, that in order to increase your VO2, you must increase the intensity.