Fitness question

[TXlib]

OK, I assume there are some fitness/wellness buffs here:

My wife warned me that too long a workout can be a bad thing. She said that working out for more than 30-40 minutes causes you to begin to burn muscle, rather than fat.

Is this correct?

The reason this came up is that I like to do a 75-minute workout on the elliptical machine as follows:

5 minutes at 45 rpm, low resistance
10 minutes at 60 rpm, moderate resistance
15 minutes at 70 rpm, high resistance
10 minutes at 60 rpm, moderate resistance
15 minutes at 70 rpm, high resistance
10 minutes at 60 rpm, moderate resistance
10 minutes at 45 rpm, low resistance

In this workout, I burn about 1000 calories, according to the LED readout. My current resting HR is about 76, and in this workout I have a sustained HR of up to 195-ish in the most intense parts. My current weight is about 175-180 lbs and I am looking to lose about 30 lbs; I am less concerned about the weight loss than I am about dropping inches off my waistline. If I do this workout 6 days a week, without increasing my caloric intake to compensate, how quickly might this get me to my goal?

[ZenLefty]

1. I'd never heard that before

Too much intensity in a workout can cause burnout, increased fatigue, pulled muscles and the like, depending vastly on the kind of workout done. If you did heavy weights for 75 minutes per day, unless you were conditioned for it you'd hurt yourself.

On an elliptical, what you're doing is keeping your heart rate up nice and high for a little mini-marathon. I don't think there's anything bad about it, and it certainly does not burn muscle. It would be better to split that into twice a day for 40 minutes each (sustains high metabolism longer) but most people find it inconvenient to work out twice in a day.

But one thing I've noticed - the rules of working out change every time a new issue of Muscle & Fitness/Men's Health/Shape/etc. comes out. I haven't read one in a few weeks, so I may be behind the times.

[Kolesar]

2. That's only a problem if you are a body builder

Body builders who want to "bulk up" must be careful not to overdo it running, because lots of road work will eventually consume muscle mass.

I think your routine is good. Hitting 195 heartrate is excessive, so you could probably bump the intensity down. At my age, I only need to get into the 140s for a good workout.

Keep doing it until you need a change to make things interesting. At that point you may wish to try "interval training" where you train your metabolism to burn fat instead of easily-available carbohydrate/sugar resources. That is an advanced topic. You may wish to google it for some ideas. Cyclists call it "hill-training".

Another good way to burn calories is to spend time outdoors in the winter. Do a brisk walk. The workout will burn calories and being outside in cold temperatures will cause your body to burn even more calories.

[TXlib]

4. I live in Houston, TX

There are no cold temperatures here!

[Caution]

3. Any type of workout will burn muscle off

This is true, however it has nothing to do really with the way or length of time you exercise. It is the combination of diet and muscle use that your body uses to determine what to burn.

If you use your muscles on a regular basis you will tear the muscle fibers which is a way for your body to understand that you use them and that is must therefore build them up further. If you do not eat on regular schedules but rather binge eat (ideally you should eat 5 times a day all small portions rather than the 3 times a day we've been conditioned to believe in and especially not the 2 times a day most of us actually do), your body will produce more fat tissue in order to protect itself against what it sees as starvation and it will more readily sacrifice that unneeded muscle tissue over the fat.

This is one of the reasons why resistance training (weight lifting) is very important in overall weight loss and fitness. The size of your waist and the overall poundage are not good indicators of fitness. Body fat percentage is a much more effective way of measuring fitness.

A healthy dose of cardio activity 3 times a week and weight lifting twice a week (once on the upper body, once on the lower) is a greta way to maintain your overall health without ending up with too much or too little muscle.

(This is a vast oversimplification of the way a body responds to diet and exercise but hopefully it serves the purpose!)

[TXlib]

7. So...

If I substituted a weight-training aerobics class (like Body Pump) for my elliptical routine twice a week, that would be a good mix?

I already eat 5 times a day: for breakfast, I usually have a Slim-Fast shake or a Pria bar, then I have a mid-morning snack, then I have lunch, then a mid-afternoon snack, then dinner. I need to make my snacks less junky and more healthful, though.

