Best Workout Routines
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sry, didnt know where to ask a question..
im about to start the eat stop eat and im thinking of doing the fasting on tuesdays and thursdays but thats when i was planning on doing hiit and i hear that wouldnt be a good idea fasted. i cant decide what the best routine would be. i work out monday through friday with two muscle groups each day but no cardio. im at 10-11% bf and want to get to 6-7% so i really want to start this hiit training. i guess im not going to be able to work out while fasting either so should i work out MWF and do hit afterwards each day and then fast tuesdays n thursdays with no training? i really have no idea. i didnt want to do hiit on the same day as my strength training but i guess if thats what i gotta do then ill do it. please help.? thanks!
Atom,
You can actually perform HIIT on your fasting days. Ideally you’d perform it within 2 hours of breaking the fast. For example, if you skip breakfast and lunch, then you’d do HIIT an hour or two before dinner. Alternatively, as you mentioned, you can do HIIT after strength training although that would make for a long workout. You could also consider doing HIIT in the morning and strength training in the evening. Finally, you could try doing HIIT on your fasting days. If you don’t end up eating for a few hours, there’s a small chance you might lose muscle, but it might be worth a shot.
Dave
thanks alot. i just dont know what im going to do. i really dont want to do it on top of the strength training and im way too scared about losing muscle to do it on a fasting day.. maybe i should hold off on the IF, ya think..? and then if i just keep my calories low n do the hiit ill get my bf% down. or do u suggest i suck it up n do the IF?
Atom,
Honestly, I’d probably giving the fasting a try. You really shouldn’t lose muscle just by exercising on a fasting day. Theoretically the HGH increase from fasting should allow you to preserve muscle while burning fat. Just closely monitor your weight lifting and if you start to get weaker, then it might be a concern. If you’re really worried, you could consider having BCAAs on a fasting day that you exercise. I discussed them in my post about supplements a few days ago.
Dave
thanks.. i have been freaking out though because of this small chance of losing muscle. and i started my first 24 hr fast about 3 minutes ago so i wont eat again until 3pm tmrw. what im concerned about is not having protein and not being able to take my casein before i go to sleep tonight. what do u think about this? every day i get off work at 12:30pm so i go workout at about 1:15pm. tmrw i will be doing HIIT though for your 45 minute routine so i will be done at 2 and then wait an hour for the HGH to get goin in then start eating again at 3… this sound alright to you? im sorry im freakin out, this is just a crazy change for me n i really need to look as good as possible in a lil over a month so i want to do this perfect. please let me kno what u think.. thanks again!
Atom,
Just give it a try and see what happens. Personally I trust Brad Pilon and his research. With elevated HGH levels, your body shouldn’t start burning muscle unless you fast for an extended period of time. Brad also wrote a book on How Much Protein where he discusses that you need a lot less protein than you think. Additionally, he shows that you don’t necessarily need protein immediately after your workout…as long as you get an adequate amount over a reasonable amount of time. A lot of people have had success with Eat Stop Eat so trust in the system!
As for your routine, I think it sounds great. Just remember only to do HIIT 2-3 times per week, not every day. Also, strength training is critical. As long as you keep up resistance training, you won’t lose muscle.
Dave
well alright.. i just ate again.. didnt make it the full 24hrs. just about 23 n a half. ha. since i start eating again around 3, how many calories u think i should get in before bed tonight? i dont want to eat too much n then defeat the purpose of fasting..
HIIT was insane tho. i didnt finish that either. instead of 10/25/10 i went about 10/15/8.. calves were on fire after the first 10.
i dont really like strength training only 3 days instead of five so i might go back to doin a lil somethin before i do the HIIT routine. other than that tho, seems like a great program. thanks alot for everything. please let me know if you have any other tips for me. (the protein tip was very relieving)
oh and i was also wondering what you thought of doing the fasting every day for 16hrs n then eat in an 8hr period.? like eat from noon to 8 but fast the rest?
