iCardio: Keep Your Body Guessing…
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For those of you who wish to achieve a TONE and LEAN physique, then alternating the intensities of your exercise program is very important. Plateaus can hinder anyones progress to getting their body into great shape. When people hit these plateaus within their exercise program, they tend to become frustrated and discontinue their healthy lifestyle. Exercise and physical activity are what you want to keep consistent, but the TYPES of exercises are what you want to vary.
First of all, Forget the SCALE!!!!!
Do you tend to be the type that see an increase of 1 to 2 lbs in your bodyweight, and you equate it to an increase of 1 to 2 lbs of body fat? If you answered yes, then you are incorrect and you have been misinformed. Stop buying clothes to fit in to and try to make the clothes you already have feel looser. That means that you need to lose BODY FAT and retain your LEAN MASS. A reduction of 1 inch within your waist circumference is equal to a loss of 1lb of body fat. How many of you know the amount of calories you burn while @ rest? Here’s an example: If your resting metabolism is ~1950kcals/day and you consume ~2600 kcals/day, I don’t have to tell you what that means….
To help reduce that annoying body fat, I have three ways to help you keep you body guessing. These are also the same types of intensities that I tell my Cardiac Rehab patients to perform. So here they are:
1.) ENDURANCE Training
Over the course of your iCARDIO sessions, you want to maintain a certain heart rate and intensity throughout the duration of that exercise to help build your endurance. (Refer to the iCardio: Exercising within your Target Heart Rate zone) . The physiological benefits of endurance training is that you train you body to use oxygen efficiently and train your muscles to utilize that the fat stores as its primary fuel source.
2.) INTERVAL Training
A great FAT-Burning Training Technique. This type of training allows individuals to use whatever modality of exercise that they want. ( i.e running, walking, swimming or cycling). This type of exercise alternates between low intensities and short periods of higher intensities to help jump start your metabolism and energize your workout. This unpredictable type of training exercise and the changing of velocities between intensities cause your body to activate and alternate between the fuel sources (FATS vs. CARBS) to help increase your endurance, conditioning, and lactate threshold.
3.) High Intensity Interval Training (H.I.I.T)
This type of training is very strenuous but has many advantages. You must perform short and high bursts of energy that will require you to push yourself past your 90-95% of your THR zone. (Ex. 2 min at a low intensity, and 20-25sec at the High Intensity). Total duration should be no longer than 20 -25 min. So what’s the pay off Reg? The benefits of performing H.I.I.T, is that such high bursts of intensities will jolt your metabolism to allow your body to keep burning those calories way after you’ve completed your exercise routine. As well as improving your Cardiorespiratory fitness to tolerate aerobic exercises at such intensities that could compete with Superior Athletes.
So what’s the take home message? To completely MAXIMIZE your workout, varying between these types of training intensities are vital to achieving your GOALS in becoming LEAN and increasing your CARDIOVASCULAR Conditioning!
My Philosophy: You probably can’t be a Superstar athlete, but you can at least Train like an Athlete! Shout out to D-Wade and Lebron James!
Reggie Laroche
The Exercise Physiologist
What's the Hype!?! 
Yea I hear you on that… I think I’ve been keeping my body guessing with the techniques you described( Especially #3). The thing I want to know is, if you stop working out or take a break for three weeks; why would I lose weight so quickly? I’m open to suggestions.
I’m glad you asked that question Alain. One thing that you want to realize is that you have about 6% body fat or less. I know this because I’m your brother…lol!
The loss of muscle mass should tell you that the majority of your bodyweight is LEAN mass. Because you are a Professional Basketball player, you do alot of running switching from Aerobic to Anaerobic pathways. Sometimes lasting for more than 1hr or 1.5hrs. When you look at Marathon runners, they don’t look like bodybuilders. They burn so many calories that their intake of nutrients like protein and in some cases total calories are deficient. The body releases a catabolic enzyme after working out hard for a period of 3 weeks. Your body will begin to look for extra protein. My recommendation to you: 60% carb 30%protein and 15-20% fat of what you consume. This should help you keep some of that lean mass on.
