Cardio and fast weight loss

[mikeraw]

I have a cardio-related concern

In college I was a bum and instead of freshmen 15 I gained 50. I had a GF for a coulpe of years and gained even more weight. Then, when I broke up I lost 40 lbs and since then life has been good with the ladies. Thing is that I mostly stayed thin by limiting what I ate, not by exercising, and it's gotten to the point now that I spend almost every night juggling girls and the weekends partying with my friends...

So I've gained 25 of those pounds back because now I hardly have time to work out and for my own personal activities. So now I've been going to the gym during lunch and concentrating on the treadmill... but my fat-burning heartbeat range is between 140 - 160. That means I have to WALK at 4 mph to stay within that range!

Needless to say, it's embarrassing when even girls are running at 9 mph on the treadmill next to you for 20 mins while you're sweating your a$$ off walking at such a puny speed. I'm afraid that if I try to force myself to run fast for prolonged periods of time I may be hurt myself or get a heart attack at the gym.

Any ideas on how to lose weight fast? I do a lot better with the ladies when I'm thinner. I specifically want to get rid of my gut and I know you can't really target fat loss. Any ideas at all? When I first lost those 40 lbs it was a tortorous 4 month period of self-imposed starving and abstinence from beer and cheese and I don't want to do that again.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[immrtlwun]

In my opinion, carb cycling, interval training, and heavy lifting is one of the best ways to lose weight. Muscle will raise your basal metabolic rate and help you burn more calories. Interval training keeps your body guessing as far as cardio goes, and carb cycling also keeps your body guessing on what to do with the carbs that it does get. Check out the vault for more weight loss help, there are tons of threads on losing weight relatively quickly.

Cardio helps if you do it right. You have to keep your body guessing otherwise you will get used to it and your body becomes more efficient and burn fewer calories while doing more work. So you can't just go run 3 miles a day all the time. Doing interval training and lifting weights will be your best bet at losing weight.

 

[Warboss Alex]

What's a hear attack? You can lose fat just fine and not abstain from cheese at all. You don't need to run, either. Walking at 4mph gets competitive bbers shredded, surely it'd work for the rest of us mortals too.

However, I'd walk for a longer period in the morning before breakfast. 40-45 mins at a time at a brisk pace.

Post up what you eat. Obviously if you are partying into the small hours, drinking, eating junk food on a regular basis you might as well not bother with the gym.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Let's get right to it: Steroids shred bodybuilders. For the majority of folks, it takes a helluva lot more than running on the treadmill at 4.0 to get shredded...it also takes a variety method of cardio to burn fat most effectively and efficiently...

I know because I've used steroids before, and I haven't used them in months...and my abilty to gain ripped muscle without cardio has ceased...that's OK: I have to do cardio now, but my point is that i have to do it...lots of it, and I have to mix upthe cardio , too.

My days with arguing with people on forums are over so... whatever.

 

[Lifeforce]

There got to be another explanation to why people should do cardio other than "do it". Not only does it not burn fat until about 25-30 minutes into the session but the RMR increase is less than that of doing HIIT. Besides this the body will start to produce cortisole which isnt all that anabolic.

I dont honestly see a whole lot of benefits of doing ordinary cardio which outweigh the drawbacks of it. HIIT will offer more fat burning, vastly lower cortisole levels, more growth hormone (which has beneficial effects on lipolysis and the anabolic part of the protein synthesis).

Isnt it all down to getting as close to +-0 on the protein synthesis while eating less calories than you use.

 

[Quiksilver]

Cardio speeds up recovery significantly as long as you aren't pushing yourself too hard.

 

[Kerpal]

Burpees. Do 100, as fast as you can. Do it a few times a week. Worked for me. I have a 6 pack and can do 100 burpees in just under 7 minutes.

 

[wolf116]

You give good advice most of the time, Alex, but why in the heck would you write that you can get shredded via the treadmill at 4.0?

Because that is what seems to work the best for most people. Some can get shredded with no cardio at all. My gym partner for a few months was a competitive natural bodybuilder who would cut down to single digit bodyfat before a show with diet alone.

I'm sure if you re-evaluated your diet now that your training natural you wouldn't need to do so much cardio.

 

[int3l]

this is a little off track but does anyone know a good side for a calorie counter? something that'll help me reduce calorie intake, so i can get cut for summer now? obviously i'll keep the protein intake the same but i want a calorie deficit so that the cardio and muscle will help me get cut.

 

[EFFORT]

My days with arguing with people on forums are over so... whatever.