[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Reebok Flex and Zig Fly are almost minimalist shoes. Don't jump into them or barefoot running if you are just starting out as you might get injured. The most common ailment in these cases are Plantar Fasciitis and Achilees Heel.

If you are just starting out running, take a normal basic running shoe and get to a position where you'll be able to do 10k in about 65 odd mins. Follow a regimen of few short runs during the week and a long run on Sat/Sun. Long would mean over here anything in double digits .

I am running/walking just to reach a basic fitness level( i am overweight now). i do not intend to run a marathon.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Find someone regular middle class salary slave who has been running regularly for over an year without injury - buy his shoes. Same brand / model i mean

Perfect will do that...thanks

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

You'll need to do cardio of atleast 30 mins before starting on your weight training if you want to lose your paunch.

Will the weight training help in loosing the paunch?? or is just the cardio bit enough? i could devote all the 60mins to cardio if that works.

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

F I would suggest running/cycling at about 65% of your max Heart Rate (Max Heart Rate = 220-Age). At this level, the max energy is derived from fat metabolism.

Is this the minimum threshold? or is crossing this harmful?

I am 28 and my HR is in the 160-180 range during my cardio sessions.

[akshayasok]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

I am running/walking just to reach a basic fitness level( i am overweight now). i do not intend to run a marathon.



Perfect will do that...thanks



Will the weight training help in loosing the paunch?? or is just the cardio bit enough? i could devote all the 60mins to cardio if that works.


Is this the minimum threshold? or is crossing this harmful?

I am 28 and my HR is in the 160-180 range during my cardio sessions.

There is nothing called spot specific training, if you want to lose the paunch you have to lose weight and fat. So you need to have a calorie deficit everyday. Cut the carbs to a minimum , remove sugar entirely etc. Maybe have a cheat day(but dont go overboard) Its a fact that diet is the most important factor for fat loss with exercise having a supplementary effect. Just be careful not to overeat after gym, because you 'worked so hard', I see a lot of people make the same mistake.

IMHO weight training and cardio will give you comparable results when it comes to fat loss, depends on what you enjoy as well. Personally, I enjoy weight training a whole lot more than cardio.period.

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

You'll need to do cardio of atleast 30 mins before starting on your weight training if you want to lose your paunch.

I beg to differ, you cant spot train and lose your paunch. I definitely dont think its necessary that you do cardio before weight training. 3 days of weight training combined with 2 days of full cardio should be more than sufficient, hoping you keep your diet in check.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

I go to the GYM 5 times a week - Wednesday and Sunday off.

Three times a week I go for weight training. Now, if I do cardio on the same day, I wont have much energy left for the weight training.

How about I do weight training for 3 days and do Cardio on the other 2 days?

This what I definitely recommend

Mon,Wed,Fri - Weights
Tue , Sat - Cardio

watch your diet as well, use this to pick a suitable program http://rohitnair.net/pp/

Keep us updated on your progress.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

Will the weight training help in loosing the paunch?? or is just the cardio bit enough? i could devote all the 60mins to cardio if that works.


Is this the minimum threshold? or is crossing this harmful?

I am 28 and my HR is in the 160-180 range during my cardio sessions.

I disagree with akshayasok that spot training is the solution. Dieting also isn't the solution. Different people have different physiology so one needs to tweak their training as per how their body reacts.

60 Mins of running at 65% VO2Max or about 75-80% of Max Heart Rate (Calculator here http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-ex...alculator.aspx )is the best. At that level the calories burnt are majorly from fat. 40-60%. Anything faster and you are in the inaerobic zone and will be burning up glycogen stored in your muscles without using up your fat reserves. The trick is to run at a pace where you can talk as well. Over a period of time you'll see that even though your pace has increased, the same pace is done at lower Heart Rate indicating that your heart muscle has become stronger and hence are able to pump more blood (carrying oxygen to the muscle tissues) with lesser strokes. Also you'll see your skin starting to radiate.

Also cutting out carbs totally isn't going to help. The idea is to move towards a healthy diet which has a good mix of carbs, roughage, proteins and fat. Just maintain a bit of calorie deficit and you'll be alright.

I have seen any weight lost on dieting comes back with vengeance.

Rest your call. But please take an informed decision

BTW any suggestions on how to tone down muscle. I have lost weight and all, but my calf and thighs are strongs and wide courtesy my footballing days. Even though I have almost zero fat on my quads and calf, the bulk is leading to transmission losses and hampering my ability to run faster.

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

60 Mins of running at 65% VO2Max or 65% of Max Heart Rate is the best. At that level the calories burnt are majorly from fat. 40-60%. Anything faster and you are in the inaerobic zone and will be burning up glycogen stored in your muscles without using up your fat reserves.

thanks!

So are you saying that my HR should not go beyond 125 (i am 28) else i would be burning muscles predominantly?

If that is the case i will have to walk really slow to keep it under 125.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

thanks!

So are you saying that my HR should not go beyond 125 (i am 28) else i would be burning muscles predominantly?

If that is the case i will have to walk really slow to keep it under 125.

Sorry my bad, mixed up the numbers. Its 65% VO2Max and about 75% Max HR. Try to jog at about 8Mins/Km and try to keep HR at around 140. When starting out cold, HR will spike to about 170-180 but will settle down at about 140.

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Try to jog at about 8Mins/Km and try to keep HR at around 140. When starting out cold, HR will spike to about 170-180 but will settle down at about 140.

Currently i am walking at 6.5kmph on an incline ranging between 10-15degs for a span of about 22-25 mins. and my HR remains around 150-160 throughout.

Then i move to a 22-25 mins session on the cross trainer same HR followed by the cycle for 22-25 mins HR lower than 150.

