sicpecher

I am trying to lean out but not lose any muscle (ok duh) and my lower body puts muscle on very easily (and holds onto fat) while my upper body loses fat and muscle fast. I want to keep my cardio short and sweet but in order to get the intensity I need I have to use a lot of resistance. On things like the recumbent bike and elliptical, will this make me more pear shaped and build up my legs? I can't run anymore because I hurt my knee but I know the sprints would be good. Thanks in advance for any advice.
sarAH!

BabsieGirl

That's a good question. I'm the complete oposite. I lose fat on my lower body before it comes off the upper half Stinks how fat is burned where it's last put on first.

Can you post the following?:

Your Stats?
Current diet?
Weight training?
Cardio?

btw -- the elliptical is GREAT!!!! I love LOVE it! I don't like the bike though. Be careful while biking or on the elliptical though. You don't want to have so much resistance where your leg muscles start to burn. When this happens, you become winded and start to lose muscle.

Don't hate the player, hate the game!http://pages.prodigy.net/rogerlori1/...the%20wave.GIF
Before you talk about what you want - appreciate what you have.

http://home.earthlink.net/~gwcaton/s...ctures/tmf.jpg
A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband. -Honore de Balzac
Desire+Consistency='s RESULTS

sicpecher

Babsie-
My info:
almost 21 yrs old (in May), female, 5'7, 130 lbs, weightlift with a trainer 2 times a week heavy and 1 time alone heavy plus high rep, low weight leg/ab training on off days. I usually do 30 minutes cardio after weights ...so 3-4 x a week. I don't eat starchy carbs and just switched over from a high fat diet to a lean protein, crap loads of fibrous veggies and fish oil supplemented one. I eat every 2.5-3 hours, drink a galon of water a day and my calories are between 1500-2000 usually 50p/20c/30f.
Sometimes I have fruit postworkout and lean meat but all my other meals are meat and vegetables (LOTS). Before I was eating much less but high fat low carb and I felt like ass and I gained weight.
Also, I haven't had a period for like 2 years cuz I had an eating disorder and so am seeing this naturopath who has me on chinese herbs and I think they are making me hold on to fat. I can't wait to get off them to see if it helps.
Thanks for your reply.
sarah

P-funk

why not do your sprints on the recumbent bike if you enjoy it so much? I do my sprints on a bike. I jack the intensity up to level 9 and go all out for 25-30sec. then I drop to level 0 and pedal really lightly for 1min. (some may need longer than 1min. depending on how high their heart rate is at.....you shuold be fine though because I know you are in good cardiovascular health). I do this for anywhere form 10-20min.

http://pwtraining.blogspot.com/.....come and see what is on my mind!

Ivonne's Blog on Health and Wellness!

Looking for online training/coaching/consulting? --> Optimum Sports Performance

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few."
-Buddha's Little Instruction Book

Jake

Ya, what P-funk said. It doesn’t really matter what you do to get the heart rate up for interval training, as long as it gets up. A bike will be just as good as running, and the elliptical just as good as a bike. Mix it up if you get bored with one or the other.

I wouldn’t worry about adding a lot of muscle mass via cardio. The volume is just way to high, even in sprints. Your doing anywhere from 10 to 20 in a ½ hour to 15 minute period. Its endurance work, which is crap for putting on muscle. But if you are really worried about, do minute long high intensity intervals, and minute and a half lower intensity. Or break it up by distance like I do. Go a quarter of a mile fast, a quarter of a mile slow, repeat as desired. There is no way that will add any muscle fibre to you, and it should minimize the amount lost.

Well now that I wrote you a novel on it, I say good luck to you. Tell me what you decide on in the end, and how it works out for you.

ALBOB

Huh? Ya' know? When I read that sentence, I finally know what it feels like to be blonde.

J/K Babsie, I know what you mean.

Rules? You mean we have RULES for that???

sicpecher

whoa! I tried interval sprints on the recumbant bike today...warmed up for 3 minutes then shot the resistance up to 9 for a minute then 0 for a minute for 20 minutes and it was great! I was covered in sweat and a lil nauseated I can't wait to see how I feel tomorrow! Thanks everyone for all the help.
sarah

P-funk

if you can do 1min at level 9 then you need to raise the resitance because 1min. is not a sprint!!! it is to long to be considered a sprint. A sprint needs to be more of a burst of energy.....about 20-30sec. (figure it will take about 5-10sec to get to top speed) if you have the intensity set properly you will be dieing at about 20-30sec.....that is when you know you are sprinting.

http://pwtraining.blogspot.com/.....come and see what is on my mind!

Ivonne's Blog on Health and Wellness!

Looking for online training/coaching/consulting? --> Optimum Sports Performance

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few."
-Buddha's Little Instruction Book

sicpecher

Thanks patrick! I'll go harder next time then! I was sorta dying by 30 seconds but I'm a nazi in the gym and so it was like "no you're going a minute, don't be a wuss". I'll start at 12 and see where that gets me.

arbntmare

i need to lose a belly... and i know i need to do some cardio to get it out.. otherwise it own't happen with just lifting ( i wish)... so i been trying to this high intentisty interval thing... 2min warm up 45-1 min high speed then 1 min cool down and again..

i do this on a tred mill that only has a max of about 10mph and i can do 45-1min just fine.. should i try something harder, ie increase resistance (raising hill) to reduce the time??

Thanks

No Pain, No Gain

P-funk

yes, try putting your resistance level at a bit of an incline.

http://pwtraining.blogspot.com/.....come and see what is on my mind!

Ivonne's Blog on Health and Wellness!

Looking for online training/coaching/consulting? --> Optimum Sports Performance

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few."
-Buddha's Little Instruction Book

arbntmare

i tired that today.. i sweated like a pig it was great, but i only had time to do 12 mins of it.. no warm cause i did a warm up earlier that day... and i did 45sec sprints cause with 1 % incline i think.. next time i will try 3% incline...

No Pain, No Gain

aztecwolf

what i like to do is pu the treadmill at an incline of 15, do intervals of 3 mph and 7.5-8 mph, tires you out like hell and your calves will be burnin

-Sack Up-

"If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?" Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall

arbntmare

hrm wow that is hard as hell... i guess the important thing in htis process is the act of doing something that will make you sweat like a pig and tired as hell within 20mins.. but running 4miles will make tired as just a s well what are the benfits of this program?? sprinting allows more fat to be burned? or what?

No Pain, No Gain

aztecwolf

doing sprints and hiit type training has a similar effect that weightlifting does, your body will burn more calories after the hiit is done, then will the traditional slower paced cardio, i personally like to mix in a little of both, somedays if i dont have the gust in me to do sprints(sometimes motivation is hard to come by for sprints) then i will do a longer run, say 3 miles or so on soft sand at the beach, other types of high intensity cardio is to find a coliseum or high set of stairs and to run up and down, up and down, it will also build great pushing power in the legs.

-Sack Up-

"If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?" Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall

aztecwolf

but like you said "tires you out like hell" i mean why would you really want to do something half-a**ed when you can go all out and get the best benefits that it has to offer

-Sack Up-

"If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?" Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall