Additional Cardio Benefits and Drawbacks

In my original article, A Book Is Judged by Its Cover, there is a discussion on losing That Last 10 Pounds. In that section I had described additional cardio and diet tactics to help trim away that last bit of fat from the lower ab’s.

Over the last 3 months I have doubled my cardio time, incorporated more interval work and split the work between the bike (upright, spinner), the elliptical and the treadmill. I have managed to become comfortable at burning a ‘measured’ 700 to 1000 calories in just a bit longer than 1 hour.

I have also been increasing my resistance training, going heavier and heavier. The muscle and strength gains are visually noticeable. As of now, I am bench pressing my own body weight and squatting 1 ½ times my body weight at 8 rep's each. My 1 RM’s are way higher. Based on several references, these lifts are at or above an intermediate strength level, e.g. some degree of specialization in the exercises and a high level of performance at the recreational level.

When I say ‘measured calories’, I’m talking about setting the machines to my age and weight. One should note that the machines are calibrated based on moving your ‘dialed in weight’ over a given distance at X resistance, e.g. the machine is measuring your work input. Your gains are noted by the ability to cover more distance in a given time at a given resistance.

Back on subject; even with the higher cardio and the heavier lifts, because I have not adjusted my diet, there have been no gains in reducing body fat (based on the Army standard) or waist to hip ratios.

Basically, I can run faster and farther and lift more weight with the payback being; I can eat just about anything I want without gaining.

Now in all honesty, this level of performance is very exhausting and it’s beginning to wear on me.

In summary; if you want to eat as you did before (lots of high calorie food) you will be in the gym 6 days a week for an hour and a half to two hours working very hard. You will feel and look better but you will be tired. In fact, even with 8 hours plus in bed, I generally nod off whenever I begin to read, watch TV or even cruise the internet.

The next increment of this series will be the results of a cleaner diet.

MMJennings