Athletic build with extra weight

[nlaboy]

I am a short athleticly built woman. 4'11 160lbs 33% fat (after having my child), and im fasinated with body building. I want to train and head towards that goal. Currently my caloric intake is at 1550. Im doing about 400 hours of cardio and some weight training. Ive been working at it for a year with limited results. My starting weight was 178 lbs and body fat % was at 40%. Any advice or pointers?

[freebirdmac]

Yeah, stop doing all that cardio and focus on lifting + diet. Go buy New Rules of Lifting for Women, follow the workout and diet routine. Read the stickies in the female nutrition and training sections.

If you're doing cardio more than 2x week for fat loss then you're on the wrong path. Many of us do little to no cardio

[nlaboy]

Yeah, stop doing all that cardio and focus on lifting + diet. Go buy New Rules of Lifting for Women, follow the workout and diet routine. Read the stickies in the female nutrition and training sections.

If you're doing cardio more than 2x week for fat loss then you're on the wrong path. Many of us do little to no cardio

Wow no cardio? Thanks ill definately pick that book up.

[oregonchick76]

Wow no cardio? Thanks ill definately pick that book up.

Yeah, isn't that a relief? Unless you love cardio, lol. A really effective form of cardio is HIIT, and I do about two 20 min session per week.

[Megin]

Agreed on the focus to diet + lifting with some HIIT thrown in there..
But I've always been a believer in at least one longer-ish cardio session / week <-- health purposes

But you'll find contradictions every where you read.
Find something you like that you can do over and over that is sensibly balanced <-- that is the key to success

[oregonchick76]

Agreed on the focus to diet + lifting with some HIIT thrown in there..
But I've always been a believer in at least one longer-ish cardio session / week <-- health purposes

But you'll find contradictions every where you read.
Find something you like that you can do over and over that is sensibly balanced <-- that is the key to success

Yep. Now my "long" session of cardio is a nice hike somewhere pretty, instead of a dreaded hour on the treadmill...

[freebirdmac]

From the American Heart Association:

"We suggest at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise (or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity). 30 minutes a day, five times a week is an easy goal to remember, however you will also experience benefits even if you divide your time into two or three segments of 10 -15 minutes per day.

Physical activity is anything that makes you move your body and burn calories, such as climbing stairs or playing sports. Aerobic exercises benefit your heart, such as walking, jogging, swimming or biking. Strength and stretching exercises are best for overall stamina and flexibility"

So once you add up all the walking, stair climbing, house cleaning, and gardening type activities you have your number for moderate exercise. Add up your time spent doing squats, lunges, and deads and you have your vigorous exercise. Odds are most of us exceed the recommendations before even thinking about cardio

Note lower body work counts towards aerobic, not upper body. Gotta move the legs to get the bennies.

[greesemuunkie]

I do hate that I have to do longer cardio for my run time on my PT tests. I'd love to just do HIIT and plyos and still improve my runs. (sprints do help but you still need to do endurance as well)

ERR.

[nlaboy]

Thanks guys sorry for delay (vacation) i love cardio to an extent. I mainly do boxing but HIIT would work well for me.