Balanced Attack
When asked the magic question, “What are your workout goals?” chances are you will get one of two answers. People, regardless of age or sex will usually answer A) “I want to get huge,” or B) “I want to lose weight,” Or you may get a variant of B), “I want to get cut/toned/ripped.” Too often, it seems that people isolate their focus on one of these two goals when it comes to physical fitness training. Either they are trying to gain muscle mass, or they are trying to lose bodyfat. So what happens when you fall into that special category of those who want to both gain mass AND lose bodyfat at the same time? Many “experts” seem to think that you cannot have it both ways. It is commonly felt that you have to first gain mass, and then go through a “cutting cycle,” or vice versa. When one actually understands the way the human body functions, one realizes that it is in fact possible to cut your bodyfat levels, while at the same time adding lean muscle mass. Granted, adding muscle while burning bodyfat is a lot more difficult than focusing strictly on one or the other, as it requires a lot of discipline and strategy. Think of it as walking a tightrope. On one side you have the strategies pertaining to weight training, cardio, diet and supplementation that will help you to burn bodyfat. On the other side you have those strategies that will help you to gain muscle size. In order to attain both, one must balance the two ideals out. Before we look at the specifics of balancing out each factor, let’s first go over some misconceptions that need to be examined.“I Want To Lose Weight”When a person says, “I want to lose weight,” they are misleading themselves. Losing weight alone does not necessarily mean that one is losing fat. One must learn to differentiate between the two. When starting a new weight loss program, the average person will lose a significant amount of weight in the short term, usually the first two weeks. During this time their body is adapting to the new lifestyle change and will usually lose a lot of water. This is especially true if that person is new to exercising. They will think that they are losing massive amounts of fat, when in reality they are losing mostly water weight. Shortly thereafter, once their body has started adapting, their weight loss will slow down dramatically. They will still be losing the same levels of bodyfat; however the addition of muscle will negate any loss of actual weight. This frustrates many who simply use the scale to determine success or failure. Often they will then try crash dieting, or quit altogether. That is why when thinking about fitness goals; don’t think that you want to lose weight. Rather, think about wanting to lose bodyfat. It is not uncommon for someone to shed their excess bodyfat, go down in pants/dress sizes, and lose little to no body weight. Some people actually GAIN weight when all is said and done.“I Only Need To Do Cardio In Order To Get Cut”The staple to any body restructuring comes from weight training. Cardio burns calories; however it alone does not change one’s metabolism. On the other hand, the more lean muscle mass one has, the greater number of calories they will burn naturally. Adding muscle will help increase your metabolism. Without weight training, the muscles will gradually decrease in size. This will cause decreases in bodyfat to be less visible. Loss of muscle will also cause a drop in metabolism, which is defeating the whole purpose.“To Gain Size, I Should Eat 10,000 Calories A Day”This statement in and of itself is true. However, the size gained may not be the type of size one is looking for. When going through a “mass building” cycle, many weightlifters will gain significant amounts of bodyfat along with their hard-earned muscle. This is due to an obsession many have with taking in as many calories a day as possible during this time. They then feel the need to do a “cutting” phase in order to shed the excess bodyfat gained. This creates an endless and unnecessary cycle. The way to correct this is to balance out the right amounts of protein, fat and carbohydrates that will allow one to gain muscle size, without putting on unneeded bodyfat.“I Can’t Get Fit Because Of My Genetics”It is true that genetics play a huge role in how we look. Everyone knows someone who naturally looks like the epitome of fitness, yet they drink, smoke, eat like a pig, and couldn’t tell you what the inside of a gym looks like. This can be very frustrating. Genetics cannot be changed, however they can be maximized. This means that people of every body type have a certain potential that they can achieve. One has to be realistic when it comes to expectations. The best thing to do is to look for people of a similar height and body type before deciding goals. Example: Someone around 5’8” and thickly set will struggle with losing bodyfat, however they have an overall advantage when it comes to getting big, and displaying a “powerful” physique. By the same token, those who are over 6’ tall and skinny will struggle more with putting on muscle, however they have an overall advantage in obtaining the “tall, dark and handsome” look. It is good to find role models when it comes to finding what you want to look like. Keep it realistic, though.Now that we’ve dispelled some myths and misconceptions, let’s look at how exactly we can balance out our physical fitness regimes.Balancing Weight TrainingWhen utilizing a balanced approach, you want to vary the weight and number of repetitions you do. However you do not want to do this every single workout. It is a commonly accepted rule of thumb to change your workouts every four to six weeks. When changing the exercises one does each workout, one needs to change the weight and number of reps performed as well. This will ensure that all the different types of muscle fibers are utilized over time and not neglected. Doing this will also “shock” the muscles, which is a key to promoting new growth. Example of cycle changes for a chest workout:1st CycleExercise Weight RepetitionsBench Press 275 Pounds 4-6Incline Dumbbell Press 80 Pound Dumbbells 4-62nd CycleExercise Weight RepetitionsDumbbell Bench Press 70 Pound Dumbbells 12-15Incline Bench Press 135 Pounds 12-15Decline Bench Press 135 Pounds 12-15Cable Fly 30 Pounds 12-153rd CycleExercise Weight RepetitionsBench Press 225 Pounds 8-10Incline Bench Press 185 Pounds 8-10Dips Bodyweight 8-10Dumbbell Fly 35 Pounds 10-12This is an example of how to shock your muscles and stimulate new growth, as well as incorporating all the different muscle fibers that control strength, speed and endurance.Balancing Cardiovascular TrainingCardio is vital to losing the bodyfat we have already accumulated. While weight training will help increase metabolism, cardiovascular exercise will speed up how quickly the body loses fat. This is because when performing cardio, energy is attained from free fatty acids, which come from the bodyfat stores. A common mistake is the tendency to overdue it. Just as in weight lifting, one can over-train on cardio. Too much cardio will tear the muscles down, slowing recovery. Three to four times a week is sufficient. First thing one needs to do is to forget about all those confusing “optimal heart rate” formulas you see on cardio equipment. There are in fact benefits of performing cardio at various levels of intensity, for various time frames. Low intensity for a long duration will burn more fat on the spot, however high intensity for short duration will burn more calories, plus the body will still continue to burn calories throughout the day afterwards. Using a moderate degree of difficulty will work somewhere in between. All degrees of difficulty actually complement one another. Low Intensity/Long Duration will get the body used to working for longer periods of time, while High Intensity/Short Duration will work the lungs harder, and help improve the body’s ability to “go the extra mile.” The best way to balance out cardio is to vary the intensity and duration throughout each week.Example:Day One
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