Daily Blog Archives
Check out my daily blogs from days gone by.
November 29th, 2007
I haven't been feeling well the last couple of days. Yesterday I didn't go in to do my cardio and I'm not sure if I will be able to do legs today. I hate to miss a workout and it's really tearing me up inside. I just think it would serve me better to rest and sleep rather than try to push it. We'll see how I feel at the end of the day.In better news, today I weighed in at my lowest weight ever, 174.8 lbs. I just completely bypassed the 175's. My body fat tested in the 15's for the second day in a row. 8%, here I come! I really have no idea what my weight will be at when I hit 8% body fat. I seem to be putting on muscle while losing fat. I've been training hard and eating perfect lately and my strength is shooting up. I'm betting it will be somewhere in the range of 150-170...hahaha.
Have an awesome day...
November 26th, 2007
HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training and it is really the best fat loss workout I have ever discovered.First, you choose your piece of cardio equipment. I like the elliptical because it is easiest on my knees but the bike, recumbent bike, stair master, or even the treadmill all work well.
Second, you choose your intervals. I am currently doing a ratio of 1:3 where (1) is 30 seconds of intensity and (3) is 90 seconds of recovery. If I was doing 60 seconds of intensity and 60 seconds of recovery, that would be expressed as the ratio 1:1. You will often hear people talking in terms of ratio when discussing HIIT.
Third, you choose the length of time you are going to do HIIT. I'm currently doing between 12 and 16 minutes. I always warm up for 2-4 minutes but don't include that in my time. It is not recommended to do HIIT for longer than 24 minutes. You can get a good workout in 6-8 minutes.
Now, what separates HIIT for plain ol' interval training is the "high intensity" part. You have to go at 110% during your intensity portion. You should feel burning in your throat and want to puke. It is an all out sprint. The recovery period is just that, time to recover so go at 50-60%.
That's it. It's pretty simple. What makes HIIT so great is that it "jumpstarts" your body into fat burning mode for up to 24 hours. If you do 45 minutes of Light Intensity Steady State (LISS) cardio for 45 minutes you may burn 450 calories. If you do 17 minutes of HIIT with a 1:3 ratio you may only burn 200 calories during the workout but you are burning more throughout the day. One study showed individuals who do HIIT had 9 times the fat loss as those who do LISS.
That's it. It's pretty simple. What makes HIIT so great is that it "jumpstarts" your body into fat burning mode for up to 24 hours. If you do 45 minutes of Light Intensity Steady State (LISS) cardio for 45 minutes you may burn 450 calories. If you do 17 minutes of HIIT with a 1:3 ratio you may only burn 200 calories during the workout but you are burning more throughout the day. One study showed individuals who do HIIT had 9 times the fat loss as those who do LISS.
Also, LISS has a tendancy to burn lean muscle mass and that's not my goal. Essentially, look at the physiques of an Olympic sprinter and contrast that with the physique of an Olympic long distance runner. Both are totally ripped but the sprinter has preserved a ton more lean muscle.
November 25th, 2007
One thing I've really noticed since starting my transformation is how much some foods satisfy me more than others. I have been tracking my calories and macro nutrients for a while now but what I think is just as important (but more difficult to measure) is the satiety of certain foods. One of the most satisfying foods I eat is apples. If I eat a small apple (72 calories) with any meal or snack it really seems to stay with me for a long time. Another food that really fills me up for a while is broccoli. I have really grown to love eating broccoli with my evening meal. A 3/4 cup serving is only about 30 calories so I usually double that for a very satisfying serving.I eat 6-7 small meals a day now. Doing so has raised my metabolism while keeping me full throughout the day. I used to eat only two meals a day, lunch and dinner. Now, I'm pretty much always eating or getting ready to eat. I've cut my calories by about 1000 per day but am eating more, better foods. Yes, I was hungry in the beginning but after about 10 days my body adjusted to my new eating patterns and caloric intake and now it loves the nutritious fuel I'm giving it. I plan to eat this way for the rest of my life.