Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Ive dropped my routine back a little to 4 days a week and my question is this...

Can Cardio be done on your off days, you know rowers, bikes, steppers etc, or are your off days supposed to be totally OFF the fitness regime?

Basically, are the 3days OFF supposed to be just free of weight lifting that will cause muscle damage as i suspect, or actually free of any form of excersize?

FAST AS FORD

As long as the cardio is steady state, then doing it on your days off will be fine, just make sure you carb up before your next weight session so your not glycogen depleted.

What are your goals stu? Bulk up or loose weight?

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

LOL... the golden question, thankfully i know enough now not to answer "both!!"

Towards the Nurburgring trip time i started to Plateau and the improvements started to grind to a halt, pretty much as i knew it was going to happen eventually. So... being some 2 stone overweight ive decided that plateau time is the perfect time to hit the healthy food and drop my daily calories to sub 2000 and drop some fat.

I am not literally "Dieting" in teh true sense of teh word, i am just eating properly and healthily, cutting out all the tea and coffee, soft drinks and treats whilst being carefull to ensure that a large proportion of my calories come from protein so i am able to sustain my lean muscle as much as possible, and i am making sure i maintain teh same routine that i did during my last build up phase so i will be immediately aware of any strength loss. I am essentially getting myself used to my new lifetime meal plan and so far i feel FAR better for it. Its shocking the crap we acustom ourselves too isnt it??!

I am please to announce that since i started at teh start of the month i have dropped 11lbs.

Stu.H

nice one stu!

i started loading again yest on the creatine, went to view another gym today, going up for a sesh tonight and hopefully joining

got my yearly bbq the middle of july where 40+ people come, so wanna get something like around then!

if ur round the midlands way around the 15th july feel free to give me a buzz and we can have a chat about training over a burger and a pint!

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Middle of July is a good target Stu, nice one

Matt

not seasoned or an expert by any means but i know for a fact this is as already has been said stu.......cardio is fine on your recovery days from weight training

FAST AS FORD

If your cutting then the cardio on your days off from weights is ideal, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is best, you wont need your protein shake before if you keep your cardio steady, as the protein shake can cause an unwanted insulin rise which is good before lifting but not ideal for fat loss.

Sub 2000 cals sounds quite low, how active are you in the day time/eves?

If you drop cals too low you will risk losing lbm (although heavy lifting seesions will help) and you may slow your metabolism. If you stick to sub 2k then perhaps have a refeed day every 3 or 4 days where you increase to maintenance cals to trick your metabolism into not "getting used to" the lower cal intake.

Its a shame your alergic to caffiene (read on general forum) as caffiene can help with fat loss amongst other things.

CAFFEINE

FOUND IN - Coffee, tea, coca-cola, some sports drinks

THE CLAIM - Increases endurance and reduces fatigue

THE SCIENCE - High doses will increase fat mobilisation and utilisation during aerobic exercise therfore "sparing" glycogen. Banned over a certain level by the IOC. A powerful diuretic which may lead to dehydration, and can cause headache and nausea

The above is taken from "sports nutrition" by anita bean.

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Thanks People, this is good news as it means i can bugger off to the gym every night still.

2000Cals:
I am not very active at all to be honest and spend a large proportion of my time either sat at a PC or a steering wheel, the same in the evening TBH.

I dropped down my calories until i noticed a small decline in weight, and for me that was around the 2000mark i feel ok with no noticeable side effects other than feeling healthier, so im hoping all is well.

Yeah, Bugger on the caffeine, im reasonably sure the removal of it from my diet altogether is what caused the sudden large weight rise in teh first place! Bloody Stuff

The 4 day re-feed sounds good, will go for that i think.

Yamaha

I have to agree that sub 2000 is low Stu I say this also as you have lost 11 lbs in 23 days which is a little on the high side to be just fat

I suggest that you increase cals until weight loss slows down to 1-2 lbs a week (MAX) or you risk some of that extremely hard earned muscle As someone who researches all subjects of interest to death I know that you know this anyway ............ Just a gentle reminder

FastFordChris

i'm going to say no to cardio on days off, in my experiance days off should really be days off and if you can still train on them you aint training hard enuff on your on days

dont forget when your doing cardio your still damaging the muscle/tendoms that are trying to recover. your only going to end up overdong it and do some serious damage long term and will mean you not being able to train at all (seen it done before)

good things to do on your days off though, swimming, stretching, things like yoga are good cos their not impact training and help to stretch and incurrage the muscle to grow.

dont forget muscle groth occurs when the muscle repairs itself, so you want to incurrage it as much as possible, why do you think athletes get massages and heat treatment after training.