Tag Archive: cardio

Fasted Cardio: an update

I’ve already touched on the topic of fasted cardio here, but a recent publication by some of my favorite names in the industry (ie Alan Aragon) has shed some more light on the pro/anti fasted debate.

As I stated before, the entire idea around fasted cardio is that you’ll burn more fat. Since your body has no circulating glucose to utilize, it will instead pull from stored glucose preferentially. This translates to burning straight fat. This has gone under fire from a lot of critics because a) the body doesn’t work so simply and b) long term vs. short term calorie burn. This paper focused on comparing females in a caloric deficit.

The paper, published in November of this year, took two groups of women. The first group trained fasted, the second did not. Both groups were in a caloric deficit, both groups did an hour of steady-state cardio 3 days a week.

And both groups lost the same amount of fat and weight.

This short addendum to my fasted cardio article from previously shows that fasted cardio has no added benefit over non-fasted cardio.

December 8, 2014 Exercise, Myths, Read more >

Heart Rate Training: THE BEST

As I’ve said before, HIIT is my preferred way to train cardio. If I can spend 30 minutes throwing the barbell around and never once stepping foot on the treadmill I am 100% happy. Hell, I’ll voluntarily do box jumps before I get on any sort of machine.

However, lately I’ve been feeling like…behind. Like I’ve been putting in this extra work for my HIIT routines and not seeing much progress. My body has stalled, my weight loss has stalled, and while I look great I’m not where I want to be for my show. At 3.5 weeks out this is always startling to me. No, my diet hasn’t been 100% – but a lot of that is because I’ve found myself saying “What’s the use?” All in all, I’ve been feeling discouraged.

Then I was reading something the other day and realized that I’d been going about this all wrong. See, I’ve been doing “baby HIIT.” I’ll “sprint” for 40 seconds, rest for 20, etc. and do this for 15-20 minutes and it’s whatever. Last year this was the best way for me to lose fat. This year? Nothing. It’s because I’m not really getting to that high intensity level, and it’s my own fault.

Bring in: my heart rate monitor. I sat down and figured out my max heart rate using this calculator. Once I did that, I figured out 75% of my max heart rate. It’s 140 bpm, based on my age and gender. When I’ve been doing my “HIIT” I’ve been getting my HR up to about 145 – that’s not max effort! I’m not saying I should be all the way up to 188 every time, but for a HIIT workout 145 is kinda wimpy. I vowed not to let this become the norm so I’ve changed the way I do my HIIT.

Now, I’ll do the 40 seconds of sprints, then rest until my HR is down to 75% of max, or 140. Then I’ll sprint again for 40 seconds, and repeat. I’ve only started training this way this week, so I’m not sure if it’s working, but I have a feeling it will. Why? Because when it comes to cardio I am a notorious slacker. If you tell me to do an hour of cardio I will get on a stairmaster, put it to a low setting and watch TV for an hour. My powerlifting training taught me to rest a lot between sets, which is great for strength, but not so great for the fat burning effects of HIIT. ESPECIALLY when my HR isn’t getting high enough to do any good.

I’ll see how this heart rate training goes and try to implement it in the off season. I mean, what good is a strong girl if she has no endurance, right?!

September 25, 2014 Exercises, Me, , , Read more >

HIIT Sprints and Tuna Cakes

One of my favorite ways to do cardio is in the form of HIIT or sprints. I absolutely hate cardio. Running gives me shin splints and visible bruising within minutes, the elliptical is boring, and I just dislike it. If I can pump out a quick 30 minute or so workout and burn the same – if not more – calories than steady state I’m so happy.

Of course, this rule doesn’t apply to days when I’m catching up on my favorite TV shows. I love the stairmaster on intervals and some True Blood or The Last Ship. Recently I’ve started watching X-Files from the beginning and it’s been heaven sent.

ANYWAY.

After today’s back/leg day workout I wanted to really up the ante. Since I have a break from school for 2 weeks (so I can write my senior paper and senior presentation) I’ve been getting SLEEP! It’s heaven sent because I was averaging like 4-5 hours a night, then going back to school for patient care/rounds, then crashing in bed for a few hours, then doing a half-assed gym session…ah. I was tired, hangry and over it. Once I got onto a more normal sleeping schedule my workouts became a joy again. Sure, during this carb depleted state I can’t rep out 275# deadlifts like a pro anymore but I can do 155# for 15 reps. I feel a need to make up for my week of sleep deprivation by killing it during my post workout cardio.

Today, I did some sprints on the treadmill.

