[Shan2nu]

What ever training you do, don't make it too intense. When you're trying to cut down on fat while preserving muscle mass, just burning calories isn't enough. U need to make sure you're not over doing it, to prevent catabolism (muscle loss).

Any workout that lets you keep your heart rate between 60-70% of your estimated max heart rate will help burn max fat.

Here's a heart rate chart for people based on their targets, be it fat loss, aerobic or anaerobic performance.

Target Heart Rate Chart for Men

Then again, you also need to control the "quantity" and "quality" of calories that you consume everyday.

Eating 1000 calories of junk food wont have the same fat loss effects as compared to consuming 1000 calories of nutritious (low in fat) food.

Eating 5-6 small meals (every 3-3.5 hrs) a day will let the body digest a larger % of the food you eat, lowering the chances of any excess calories being stored in the body as fat. This also helps keep up the body matabolic rate, which is needed to burn fat.

PS : If you do feel the need to do some high intensity training, try out the TABATA training routine. It only takes 4 mins to complete but boosts your BMR to a completely new level.

Here's something that might interest you :

Tabata Swimming

As you probably have found out by now, the Tabata protocol is a routine with intervals of short bursts of focused exercises. You can use this tabata intervals protocol with swimming just as you would any other exercise. The tabata training method is very effective for many different purposes.

For example, you can do 32 tabata swim intervals at 20 seconds each. Start with 20 seconds of the breaststroke, calm down with 10 seconds doing a slower crawl, then do water treading for 20 seconds, then another slow crawl for 10 seconds. This is what tabata intervals are all about. Tabata swimming is as hard as any other exercise routiune! How about doing a routine on the punching bag? Pounding the bag is a great tabata exercise.

Remember to do the treading water part as fast as possible and try to stay afloat in the water as high as possible, don't sink down!

Source - Tabata Exercises Tabata Workout Tabata Intervals Protocol Training

Shan2nu

[SohailPistawala]

Thanx a lot Shan2nu. Will try doing this on weekend so that i can rest the next day!!

Just a question , what weight one should ideally take, the one we do 15 reps or the one we do lesser ones, how does one decide on that.

[Shan2nu]

Just a question , what weight one should ideally take, the one we do 15 reps or the one we do lesser ones, how does one decide on that.

Let your body decide that. Use power movements when you do your reps. Power movements are those that require the weight to be pushed or pulled (depending on what exercise you're doing) within 1 sec.

So if you're working your biceps and need to work in the 15 rep range, use a weight that lets you do no more than 15 reps at the rate of 1 sec per lift.

The moment you start taking more than 1 sec to lift that weight, you're concentrating more on strenght than on power, and power is what gives you the best muscle gains.

Training to complete muscle failure (to a point where you can't do another rep) is good once in a while but not always. Training to muscle power failure lets you do more number of sets, reduces recovery time between sets and reduces the chances of overtraining your muscles.

Think of it like an engine, the moment you cross the max power rpm, you're no longer benefiting from those extra revvs wrt acceleration. The higher you revv beyond max power rpm, the higher the chances of something going wrong with the engine.

Shan2nu

[SohailPistawala]

there is soooo much to bodybuilding then just lifting and eating!! Man, is'nt there just a line... so many ways to rip, to gain and what not!!
Thanks Shan2nu

@sohail-
depends on what you are looking for.

if you want to build size/mass- its best you stick to 6sets of 8 reps max
you can start off with lower weights in the initial sets and then build up to your peak capacity in the 5th set.
then climb down a bit in the 6th set but do 8 reps.

Simple way that I use to determine what weight to use
the last rep of every set should be difficult. if not,you're not stressing the muscle enough.
the last rep of the last set should be very difficult, but not impossible.
you know that the weight is too much when you find it difficult to maintain good form/posture
all the reps should be done with form/posture as close to perfect as possible.

If you're looking for shape/definition
use lighter weights, but more reps and sets eg 15 reps with 10 sets.

try and cycle between your muscle groups.
do not hit them all on the same day.

also- try and do all the "push" muscles together(if you have the energy)
i.e- pecs, triceps, deltoids
pull muscles
i.e latissimus, biceps, forearms

I dont see the logic in doing biceps and triceps the same day. lots of guys do that.