The three total to a loss of about 1000 cals in 65-75 mins.

Is this ok ?

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

Currently i am walking at 6.5kmph on an incline ranging between 10-15degs for a span of about 22-25 mins. and my HR remains around 150-160 throughout.

Then i move to a 22-25 mins session on the cross trainer same HR followed by the cycle for 22-25 mins HR lower than 150.

The three total to a loss of about 1000 cals in 65-75 mins.

Is this ok ?

Looks good, but I would notch it up a bit to about 8KMPH and 20-22KMPH on cycling.

[bblost]

Any exercise if its meant to be for weight loss needs to be measurable.

Not just in terms of heart rate or calories burnt. But in simple terms of time performance.

Always use a stop watch. Measure the distance you have walked, run or cycled.

Try and keep the kmph as high as you are comfortably able to.

In my case, for my home-office, I cycle around 17.5 kms in around 50 mins.
My return trip is set at 40 mins.

If I take more time than these preset times. I am lagging. Unless there was a clear reason for slow speed, it just means...I did not work hard enough.

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Looks good, but I would notch it up a bit to about 8KMPH and 20-22KMPH on cycling.

doing an 8kmph on that kind of incline is very difficult for me

i do about 110pm strides on the cross trainer with a resistance of 10

and 30kmph on the cycle with a resistance of 5

HR is the only concern here...any views?

Originally Posted by bblost

Any exercise if its meant to be for weight loss needs to be measurable.

Not just in terms of heart rate or calories burnt. But in simple terms of time performance.

Always use a stop watch. Measure the distance you have walked, run or cycled.

Try and keep the kmph as high as you are comfortably able to.

In my case, for my home-office, I cycle around 17.5 kms in around 50 mins.
My return trip is set at 40 mins.

If I take more time than these preset times. I am lagging. Unless there was a clear reason for slow speed, it just means...I did not work hard enough.

yes i am measuring my workout in terms of time, speed, distance, resistance, calories and HR.....and HR is where the confusion is.

I do not want to cross the right level of HR and land up with other problems.

Similarly i am avoiding the jogging bit till i loose a little weight because it was impacting my knees.

Also another concern is weight loss due to muscle burn instead of fat

Enlighten me...

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

doing an 8kmph on that kind of incline is very difficult for me

i do about 110pm strides on the cross trainer with a resistance of 10

and 30kmph on the cycle with a resistance of 5

Well, this is what I would do. Get out on the room and identify 5km stretch/loop near my house. You can map the distance here gmap-pedometer.com First aim to do that distance in 40minutes. Then slow over a period of time reduce it to 30Mins. This "over a period of time" can be anywhere from 1-3 months. And as BBLost said, measure your progress. Brisk walking will not burn as many calories as running will.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

BTW any suggestions on how to tone down muscle. I have lost weight and all, but my calf and thighs are strongs and wide courtesy my footballing days. Even though I have almost zero fat on my quads and calf, the bulk is leading to transmission losses and hampering my ability to run faster.

You could try skipping, hiking and lots of stretching post your runs. The 1st two activities are really good for maintaining/increasing leg strength and stamina, without bulking up. I think that they should help you tone your legs.

Cheers,
Vikram

[akshayasok]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

I disagree with akshayasok that spot training is the solution. Dieting also isn't the solution. Different people have different physiology so one needs to tweak their training as per how their body

Also cutting out carbs totally isn't going to help. The idea is to move towards a healthy diet which has a good mix of carbs, roughage, proteins and fat. Just maintain a bit of calorie deficit and you'll be alright.

Sorry you probably read me wrong, I said/meant spot training is Impossible and that it's not the solution. IMHO diet is definitely the most deciding factor to get back into shape, when you are overweight, obese etc. I definitely recommend reading a bit on the work of Gary Taubes, very enlightening.

[superutp]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

60 Mins of running at 65% VO2Max or about 75-80% of Max Heart Rate (Calculator here Heart Rate and Percent VO2max Conversion Calculator )is the best. At that level the calories burnt are majorly from fat. 40-60%. Anything faster and you are in the inaerobic zone and will be burning up glycogen stored in your muscles without using up your fat reserves. The trick is to run at a pace where you can talk as well. Over a period of time you'll see that even though your pace has increased, the same pace is done at lower Heart Rate indicating that your heart muscle has become stronger and hence are able to pump more blood (carrying oxygen to the muscle tissues) with lesser strokes. Also you'll see your skin starting to radiate.
.

I am a bit confused about this. So as for my age-23 the maximum bpm is 192 (as said on the website). So that means I should be exercising at 145-153bpm for proper fat burning.

but currently when I do my HIIT my heart rate varies from 160-185bpm which is lot higher. So this means I am burning glycogen from my muscles instead of fat.

Does this mean I should reduce my pace and exercise slower to reduce my bpm inorder to burn more fat and as a result burn less calories?

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by superutp

Does this mean I should reduce my pace and exercise slower to reduce my bpm inorder to burn more fat and as a result burn less calories?

No the calories burnt will remain the same may be increase also a bit if you exercise slower. There are two kind of activities, one is an aerobic activity and another is anaerobic activity. In aerobic activity, the energy synthesised or calories burnt are majorly from the fat sources in the body whereas in anaerobic activity the energy is obtained by breaking down the glycogen stored in the muscles and can also lead to hypoglycemia. Sprinting is an anaerobic activity whereas a slow long distance run is an aerobic activity.

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Sprinting is an anaerobic activity whereas a slow long distance run is an aerobic activity.

That may not be the case with everyone....specially overweight people.

Superupt who is 5 years younger to me and is i dont know howmany kgs lighter still experiences the same HR during his workout.

BTW i also dit HIIT for a week and my HR was in the same 160-180 range.