Re:
FDA raises a good point on the cardio aspect...30 minutes, only sparingly, given the high calorie density of most foods consumed, won't contribute ALOT. It's a great workout for elderly people wanting to be 'active', but if you 'consider' it like this...
Most people don't work very active jobs, so their bodies only burn calories equivalent to what they need to live and repair their bodies each day. Historical studies prove that people are burning less calories, and consuming less (not) more calories, but the difference between the calories consumed and those calories burned are growing. 30 minutes of moderate cardio can't do much unless your diet is so tight that you're AT maintenance when you're doing it. So you eat near precise to your maintenance calories, that the 30 minutes of cardio which burns about 100 maybe 150, over the course of a week would help.
However, if you're 200 calories below maintenance BEFORE you ride, then the 100 calories will contribute to 300 calorie deficit, and over 2 weeks, you'd drop a pound or so of fat, not counting any other activity.
Given that it's only 30 minutes of activity, which is 1/48th of ALL available time in the day for activity, it isn't an appreciable enough PERCENT, unless it's SO intense...such as a game of basketball, hockey, weightlifting, etc, that your heartrate goes over the 130+ for our age group. That's the point.
Activity is GOOD, no question about it. But given that we have 24 hours, and if truly only a very small percent is spent DOING ANYTHING that burns MORE than the necessary calories to live, very little progress will be seen. ESPECIALLY if you allow yourself to cheat now and then. If you do 30 minutes of cardio, and weekly lifting, a few cheats days, or a few cheat moments where you down a soda can replace all the calories burned. This is why it's FIRST important to define your goal. Either MUSCLE GAIN or FAT LOSS, build the plan to get there, and ALLOW for EXTRA so that you're achieving success.
If your goal is to gain MUSCLE, trying to be ever so precise with MUSCLE GAIN so you can avoid will make living very tough, you'll have to count every calorie to the number, and still you might not do it. Hence why 500 calories is usually targeted, since 500 x 7 = 3500, and even if you do more or less activity, you'll be on spot to gain 1lb a week, or perhaps LOSE one pound a week.
I'm not here to push any agenda, or say, DO IT LIKE ME, but there are certain logical principles by which the body operates in regulating its own weight. On the other hand, if you're goal is to GAIN muscle, then 30 minutes to 45 minutes, might be all you need at a reasonable rate to push off any extra body fat you would accumulate while adding the 500 calories. Plus, as IA and DC note, it aids recovery ability, it keeps the body loose, it's good for the heart and overall physical fitness, in whatever you choose to do. The body is meant to be used....not just sculpted into something beautiful.
FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION...if more people understood this, people would EASILY build beautiful bodies. Low bodyfat, highly muscular bodies, in men or women are the result of FUNCTIONING, ACTIVE bodies, of people who USE them and who LIVE. They're not the result of people who only lift and sparingly eat protein and other nutrients. Why would it be that athletes have the best bodies and typically avoid injury?
A-Unit