Maybe I'll add the hill routine (suggested by one of the other respondants) into my routine, as well... the ellipticals have such routines programmed into them.

[Caution]

15. the hill is great

it basically regulates your workout so you have rest cycles without letting your body go back to full rest mode...very nice way to get a great cardio workout. A weight training aerobics class would be good but straight weight lifting with dumbbells would probably be best. Generally aerobics with weights is basically a way to make the aerobic portion of the exercise harder...a little like increasing the resistance on your elliptical. I'm not saying you shoudl go out and grab 50lb dumbbells but anything less than 10lbs is pretty much a waste of time..you have to really give it the most effort. About 35-40 minutes is really about all you need. This will give you some nice muscle growth for good tone but won't "bulk" you up.

If you belong to a gym they'll have everything you need (dumbbells and a flat bench are pretty much it). Also it's important to have someone show you the proper form (there are tons of places you can download quick videos off the internet that illustrate proper form as well).

Quick routines (by no means are these hard core body builder type exercises...)

Upper Body
2 sets 10 of dumbbell bench press (chest)
2 sets 10 tricep kickbacks (triceps)
2 sets 10 bicep curls (biceps)
2 sets 10 bent over rows (back)
2 sets 10 Shrugs (shoulders)
2 sets 10 pushups (chest, shoulders)
2 sets 10 crunches (abs)

Lower Body
3 sets 10 dumbbell squats (quadriceps)
3 sets 10 dumbbell lunges (hamstrings)
3 sets 10 seated dumbell calf raises (calves)
2 sets 10 crunches (abs)

This kind of exercise routine will hit the major muscle groups and not take a lot of time. You will find that you will work up a good sweat doing this, and your body will burn fat and build muscle as a result.

A *great* book can be found here:

Mens Health Home Workout Bible A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Burning Fat and Building Muscle

Another good one to start with is:
Body for Life

[Skittles]

18. ever checked how much sugar is in a slimfast shake?????

VERY bad. Better off eating cereal with skim milk.

[GOPisEvil]

5. Do you know what your target heart rate is?

195 sounds a little high to me. ABout 150 is my target.

[TXlib]

8. According to this website

http://www.stevenscreek.com/goodies/hr.shtml

my maximum HR is 186, and my target rate (is that 85% of max?) is about 160.

Problem is, I find that I shoot past 160 on low resistance at low RPM.

I have noticed over the few weeks I've been working out again (after an 18-month hiatus) that my max HR is slowly dropping; the elliptical was telling me my HR was 205-ish when I started.

How accurate is the HR measured by these elliptical machines?

[GOPisEvil]

11. I'd guess it's fairly accurate.

Does it measure through the hand grips? For maximum accuracy you could buy your own monitor and strap it to your chest, though that's uncomfortable. There's also a watch that monitors heart rate somehow too. Maybe a finger tip on the face or something...

[Kolesar]

14. In a few weeks, your pulse will be lower as you get fit

I measure my pulse by stopping moving, and doing a 12 second pulse-count on my neck. I multiply by five and get my rate/minute (one way of doing that is just cut it in half and add a zero)

EX:

12 sec pulse count = 32

divide by two => 16

Add a zero => 160

does that make any sense?

I must admit, I don't like the idea of your heart rate being WAY above 160.

[supernova]

16. It's easy to monitor HR while working out

Just stop for 10 seconds and count your heartbeats, then multiple by 6. That is a much more accurate count than machine measurements.

No you won't lose your performance by stopping for 10 seconds. I do mine about every 15 minutes or so.

[Kolesar]

6. 7 calories per gram of fat, I recall

7 calories/gram of fat * 28 grams/ounce * 16 ounces/pound * 30 pounds => 94080 calories to go

Divide 94080 calories by 1000 calories/workout, and you need to do 94 workouts -> 15 weeks.

To tell the truth, it is not that simple. You will probably change your diet and may even add weight training which will bring faster results. There is also a phenomnon of continued high metabolism for hours after a workout, so you burn even more calories throughout the day.

