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Low carbs + Low heart rate = weight loss? + lifting = defined muscle?

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  • Low carbs + Low heart rate = weight loss? + lifting = defined muscle?

    Hello All,

    I have a F6 for just over a year now. Before that i was fat. Big belly, bulky etc. Then One year ago i was in good shape, and i was running with high BPMs for half an hour, to do weightlifting afterwards. Sometimes i replaced running with kickboxing which was a real calorie burner. I restricted myself on eating too much carbs. I was skinny and i had defined but flat muscle. But... Never a sixpack! only the upper two were visible.. damnit. My goal was to be muscled and defined. But i never reached that, i was skinny.

    But the more i kept on doing that, the more tired i became during workout. Then for personal reasons i stopped working out. I started eating carbs again (then i talk white bread, pizza, you know what i mean)

    Now i gained 10 kilo's in 6 months, and i want to start serious working out again. But when i look back at the pictures, i don't want to be skinny.. but muscled. I did it all wrong, didn't i?

    This is where i need advice:

    I restricted eating carbs again... but i will keep my heart rate low this time so that i burn fat and no carbs (food / muscle) to become well defined fast.

    Example:

    In the past i burnt 518 calories for half an hour running of which 35% was fat burning. so 181 calories of fat were burnt. (the rest was muscle as i barely ate carbs?? is that correct?)

    Now (yesterday) i fastwalked 341 calories, of which 55% was fat, = 188 calories fat.

    So i lost more fat then a year ago where i was running like being chased by death?? do i see this right? And then, was i stupid to eat that little carbs back then, and have i been burning muscle? because i did about 1 hour of weightlifting and always wondered why my muscle were so flat.


    So my new plan is:
    Restrict carbs to burn more fatcells
    keep my heart rate in fat burning zone, which is burning even more fat than full speed running (says my watch) so that my muscle is not being used as fuel.
    After that half hour "fastwalk" my body will be in full swing fat burn mode, and the weightlifting after that will keep on burning fat if i control my heart pace.

    My muscle will become stronger, bigger (i do 8 reps in 3 sets) and my fat will dissapear.

    Is this plan a good plan... or is this plan, an unrealistic plan. Please advise people, informationwise it is a jungle out there. At this moment in the jungle of diets and workouts i feel that a milder form of the atkins diet is the way to go for me, together with low heartrate walking and bodybuilding.
    JoostvdZ is offline

  • #2
    Oh boy. Where to start on this one...


    What is your current height & weight? What is your goal weight?

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Deviation View Post
      Oh boy. Where to start on this one...


      What is your current height & weight? What is your goal weight?
      Current heigt 187cm / 6.14 foot
      weight now 96kg / 212 pounds

      I have no goal weight, when i was a lighter i was about 86 Kg. Now i don't care about the weight but about fat percentage and muscle definition.

      Comment


      • #4
        You should consider a heart rate monitor (chest strap style) that you can wear throughout your routine. Monitoring your average heart rate through the exercise will tell you what zone you're working in.


        So yes, 60-70% effort should burn more fat. What you have to be aware of is that you will also consume muscle if you don't eat enough.

        I would suggest you try without restricting carbs. If you're watching your food intake (e.g. tracking fats/protein/carbs), you should be able to find a balance that works well for you. What I don't see is any strength training. What's your plan for that?

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        • #5
          I don't know the reference, but I remember reading about a recent study that suggested the whole "Fat Burn" zone idea was based on faulty research and is probably false.

          Just thought I'd mention it.

          Kind Regards
          Dave

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          • #6
            You mention doing "one hour of weightlifting" but give no details. You probably want to be training for at least three days a week doing 45 minutes of weight-training in a balanced routine which hits all the muscle groups.

            Deviation, and some of the other regulars on here, can tell you about "Stronglifts" which is a beginners' routine (I'm old-school and I design my own workouts), but if you want to build muscle you need to (a) Train the Muscles using Strength/Size conditioning techniques (rather than the cardio which will build functional muscle tone but not necessarily size), (b) increase your protein intake and (c) eat sensibly/healthily.

            The cardio should help you lose fat, but doing the amounts you suggest will probably harm you ability to gain muscle-size. It's all about finding the right balance.

            Without knowing more about what you are doing, gym-wise, it's hard to give more specific advice.

            Kind Regards
            Dave

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks for your serious replies.

              I maybe forgot to mention that i already have the strap on heartbeat sensor together with the polar F6. My age is 29 by the way.

              I first start off doing cardio, sometimes the treadmill, sometimes the cross trainer, sometimes the bicycle. That will be for about 35 minutes and i try to stay between 115 - 135 while i change speed and resistance whenever i feel like it.
              Then my body is hopefully really in full fat burning mode as is being said in many articles.
              Then the strength training: I made a full body workout (is it all-round enough?)


