Skiman
Super Freak
Q.
- How many workouts a week are OK? I've heard that 3 at least and 5 the most...
A.
- It all depends on the person really, I've read so many articles and done so much research on what are the better splits and how many days you should train etc... but what it comes own to is knowing your body, I've trained with several people that needed rest is absolutely mandatory but take my case for example I've trained extremely hard and with good nutrition and a lot of rest I can be back to 100% the next day to do it again. Personally being a three sport athlete throughout HS and college I've been push through a lot of training methods and have had intervals for certain sports to where almost every person on the team either passes out or pukes. So my limits are really crazy sky high versus the regular even non novice person. I could say that you should get at least 4-5 days in with 2 days rest but if you can only go 3 then only do 3, you know it whenever you reach the gym and you're not able to go 100% on a certain body part or exercise and then begin to compensate by using other parts of the body, don't do this go with what your body is telling you and you will never fail. Rest is key and is very important to recuperation. It's better to get in and get out and start the feeding process and calling it a night in the hay than staying in the gym 3-4 hrs a day and beating the body's nervous system into a pulp.
Q.
- The whole cardio vs. weight issue...
How much of each and all that?
A.
- Ok I would say cardio every day, it doesn't have to be intense all the time, maybe your body won't allow it to be so intense because of
the leg muscles or the lungs not being fully developed in order to do such task. Whatever you do try to do it everyday, first try getting
in for 30 minutes, then 40 minutes, then 45 minutes and so on... I usually get a hour of cardio in the off season and during cut phase heck I might even get two sessions of 60 minutes, one before work and another after weight training after work LOL. Your heart and lungs will thank you for it, it's almost the best thing you can for your body because that's gonna keep you motivated and you won't run out of steam whether it's in the gym or at work climbing some stairs to get your office, playing your kids, recreational sports or leagues, etc... Try just a moderate walk for 30 minutes and keep it at pace that you can still hold a conversation barely but it must be 20+ or at least 30 minutes every time, no less... The body does not start burning glucose (sugars, carbs, conversion of ATP) until that 20 minute breaking point, everything from that point on is going to be in the fat burning stage. Progress and move forward whenever it gets to easy, now whether you wanna lose just weight you can jog and faster speeds or even do a HIIT (High Intense Interval Training) type cardio which I'll explain later but I wouldn't think getting started with that gains motivation it only hinders it because it's so intense most feel like it can't be accomplish or the goal is non obtainable. If you wanted to retain more of the muscle which is sort of turning this into a bodybuilding method you would stay with the low intensity cardio therefore you don't use as much muscle to burn fat and it's more sparing on the muscle while trimming fat.
Q.
- If I feel like ???? like today... should I work out at all? or wait
at least a day to recover a bit?
A.
- HA HA, this is tough one, because some of those days you might surprise yourself at the gym. I think most of this is diet and hydration to be honest. The only reason we might feel like crap and are not light on our feet and ready to hit the gym is because mainly of a insulin spike. Certain foods from diet soda, small pieces of candy, caffeine withdraw, etc... There's little foods that most people snack on (and maybe this is not the case with you) but think that a little something won't do them that harm. Well what happens with the insulin spike that it's small rush to brain telling them that the craving is satisfied and all of sudden these sugars, saturated fats give this quick burst of energy and you're feeling great well guess what happens after all quick burst of energy derived from sugars, that's right a MAJOR CRASH (this is drop off factor, the unmotivated part of the brain, throwing in the towel sort of ideas). Always whenever something like this occurs or certain cravings for junk food keep a handful of almonds in a containing or several handfuls, drink lots of water, have some green tea... the small amount of caffeine which I believe is 10mg will save you from that certain type of feeling.
OK the other spectrum of feeling just not up to par with going to the gym is recovery but it's really hard to distinguish what actually is just laziness or too sore to workout. Make sure your nutrition is up to par and you have at least 3-4 meals before getting in the gym, if that's not possible try to have a large breakfast of healthy foods and a nice balance lunch as well. What I mean by balance is protein, carbs, and fats... Therefore the body is become a burning furnace of energy and storing all the ingredients for amp and intense workout. If you are truly sore to where you cannot walk then obviously it might be time for R and R, that is not doubt. Just make sure that it's actually that instead of just NOT feeling like going, if it ever comes down to that feeling start reading some article on working out, have information at hand that will motivate you to making the change, surround yourself with people that are excited about this as well talk about it to co-workers, family members, whoever. Anyone that is there to enforce a positive attitude will help you and aid you in knowing that you can rise above your mind get there even though the body is lacking the discipline. Getting to the gym I would say is almost 60% of being there mentally and focus and determined to have a great workout.
I hope that helps and you'll hear more I'm sure!