Set your incline HIGH – I’m talking 10% or so. Do a 3 minute walking warm up with dynamic stretches. Now, set the treadmill for SPRINT SPEED. This is highly individualized, my sprint speed is like 6 mph haha. Do 15 seconds on/15 seconds off. That is, run for 15 seconds, jump off for 15 seconds, jump on for 15, etc. Do as many rounds as you can – mine usually adds up to 15 or so minutes. Cool down with a speed walking pace on incline.

Most importantly? DO NOT HOLD ONTO THE HANDLES. I could write a novel on why this is bad for you (oh wait, I did!) If it’s too hard, back down! Lower the incline, lower the speed. No one gives a hoot how high your treadmill is jacked up or how fast you’re running. You know your body best, don’t cheat yourself to “show off.”

Anyway, I love that little kick me in the booty workout. It gets my heart rate UP!

When I came home I was craving something new – which, if you’re a figure competitor a week out from a show, you know doesn’t exist. Your diet is strict to the point of eating the same thing every day. I really don’t mind this one bit because I’m a creature of habit. The less guess work the better for me. But I wanted to dress up a classic, so I made TUNA CAKES!

Tuna Cakes!

Tuna Cakes

  • Beat 1 large egg until the yolk is broken
  • Add 1 can of tuna – about 4oz total
  • Season with your favorite seasonings – onion powder, garlic powder, Miss Dash, whatevs
  • Add spinach if you’re feeling creative!
  • Cook in a non-stick pan over low-medium heat until you can easily flip it

I added dijon to mine (aka the Holy Grail of Figure Prep) because to me dijon + tuna is the best combo ever. Depending on your ingredients your macros will change, but mine ended up as 187 calories, 1 g of carbs, 6g of fat and 28g of protein. I also added some broccoli with some Miss Dash steamed. In the mug is Chamomile tea, which I’ve been drinking like a mad woman before bed. I was raised by a tea-loving mother and it’s definitely carried onto my adulthood. Not pictured is the casein and peanut butter medley I had for “dessert.”

I’m going to end this post with a gratuitous picture of my back, because I’m really, really happy with the progress it’s made. I blame deadlifts!

Pepe Le Pew boxers are anabolic, that's a fact

August 7, 2014 Exercises, Recipes, Read more >

Fasted Cardio: Myth or Fact?

Fasted cardio is one of the hottest topics amongst dieters, especially those who compete in body building. The idea of doing cardio on an empty stomach first thing in the morning makes sense to some people – with no immediate source of energy, won’t your body burn stored fat for energy? There’s compelling evidence for and against fasted cardio, so I thought I’d break down the main points of various studies for both sides and let you chose.

FOR FASTED CARDIO

One study that is often cited (Bonen, A. et al. (2008). Effect of training in the fasted state on metabolic responses during exercise with carbohydrate intake. Journal of Applied Physiology. Apr;104(40):1045-55) showed that training fasted actually increased your muscle glycogen stores, making it a great adjunct to endurance athlete’s training. The idea is that increasing the body’s ability to store glycogen will allow athletes to compete at higher intensity long term.

Another study looked at supplementing your fasted cardio with caffeine and yohimbe and found that this increased catecholamines in the body, which helped to break down fat stores more readily. So fasted cardio, at least in the short term, increases the bodys’ ability to burn fat.

But, that’s pretty much where the science ends. The idea of fasted cardio – that your body would used its reserves instead of readily available food – was greater than the research. Now powerhouses such as Dr. Layne Norton and pretty much all of science have decided the cons far outweigh the pros.

AGAINST FASTED CARDIO

A lot of data for this comes from a study done through The Strength and Conditioning Journal (Volume 33). They found that the thermogenic effect of exercise (that is, your long term calorie burn) is HIGHER if you’ve eaten before exercise. They also found that training fasted decreased your overall energy output, so if you felt sluggish you didn’t put as much effort into a training session as someone who ate before.

What is more alarming than this is the catabolic effect fasted cardio can gave. Muscle catabolism is exactly what everyone wants to avoid – why train fasted if you could possibly lose muscle in the process? Proteolysis (the break down of protein) is higher in fast training and nitrogen losses more than doubled in this state.

So what’s the take home message with these studies? Know your goals. If you’re trying to maintain muscle and lose fat then eating something before doing your cardio (oatmeal, BCAAs, egg whites, pop tarts, etc.) can help you from losing muscle and keep your energy high. If you’re an endurance athlete then fasted cardio can contribute to your glycogen stores. With this information you can make appropriate decisions based on your own goals and levels of fitness.

February 9, 2014 Exercise, Fat Loss, Myths, Science, , , , Read more >