Also you cannot just stop performing resistance training exercises. A muscle grows in size,strength, and mass when a “resistance” or “Load” is placed on it. Keep hitting the weights kid!
OK I see..So more of the pasta and chicken intake! So, are you saying I can’t take a break from weights when I get back in the summer? Wow lol…I hear you though..I’m going to try and increase that carb and protein intake..Appreciate it bro.
You can take a break from the weights, just not for 21days! Lol And resistance training doesn’t necessarily mean weights. Calisthenics and Plyometrics are great cross training exercises that you can use to substitute into your exercise program. Chicken and Pasta is good, but you need a variation of Carbs and Proteins. They have other foods out there you know. Stay away from the High Glycemic Carbs if your not preparing for a game, go for the whole wheat and whole grain (Low Glycemic) carbs instead. Hope this helps big Bro!
Thanks for the informational post. I’m going to link it on my blog, http://chairtaichi.wordpress.com.
You are very welcome!
I’ve been tryna beef up fro about 2yrs now and I’ve gotten nowhere. My weight consistently fluctuates between the 150s-160. I hit the gym on a weekly basis, I’m no superstar athlete but i do feel like I lose any little bit of muscle mass I gain from hard work in the gym from just my metabolism…speak on it!
Ok Shola, I will speak on it. Weight loss and weight gain is simple, calories in and calories out. Do you know what your resting metabolic rate is? Can your current caloric intake help to maintain your weight or gain weight? Lets say that you don’t know either of the questions. If your hitting the gym doing resistance training on a weekly basis and you still find yourself losing muscle mass, then your nutritional habits are poor. The truth of the matter is that training is more important than diet for muscle building. “Really??” However, you do NEED to give your body the food it needs for optimal recovery and growth. Most guys don’t eat enough, you got to eat more to build muscle.
Also muscles grow when you rest, not when you workout. Why is this you ask; because your body’s natural growth hormone is released while you sleep. Are you getting your 8 hours of sleep? Do you know what kinds of foods that you need to have post workout? Proteins like chicken, fish, meat, eggs (Egg Beaters) and Carbohydrates like whole grain pasta and brown rice will all help you reach your goal. Hope this helps a little, let me know if you have any more questions. Thx for commenting!
Two simple question.
How do you figure out your resting metabolism?
And how do figure out the amount of calories in your mother’s cooking, you know rice and beans, beef and onions, with a little bit of hot peppers. Remember at home we don’t go by regular serving sizes, we just put enough on the plate until we feel that it is enough.
Help me with that and I will be as healthy as can be. Guess they weren’t that simple.
Well Jeff, to accurately calculate your resting metabolism is to take a resting metabolic test. The approximate cost will be around $40. If you want an estimated Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), than check out this website and input your age, height, weight, and sex. http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
Now calculating the amount of calories that is in your mothers cooking is not to difficult. Your mom still has to buy what she cooks from the store, and every food product has the nutritional facts on the box.
When you wrote in your statement… “Remember at home we don’t go by regular serving sizes, we just put enough on the plate until we feel that it is enough.” That statement right there lets me know that your OVERCONSUMING!
The Amount of rice that you should be having is the amount the fits in one hand! Which is balanced with Protein and Veggies. And I have a question for you Jeff…Do you know the point to when you’re not hungry? Or do you eat to to the point when you’re full?
Is there really a problem with eating after a certain time (late at night)?
Most definitely! Especially when the late night foods tend to be “fast food” or foods with a lot of carbohydrates. I never eat past 730pm because I keep this in my mind….”Why put fuel in the car, if you don’t plan to drive anywhere”. No matter on what you’re having, that’s quite of bit of “energy” that your body will eventually STORE as FAT and Triglycerides. Let me ask you a question Kerven…How often do you drink water? Most people find it surprising but when you think that your starving, you’re probably just Dehydrated!!! My goal and test for you: Before every meal (especially Lunch and Dinner) have 1 Glass of water (No Ice), and see where you appetite goes. Thx for the comment!
Do the guidelines you post on this blog apply to both sexes or just men?
I just started browsing and I’m curious if what you post would apply to me.
Yes the guidelines that I’ve provided thus far apply to both sexes. If you have a particular question, I’ll be more than happy to assist you.