Atom,
Sounds like you’re off to a good start. Don’t push too hard; work up to the 10/25/10. Strength training 3 days per week is more than enough…it’s up to you if you’d like to do more. As for calories, if you’re doing Eat Stop Eat, you’ll want to keep a normal sized dinner, whatever that means for you. If you’re fasting every day with an eating window, then you eat a full days amount of calories in 6-8 hours. I discuss the pros and cons of each here:
http://www.notyouraveragefitnesstips.com/intermittent-fasting/intermittent-fasting-weight-loss-approaches-daily-weekly-fasts
Dave
ya i had a much better HIIT day today. but i think im going to cut my fast short by two hours n just have a protein shake at 22 hours into the fast right before i do the HIIT just to make sure i dont lose any muscle. you think this would be a good idea or do i need to do the exact 24? and i think im going to do eat stop eat monday thru thursday and then do the other friday n saturday with sunday a semi-cheat day.. eh? sound like a plan? on another note.. how many calories should i be burning during your recommended 45 minute HIIT routine? and how many calories do u think i should consume daily given my weight of 164..? i just keep getting different info everywhere! thanks!
Atom,
Cutting the fast a little short is no big deal in my opinion. However, I’m not so sure I’d have a protein shake right before HIIT. It’s tough to process protein and then perform an intense workout. If you want to go that route, I’d have BCAAs before your workout instead. They’re the best components of protein and will ensure you don’t lose muscle. If you’re comfortable reading articles that are a little more technical in nature, check this out:
http://www.leangains.com/2010/05/early-morning-fasted-training.html
Here’s another article on fasted training:
http://www.leangains.com/2009/12/fasted-training-boosts-muscle-growth.html
So that’s why I believe that it’s best not to ingest anything except BCAAs before a workout.
It sounds like you’re taking more of a Warrior Diet approach if you’re fasting every day. If you can handle it, great. One point of caution is that if you fast every day consecutively, you tend to compensate by eating a really big meal at night. This depends on your will power but if you find yourself ingesting too many calories, maybe go back to fasting every other day. The other problem is that if you’re fasting too often, you might not be getting enough protein in the one meal you’re eating at which point muscle loss could become a concern. A cheat day is always a good idea in my opinion.
Calories burned is always up in the air and varies based on what machine you’re using, how much you weigh, and how intense you’re exercising. To be conservative, I assume 10 calories per minute. So a 45 minute routine should burn 450 calories. In reality, it could burn twice that. For eating, a simple equation of 10x your goal weight should work well. If you want to weight 155lbs, then shoot for 1550 calories.
Here’s a post I did on weight loss highlighting some of these points:
http://www.notyouraveragefitnesstips.com/best-fitness-tips/weight-loss-math-how-to-lose-weight
By the way, feel free to keep asking questions…I’ve been in the same boat as you where I feel overwhelmed by the amount and complexity of information out there. Through a lot of trial and error, I’ve found out what works best for me and know a lot of people have found the same success as well.
Dave
alright thanks so much for the links n whatnot. ive been doing alot of reading lately n i have read the leangains stuff before too. i think i should be ok if i just take the bcaa’s before doing hiit. i really dont want my weight to change.. just want to burn fat. ive noticed this is hard to obtain but ill keep working at it. what would you recommend i consume in grams of protein daily. i honestly just cant afford to buy another ebook so i didnt buy the protein one and i dont want u to give me his secrets n stuff. i just want a ballpark number of how much protein i should be consuming. i try to get as much as i can but without raising my calorie intake too, its difficult…?
Atom,
For protein, I won’t go into all the details, but in an extreme diet known as protein sparing modified fast participants only ate 0.7g per lb. Here’s my post on that:
http://www.notyouraveragefitnesstips.com/ideal-body/protein-sparing-modified-fast-rapid-weight-loss-diets-how-to-lose-10-lbs-in-2-weeks
Additionally, in a research study where participants only ate 800 calories per day, they were able to maintain muscle mass just by performing resistance training. I’m sure they weren’t getting too much protein as that calorie level.
Dave