Skiman
- How many workouts a week are OK? I've heard that 3 at least and 5 the most...
A.
- It all depends on the person really, I've read so many articles and done so much research on what are the better splits and how many days you should train etc... but what it comes own to is knowing your body, I've trained with several people that needed rest is absolutely mandatory but take my case for example I've trained extremely hard and with good nutrition and a lot of rest I can be back to 100% the next day to do it again. Personally being a three sport athlete throughout HS and college I've been push through a lot of training methods and have had intervals for certain sports to where almost every person on the team either passes out or pukes. So my limits are really crazy sky high versus the regular even non novice person. I could say that you should get at least 4-5 days in with 2 days rest but if you can only go 3 then only do 3, you know it whenever you reach the gym and you're not able to go 100% on a certain body part or exercise and then begin to compensate by using other parts of the body, don't do this go with what your body is telling you and you will never fail. Rest is key and is very important to recuperation. It's better to get in and get out and start the feeding process and calling it a night in the hay than staying in the gym 3-4 hrs a day and beating the body's nervous system into a pulp.
Q.
- The whole cardio vs. weight issue...
How much of each and all that?
A.
- Ok I would say cardio every day, it doesn't have to be intense all the time, maybe your body won't allow it to be so intense because of
the leg muscles or the lungs not being fully developed in order to do such task. Whatever you do try to do it everyday, first try getting
in for 30 minutes, then 40 minutes, then 45 minutes and so on... I usually get a hour of cardio in the off season and during cut phase heck I might even get two sessions of 60 minutes, one before work and another after weight training after work LOL. Your heart and lungs will thank you for it, it's almost the best thing you can for your body because that's gonna keep you motivated and you won't run out of steam whether it's in the gym or at work climbing some stairs to get your office, playing your kids, recreational sports or leagues, etc... Try just a moderate walk for 30 minutes and keep it at pace that you can still hold a conversation barely but it must be 20+ or at least 30 minutes every time, no less... The body does not start burning glucose (sugars, carbs, conversion of ATP) until that 20 minute breaking point, everything from that point on is going to be in the fat burning stage. Progress and move forward whenever it gets to easy, now whether you wanna lose just weight you can jog and faster speeds or even do a HIIT (High Intense Interval Training) type cardio which I'll explain later but I wouldn't think getting started with that gains motivation it only hinders it because it's so intense most feel like it can't be accomplish or the goal is non obtainable. If you wanted to retain more of the muscle which is sort of turning this into a bodybuilding method you would stay with the low intensity cardio therefore you don't use as much muscle to burn fat and it's more sparing on the muscle while trimming fat.
Q.
- If I feel like ???? like today... should I work out at all? or wait
at least a day to recover a bit?
A.
- HA HA, this is tough one, because some of those days you might surprise yourself at the gym. I think most of this is diet and hydration to be honest. The only reason we might feel like crap and are not light on our feet and ready to hit the gym is because mainly of a insulin spike. Certain foods from diet soda, small pieces of candy, caffeine withdraw, etc... There's little foods that most people snack on (and maybe this is not the case with you) but think that a little something won't do them that harm. Well what happens with the insulin spike that it's small rush to brain telling them that the craving is satisfied and all of sudden these sugars, saturated fats give this quick burst of energy and you're feeling great well guess what happens after all quick burst of energy derived from sugars, that's right a MAJOR CRASH (this is drop off factor, the unmotivated part of the brain, throwing in the towel sort of ideas). Always whenever something like this occurs or certain cravings for junk food keep a handful of almonds in a containing or several handfuls, drink lots of water, have some green tea... the small amount of caffeine which I believe is 10mg will save you from that certain type of feeling.
OK the other spectrum of feeling just not up to par with going to the gym is recovery but it's really hard to distinguish what actually is just laziness or too sore to workout. Make sure your nutrition is up to par and you have at least 3-4 meals before getting in the gym, if that's not possible try to have a large breakfast of healthy foods and a nice balance lunch as well. What I mean by balance is protein, carbs, and fats... Therefore the body is become a burning furnace of energy and storing all the ingredients for amp and intense workout. If you are truly sore to where you cannot walk then obviously it might be time for R and R, that is not doubt. Just make sure that it's actually that instead of just NOT feeling like going, if it ever comes down to that feeling start reading some article on working out, have information at hand that will motivate you to making the change, surround yourself with people that are excited about this as well talk about it to co-workers, family members, whoever. Anyone that is there to enforce a positive attitude will help you and aid you in knowing that you can rise above your mind get there even though the body is lacking the discipline. Getting to the gym I would say is almost 60% of being there mentally and focus and determined to have a great workout.
I hope that helps and you'll hear more I'm sure!
Skiman