              Except for weightless training everything is done at 8 reps / 3 sets
              Chest: Push Up
              Biceps: Dumbbell Concentration Curls
              Abs: Cross-Body Crunch
              Triceps: Seated Triceps Press
              Upper Legs: Dumbbell Squat
              Chest: Bench Press Machine
              Abs: Crunches
              Triceps: Bench Dip
              Upper Legs: Dumbbell Lunges
              Back: Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown
              Shoulders: Dumbbell Lateral Raise
              Biceps: Alternate Incline Dumbbell Curl
              Abs: Seated Leg Tucks
              Shoulders: Dumbbell Front Raise
              Abs: Dumbbell Side Bend

              This is the workout i did yesterday. The statistics:
              Crosstrainer: 366 cal/ 55% fat burning
              The weight lifting as described above: 1035 cal/ 50% fat burning

              Compared to a year ago, this is already a huge achievement calorieburning wise. I used to burn 1000 calories in total and i was exhausted the day after. I reached heart rates of at least 170 for longer periods. During running i reached 190 regularly. Maybe not very wise and healthy. So when i exceeded the 1000 calories i would often be overtrained and end up with having a cold. or feel like a bag of .... Now i burnt 1400 and i don't even feel pain in my muscles.

              I am still trying to avoid eating carbs. Yesterday after the workout i reall wanted to eat oats, so i did. For the rest no carbs. Only nuts, protein shake, meat, eggs, some vegetables, cheese, and two citrus fruits. I think it is nearly impossible to eat no carbs, this is about as low as i can go. I take a vitamin pill in the morning and drink only one cup of coffee, for the rest tea and water.

              You think i should eat more carbs than this? I don't count any calories at the moment as i have read a book by atkins (i know, it's still quite controversial, maybe even funny for alot of people) and another book that also supports increasing fat and protein in your diet. The idea is that you can safely "listen" to your body, that when you are hungry, you can eat as long as it's not a refined carb product. So no calorie counting etc. Just no sugar, and no refined carbs. As exception whole weat, and some fruit/vegetable but very very restricted.

              I hope i am not making a crucial mistake somewhere. I will always take a day rest in between the excersises to recover, except that sometimes i go swimming.

              What do these real bodybuilders eat? low carb? or are they the type of guy that eat a bowl of spaghetti before workout?

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Joost83 View Post
                Then the strength training: I made a full body workout (is it all-round enough?)
                I'm probably the wrong person to ask about a bodybuilding style routine. It's not my strong point. I'll say that I'm sure you burn some calories doing all that though. Seems a bit haphazard however.

                You think i should eat more carbs than this? I don't count any calories at the moment...
                Since you aren't counting anything, how could we advise? You NEED to count your calories and macros. Just "winging" it isn't going to be very effective in the beginning. How else can you gauge what's really helping you?

                Forget the carbo-phobia you have and please burn that Atkins book. They are not evil. A severe shortage of carbs will lead to poor performances. You need a balance of carbs, fats, and proteins. Get an app like MyFitnessPal and track your daily intake.

                You need to worry about calories expenditure as a whole; not what % is possibly fat calories. Calories In < Calories Out = Weight Loss. Calories In > Calories Out = Weight Gain It truly is that simple.

                I hope i am not making a crucial mistake somewhere.

                See above.

                Comment


                • #9
                  What he said.

                  The gym routine is a bit all-over-the-place. Firstly, do your cardio after the weight training. If you pre-tire yourself with the cardio then you are not training optimally with your weights. You won't be able to lift as much, your form will suffer etc. As I said in an earlier post, cardio and weight training don't go well together anyway if you want to bulk up. Best to only do light cardio work - if any - on weight training days, and keep the strong cardio for days when you are not training weights. If you must do cardio and weights on the same day then do the cardio after the weights.

                  Group your exercises together by bodypar. If you do your push ups and then follow them by bench press etc, you will tear more fibres and stimulate more growth than if you seperate them. So group your chest exercises together, then move onto Triceps, onto Biceps etc...

                  If you must alternate between muscle groups then pick ones that are related. One way to work is by supersetting opposites - so, since Triceps and Biceps are the opposites of each other, you can do a set of Biceps curls and immediately (without rest) do a set of Triceps extensions and then rest before repeating.

                  Keep the Abs work to the end of the workout.

                  Kind Regards
                  Dave

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                  • #10
                    I also don't think you are training Deltoids (shoulders) or Rhomboids (Back). Shoulder press (with barbell or dumbells), Arnold Press (Dumbells) or Military Press/Overhead Press is what you need for Deltoids (Lateral Raises and Front Raises target the front head of the Deltoids but nothing else).

                    You need some rows in there for Rhomboids. Seated Rows, or bent over dumbell rows, Cable Rows etc, etc...

                    Most of the exercises you describe are compound exercises so that's okay.

                    Kind Regards
                    Dave

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Good good, thanks.

                      I will get that app and start counting.. I really don't like counting calories but if that is what it takes...

                      And i just added the bent over row to my routines.

                      Abs & cardio on the end... check.

                      Allright guys thanks alot, i'll post in this same thread about any performance i hopefully make. For scientific purposes

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                      • #12
                        No one likes counting calories. MFP makes it a little easier to do it which is why many people use their app.

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