This is more complicated than I can describe. I hope you can find a good book or a trainer. You may wish to consult your physician. Don't forget to stretch when you are warmed up!

[supernova]

10. 9 calories/per fat gram

not 7. Sorry.

[Kolesar]

12. Oops, another 2 weeks in the gym for TXlib!

:)

[SlavesandBulldozers]

9. my weightlifting coach

who is also the baseball coach at my college, said that if you are working out for more than 50 minutes a day you are doing something wrong. Namely, he said, people work out with too little resistance for too long a time. You would be far better off doing 30 minutes of high resistance.

one of the best slimming exercises to take inches off your wasteline is, believe it or not - squats. also do some shoulder work.

[Skittles]

17. no

I don't think one is better than the other. Either one is better than doing nothing but the "no pain no gain crowd" is WRONG.

[Caution]

19. Actually

Just about any trainer will tell you this. Even professional athletes typically do not do a workout of more than 45 minutes a day. If you are doing more than this on a normal diet you will lose tons of weight and tons of muscle, you cannot sustain it and when you stop working out so much your body will take any food and convert to fat in order to store it for the next session of workout insanity. It's a cycle most people who have weight problems find themselves in.

As for "no pain, no gain." This is absolutely 100% true in terms of muscle-building. Your body does not build more muscle unless you tear muscle fibers.

The misconception is when you are injuring yourself during your workout. You should begin to feel soreness in your muscles the day after a resistance training session and it should peak on the 2nd day. It is only true "pain" the first couple of times. Your body adjucts after this and over time it simply becomes a dull ache for a couple of days and finally you really don't even notice it that much.

If you do a resistance training workout and you don't feel any pain at all in the muscle groups your worked the next day then you need to increase the weight if you wish to increase overall muscle mass.

[Randi_Listener]

22. Also.

Some deadlifts and bench press with free weights wouldn't hurt.

[supernova]

13. Calculate Your Target Heart Rate Here

How can I calculate my target heart rate?

The simplest way to calculate your Target Heart Rate is to subtract your age from 220. This number is the maximum times your heart can beat in one minute. If you are just beginning, your target heart rate should be between 60 to 75% of your maximum heart rate but after six months you can safely exercise up to 85%.


So:

220 - Your age = Your Maximum HR adjusted for age. (MHR)

then

MHR x .60 = low end HR intensity goal

MHR x .80 = High end HR intensity goal


You will get a range within which to exercise. You should only do the 80% target heart rate if you are a professional athlete training for comptition.

195 is DEFINITELY TOO HARD. Start out light and work your way up.

[toddzilla]

20. It's not too hard..

The body will self-regulate anything of that nature. I asked this of my former physiology teacher ( i was pursuing a degree in exercise physiology) what he said makes perfect sense. You will pass out and become nauseous if you push yourself over the limit on a regular basis. unless you have a heart condition or some other pre-existing limitation, there's no reason not to go as hard as you can, assuming you're in moderate shape. i used to hit 220+ when i did heavy aerobic fartlek(interval) training, so i was concerned and asked several people who had credentials and experience in the field.


people lift weights for far, far, too much time. Strength training should never be assesed by using time as a measurement. Do a warm up set, then do a set to failure with between 8-12 reps. Do compound movements, and don't work a bodypart multiple times. don't work a bodypart more than once a week. alternate days off with aerobic training, preferably interval-type training as it is the most efficient unless you are training for an endurance event, then use the specificity principle in your training regimen.


I got out of the whole fitness industry because there's way too much dogmatic thinking, and so few people are open-minded about anything that it's frustrating as hell.

[linazelle]

23. I'd wondered what happened if you exceed recommended HR...

My doctor would never give me clear answers when I told her I was going to 180 bpm. I became afraid my heart would explode or something. What is the reason for holding the heart rate down to 75 to 85% and what are the dangers of exceeding it?

[Randi_Listener]

21. Getting in Shape

The best thing for your overall health is to use weight training. Heavy weight is the best and most efficient use of time for overall cardiovascular health.