[Shan2nu]

If you're looking for shape/definition
use lighter weights, but more reps and sets eg 15 reps with 10 sets.

This is a myth, when your muscles grow they automatically take the shape they r genetically designed for. What eventually gives your muslces shape/definition is the cutting down phase where you lower your body fat %, the lower the fat, the better the definition.

Here are 2 images of the 8 times Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman.

Offseason pic (12-13% body fat) - http://fitblog.biz/uploads/posts/thu...coleman_1.jpeg

Competition pic (2-3% body fat) - http://graysmatter.codivation.com/co...niecoleman.jpg

Here's another comparison with the same pose.

Offseason pic - http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...20season/2.jpg

Competition pic - http://www.ronniecoleman.net/2004o5small.jpg

Shan2nu

[jassi]

well it does make sense to sometimes work opposing muscles together.
Thats cos muscles always work in pairs - when one muscle works the opposing muscle stretches.
I sometimes workout biceps and triceps together and at times even pecs and lats. But this is not a regular schedule, its just a once/twice a month thing to shock my muscles.

It is important to remember that opposing muscles should be equally developed to prevent any imbalance and injuries. eg - importance of lower back muscles if you want to do lots of abs, opposing thigh muscles and hamstrings, etc.

Hope the above makes sense - try it out sometimes and see if your body responds

[Proxima]

Shan2nu and all the experts:

Im 25, 6ft 3in , 105 Kg and am fat in the trunk (between the shoulders and the butt) but more so at the waist and butt.

My hands are longer than they should (or so it seems) and that might be one of the reasons why my hands look small for my size. I wear a 46 in shirt.

I have been gymming for the past 2 months (only weights) and have put of a bit of muscle.

I now need to decrease my fat especially at the waist so have joined a gym where they have treadsmills, ellipticals and cycles. For the past 4 days, I am doing aerobics for about 30-40 min, 2 times a day, morning and evening. Mostly a combination of the 3, more of ellipticals, cos running is damn tiring and cycling is not that effective.

The problem is I have only one month after which I am joining a 8 to 8 job (including travel) and I wont be able to gym (i think).

I am willing to max it out for this month. Can you suggest what is the best way of reducing the fat in 1 month? Any diet tips? Exercise routines (xx min of this at this speed and then yy mins of that at that speed will be great)

[Shan2nu]

I am willing to max it out for this month.

now need to decrease my fat especially at the waist

You see thats the prob, you can't burn fat overnight (atleast not naturally) and you can't spot reduce. The most healthy way of burning fat is around 2 kilos a week. So, to burn the fat on your mid section you will have to burn fat from all over the body.

You can do this by consuming less calories than your body burns in a day. For a guy like you it should be around 2100-2300 calories. It's not how much you eat, its what you eat that matters.

If you're really serious, consult a proffessional dietitian and put yourself on a controlled diet. The dietitian should be able to provide you with a diet chart that will accelerate your fat burning process.

There are a number of "Fat Burning Supplements" available in the market. Talk to the dietitian regarding these as well.

Best Fat Burners & Fat Burning Supplements

PS : Don't fall for any of those crash diet stories, they never work and can cause your organs to underperform. Eat less but eat healthy!!!

Shan2nu

[vikram18]

Originally Posted by rippergeo

@sohail-
depends on what you are looking for.

if you want to build size/mass- its best you stick to 6sets of 8 reps max
you can start off with lower weights in the initial sets and then build up to your peak capacity in the 5th set.
then climb down a bit in the 6th set but do 8 reps.

Actually, If you workout in a reverse pyramid fashion, i.e. lift the heaviest when your muscles are least tired, you'll put on size drastically.

You can do 1 warmup set, then go close to 80% of your one-rep max weight, try and do 6-8 reps. Repeat for set 2, drop a li'l weight and go set 3. Keep the same weight as set 3 and try and eke out as many reps as possible in set 4. That's good enough. IMHO, 6 Sets is overkill.

