jason sadler’s Story
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So, long story short...
jason sadler made the mistake of
thinking running for a long time/distance would help me lose weight
My Advice to You is
do some high intensity training, interval training and mix it up!
Here's the whole story
I ran for about 3 months, outside or on a treadmill for 30-40 minutes 2-3 times a week at the same pace, and saw hardly any results; I was pissed. I did a bunch of research and led me to what you are about to read.
High intensity training (or HITT) is comprised of interval training, running/biking (or elliptical’ing if you absolutely have to), while in your 50% and 90% heart rate (or MHR). I will immediately preface this with the fact that some people believe HITT only burns muscle and you over train to burn fat. While this is true for someone with 10% body fat who works out and diets religiously, your average joe (or jane) who wants to shed some holiday weight and slide into that speedo/bikini for the summer should do some HITT.
The technical term for fat burning is lipolysis and this process occurs at 60-75% of MHR after available blood sugar (glycogen) as been exhausted. Usually 15-20 minutes is enough to enable this process to BEGIN; doing cardio for 45 minutes at this pace then yields 25 minutes of actual fat burning. I highly recommend some kind of interval training during this 40-45 minute workout, 5 minutes of fast paced walk (slow jog) and 5 minutes of medium paced run.
I realize there was some medical jargon in there (which I mostly googled awhile back), so here is a brief synopsis for when you are getting started (using a treadmill 2-3 times a week):
Warm up for 3 minutes at a slow walk, walk at a faster pace (near a slow jog) for 5 minutes and then alternate with a medium paced run for 5 minutes. You should alternate 4 times and then do a cool down slow walk for 2-3 minutes (yielding a 40-45 minute workout).
After a month, you should switch into a HITT system where you warm up for 3 minutes with a slow walk and then go into a medium paced run for 1:30 – 2 minutes, alternating to a fast paced run for 1:30-2 minutes. You should alternate 5-7 times with a cool down walk of 2-3 minutes (yielding a 20-25 minute workout).
So there you have it, put down the lays potato chips and french onion dip, ease up on the bud light and head to the gym!
Comments (5)
so did this work for you? is this a success story or just what you should do?
Based on experience, I believe that you can achieve great results utilizing HIT. However, I don't necessarily think you need to train for 45 minutes to achieve these results (although 45 minutes will definitely do it).
Last winter, I ran for 20 minutes using HIT 3 times a week. I would also use high intensity resistance training for about 45 minutes 3 times per week.
In about 2.5 months, I lost around 25lbs.
It's important to remember that the nutrition you choose can greatly affect your results. If you don't change your dieting habits and expect to see amazing results by training in any way, you will be disappointed most of the time.
For more information on HIT and nutrition, read Body For Life by Bill Phillips.
I think when I was writing this I meshed too much info together.
HIT for 20-25 minutes is good for weight loss, but without enough proper dieting and weight training you will burn some muscle.
Less intense interval training, 40-45 minutes, with a good diet and moderate weight training should show similar weight loss results.
I recommend alternating between the two along with the proper diet!
If you really really really really... really want to lose weight:
Stop eating sugar. Use alternative sweeteners such as Splenda, Sugar Twin or whatever fits the bill.
Stop with the white bread! Eat whole grain or multigrain bread.
Use small bowls. The small bowl system helps you think you are having a "whole" meal. When you use a plate, you are actually eating 1.5 or 2 bowls worth of food. Yeah, I know... those second helping plate eaters are over eating big time.
Use your hands more. No, not like that... what I mean is the portion you cook should be cmoparable to your hand. If you make you hand into a fist, that is the approximate size of you stomach. If you look back at my other tip, you fist is about the same size of a bowl. Ah, cool ain't it.
Eat 4 times. Seriously, on average it takes 4 to 6 hours to fully digest your meal. That means... the breakfast you skipped which makes you more hungry which makes you over eat at lunch. All this extra food, cholesterol, sugar, salt, and whatever make you feel sluggish. Thus, you have a cranky afternoon.
Anyways... too much to type. Just eat 4 times a day with fist sized meals that contain little or no sugar and you will lose weight in no time. Eating 4 meals a day makes you less hungry and helps your body keep a more active system. If you don't eat enough, your body will think it is starving and will go into survival mode. This means that your body will store fat instead of burning it.
I've been on a diet going on about 3 months now and I've seen little results. I think the mantra of low intensity over long periods had been ingrained into my system at some point. I'm going to try this and see if I get better results. I'm also definately going to try and eat four meals a day with smaller portions!