To do - Or not to do Cardio - That is the Question

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Comment by JBF Coach Sarah on September 18, 2011 at 6:38pm

LOL, yes good luck with that =D

 

I'll do uphill walking lunges and good-paces downhill walk, both good for the glutes.

Comment by JBF Mentor Tom Mortensen on September 18, 2011 at 1:51pm

Sarah, during the first 2 weeks of my vacation, cardio has been my main activity. Due to the topgraphic layout of the Italian countryside, i.e. ranging from low rolling hills to mountains, my running sessions have consisted of a series of uphill sprints and downhill coasting. Let me state this once and for all, that nothing will drive your pulse relentlessly towards your max as uphill sprinting, absolutely nothing! After passes of 60-80minutes I found myself totally drained, dehydrated and deenergized. Of course the heat, 30-35 degress centigrade, didn't help! In future I will definitely include more uphill sprinting, that is if I can find a hill in the flat marshes of Western Denmark!

 

Catch ya'll later!

Comment by JBF Coach Sarah on September 18, 2011 at 12:40pm

Update to this Shakespearean cardio conundrum :)

 

Now that I've moved to a new apartment (with Joe), the only real high-point in town is a mere 10 minutes' walk from my front door. The foot of it that is. Not sure if I can call it a mountain really, but a tall hill it certainly is (higher than Himmelbjerget, lol; I know, it doesn't take much).

 

My point is, tomorrow I am getting into my outside training gear and climbing that hill. No idea how long it'll take me. No clue what shape I'll be in once I reach the top. But whatever those results, from there on they will only be improving!

 

Depending on my schedule(s) I will integrate that climb at least 3 times a week until the snow and ice make it unsafe.

 

Of course, with the gym a 10-minute walk away in the other direction, 3-5 days GXP (depending on whether my schedule allows for a 7MM or 14MM week) per week will also be added to the above.

 

Milestone dates for personal improvement:

-  Canadian Thanksgiving Oct. 10th

-  Christmas/New Year week

-  My birthday in February

-  Easter

-  Late May (maybe, possibly not an actual milestone, to be determined)

-  Summer (yes, all summer!)

-  Maybe September 14th

 

From there on, stay at the level I aim to achieve. Maybe the hardest part, not slipping back, getting complacent.

 

Obviously also, I will need to do something other than 7/14MM over the course of the next year, but knowing me this will just be an occasional break of 4-6 weeks on another program before going back to 7MM :) I like it too much!

 

Breaks? Of course, a week off every 2-3 months depending on how intense I train and whether I feel I've hit the wall.

 

RFLB scheduled for late April/early May and late August.

 

Is the goal obtainable? Sure it is. All I need is focus :) and a renewed M-Power course, all 48 weeks but since I've done it before I can get through it in less time, probably looking to do 5 sections a week, after which time I will listen to random weeks as I feel the need for an added pep-talk.

Comment by JBF Coach Sarah on August 1, 2011 at 7:40am

I was wondering why my computer is so slow ... till I tallied up the workout programs, the nutrition books - both Isabel's and Berardi's were on there, I erased Berardi's as I have the hard-copy - 

 

I usually switch between the old EODD and SNAPP for variety, or switch between 3 and 1 feed days a week. That's all the change I need, along with varying the recipes.

 

Usually though, I don't vary the training too much. I've stuck with 7MM just changing the actual exercises every so often to get the muscles to react a bit more.

 

All is closed today - "bank holiday" for a reason no one seems to remember :) I've asked even older people, one said it used to be in February but they moved it ... what it's for or why it was moved, I don't know, she didn't remember if she ever did know herself :)

Comment by JBF Mentor Tom Mortensen on August 1, 2011 at 12:59am

On any plan, diet or even lifstyle, boredom and complacency are the worst enemies. Lets face it, after a while, even EODD and 7MM can have this effect on you. This will vary from person to person. For me personally it only takes some months, before I start looking over the fence to see if there is something nice over there, figuratively speaking of course!

 

The trick here is to introduce variety. Change an apple with a pear, change broccoli with beans, change the flavour of your protein powder (I'll get back to this subject later!) etc., etc.. Some times it doesn't take much to give yourself the feeling of change and varity.

 

For me personally I find it much easier to find variation in the workouts. By now I must have at least a dozen different training programs on my harddisk, yes at one point I was building up to an addiction, but its under control now :-). So whenever I get too laid back and bored, I dig out a new program and follow that. And most of them deliver on results, its just the goals that are different.

 

I will not even start on industry scams, they are well covered elsewhere, but they exist big time. If this interests you have a look at Will Brink's site, check out his background and start reading. Very down to earth and practical information, and very revealing!

Comment by JBF Coach Sarah on July 31, 2011 at 7:57am

 

 

I see what you mean. Yes, there IS a way to keep from gaining it back: do not go on a diet, but rather change your lifestyle :) which is what EODD and 7MM is all about really, isn't it. 

 

With EODD you get to "cheat" on a planned and regular basis, and you can adapt the cheat-schedule to fit your needs - literally every other day, for beginners and/or vacations; or more spaced out, for intermediate to advanced and/or work-life. Using the DCC meals once in a while to change the menu up a bit keeps the monotony out of it, yet you don't have to change it as there are so many ways to make different-tasting shakes, lots of different nuts, and a huge variety of apples and pears.

 

7MM/7MB ... frankly, if anyone says they do not have 7+9 minutes a day to exercise, they're really not even interested in making that change. 

 

Bottom line - use Jon's books, programs, tactics to get rid of the excess fat; then keep using them to keep the fat away for good. Make sense?

 

But yes, I'm 110% positive that the diet industry wants to keep people fat. In fact, I'm as certain that the food companies that pump out the fabricated crap-foods are major shareholders in the diet-food plants as well. First they get you fat by feeding you processed junk; then they give you the illusion of slimming foods with more processed, low-fat (but high sugars) junk camouflaged as food; and to top it off they're most likely involved in the "diet-pill" scams as well. Of course, one would have to dig to prove that, because of the straw companies and aliases they hide behind. And this is just my gut feeling by the way :)

Comment by Markku Niilo-Rämä on July 31, 2011 at 7:37am

Sarah, if you consider that 95% percent of the people who lose weight will regain their weight, one would think that the majority of information would be how not to regain the weight back..
On the other hand, the cynic inside me, would say that the weight loss industry needs those people who lose weight again and again and again and..

Comment by Markku Niilo-Rämä on July 31, 2011 at 7:34am

Tom, I think the 80/20 rule applies to when you want to MAINTAIN your results, not when you are trying to achieve them.. It is a lot easier to stay in good condition than to get there...

 

Congratulations, Tom about the Mentor status!  I think you really deserve it..  I think your posts are excellent, very well written and thought out.

Comment by JBF Coach Sarah on July 30, 2011 at 4:01pm

Congrats on becoming JBF Mentor, Tom :)

Comment by JBF Mentor Tom Mortensen on July 30, 2011 at 3:05pm

Markku,

one word of warning! I don't know many rules that don't have an exception, and the 80/20 rule is not one of them! Doing just 20% on the nutrition side hoping to achieve 80% improvement, is a losing battle, that can only end one way: you getting fatter. But I guess you kind of knew that :-)

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