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

You see thats the prob, you can't burn fat overnight (atleast not naturally) and you can't spot reduce. The most healthy way of burning fat is around 2 kilos a week. So, to burn the fat on your mid section you will have to burn fat from all over the body.

You can do this by consuming less calories than your body burns in a day. For a guy like you it should be around 2100-2300 calories. It's not how much you eat, its what you eat that matters.

If you're really serious, consult a proffessional dietitian and put yourself on a controlled diet. The dietitian should be able to provide you with a diet chart that will accelerate your fat burning process.

There are a number of "Fat Burning Supplements" available in the market. Talk to the dietitian regarding these as well. Best Fat Burners & Fat Burning Supplements

PS : Don't fall for any of those crash diet stories, they never work and can cause your organs to underperform. Eat less but eat healthy!!!

Shan2nu

OK, youre saying that I need to decrease the quality(?) of my food intake as well with the aerobics.

Based on the chart you gave, keeping my heart rate at 130 should do right? Is 40 min + 30 min a day @ 130 enough?

[Shan2nu]

OK, youre saying that I need to decrease the quality(?) of my food intake as well with the aerobics.

Decrease quantity and increase quality. The dietitian will tell you by how much you need to decrease. Decreasing it too much will send your body into starvation mode where your matabolic rate reduces and the body tries to store as many calories as it can.

Based on the chart you gave, keeping my heart rate at 130 should do right? Is 40 min + 30 min a day @ 130 enough?

Yeah that will do. You can increase your pace for the first few mins to get to your target heart rate, once there, you can reduce your intensity level to a point where it lets you maintain that heart rate.

Shan2nu

[Shan2nu]

Actually, If you workout in a reverse pyramid fashion, i.e. lift the heaviest when your muscles are least tired, you'll put on size drastically.

True. Once your muscles are warmed up, you can start off with a heavy set (wrt your 1 rep max)

Shan2nu

Originally Posted by jassi

well it does make sense to sometimes work opposing muscles together.
Thats cos muscles always work in pairs - when one muscle works the opposing muscle stretches.
I sometimes workout biceps and triceps together and at times even pecs and lats. But this is not a regular schedule, its just a once/twice a month thing to shock my muscles.

It is important to remember that opposing muscles should be equally developed to prevent any imbalance and injuries. eg - importance of lower back muscles if you want to do lots of abs, opposing thigh muscles and hamstrings, etc.

Hope the above makes sense - try it out sometimes and see if your body responds

agree totally with what you say. once a month of working opposing groups on the same day is good. helps you shock the muscles out of the routine.

also, yes, muscle imbalances are dangerous.

Originally Posted by vikram18

Actually, If you workout in a reverse pyramid fashion, i.e. lift the heaviest when your muscles are least tired, you'll put on size drastically.

You can do 1 warmup set, then go close to 80% of your one-rep max weight, try and do 6-8 reps. Repeat for set 2, drop a li'l weight and go set 3. Keep the same weight as set 3 and try and eke out as many reps as possible in set 4. That's good enough. IMHO, 6 Sets is overkill.

thanks vikram. didnt even think of this method. will try it.

at the moment, I'm just beginning to get back to excercise after a gap of 4yrs. and am hitting each group once a week. I push quite close to failure in my last set.
at present- I'm 15kgs heavier than I would like to be.

I'm hoping to pile on muscle first and then use the extra mass to help me burn calories later. will that approach work?
Note-My diet is now vegetarian(used to be a vicious carnivore), with no high calorie junk.

can you please point out any mistakes?

[Shan2nu]

I'm hoping to pile on muscle first and then use the extra mass to help me burn calories later. will that approach work?
Note-My diet is now vegetarian(used to be a vicious carnivore), with no high calorie junk.

If you're a vegetarian, you might find it diff to put on muscle. You will have to eat loads of proteins (growth) and complex carbs (energy).

Soya is supposed to be rich in proteins. You can also use Whey protein supplements to make up for the lack of proteins in your diet.

Shan2nu