Stop Running!

Here is the follow up to Friday..... and if you didn't read it, here is the link. Some girls get bulky...
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Let’s set something straight – your FOOD determines your body, both in growth-muscular development, and reduction of mass and fat, no question about it, don't be dellusional. I have seen too many people come to the gym with a caramel macchiato, (because they need the caffeine-yeah right), have a mediocre workout, go get another caramel macchiato after workout, and then complain their body hasn't changed. Well let me see, you just drank 700+/- calories with about 30g of fat, almost 100g of carbs, and almost 100g of sugars.... and you wonder why there is still a belly?  Then I hear, "but I just took a class, ran on the treadmill, and did some crunches, I worked out for two hours."  Here is my opinion and what I say, which some people think all I say is nonsense.... "You just gained weight/fat by coming to the gym (because you needed the caffeine), wouldn't it have been better as well as an effective use of your valuable time to not drink half of your caloric intake for the day, get an effective fat burning / muscle building workout in and be out of the gym in 30-45 minutes?" 

The difference between a ‘bulky’ look and a ‘Jessica Biel’ look is whether you’re eating above or below your caloric maintenance level. 

Very often I see people get confused with all the diets, workouts, supplements that are thrown their way.  Now more than ever many of us are on ‘information overload’.  And this is causing people to associate ‘this workout with these results’, and ‘this food with those results’.

The best thing you can do when trying to lose fat is to keep it simple - and not get distracted.  Keep your ‘shiny object syndrome’ in check and stay on track – because it’s really not as hard as you may think..

Here’s the deal -> Your body has 4 things going on.
It has bones, organs, muscle, fat.... You can’t really change your bones & organs – what you CAN do is..

1 Make your fat cells bigger
2 Make fat cells smaller
3 Grow muscle
4 Lose muscle

That’s it.

The ideal combination is 2 and 3, to Lose Fat and Gain Muscle. Do that and you’ll be sexier than ever.  Guys and girls will whistle at you, regardless of whether you are a guy or girl.  The most important factor for fat loss is your nutrition, followed very closely by metabolism.

In order to lose bodyfat, you should be on a slight caloric deficit.  So calculate how many calories your metabolism, there are several sites out there you can do this on, one is http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/calorie_calculator.asp.

Do this and you will NEVER get bulky. Unless you sleepwalk and eat without knowing it, but that’s a whole other problem.  Aside from all this.. aside from proper nutrition – the very next best things for fat loss are "high intensity workouts" such as hill sprints and sled work as noted in my previous post.

THIS is where most people mess up when trying to lose fat.  They assume that ‘jogging’ or ‘running’ is good for them and that running will burn the fat. 

Nothing could be more WRONG!

If your goal is to get definition and SERIOUSLY look good in a bathing suit, you have to eliminate the jogging and replace it with hill sprints and sled work, etc. Take a look at and compare the marathon runners versus the sprinters.  Take a look below or Google it, not only for pictures, but info and data....

Sprints will build up the hamstrings and glutes tremendously. (Running for a purpose (such as shooting for a measurable improvement) is great, running as a method to shred fat and get lean isn’t highly effective as most think.  Interval running is where it’s at for overall effectiveness, both in cardio respiratory improvement and eliminating fat, with that said nutrition is vitally important.  If you are physically capable of sprinting and wanted to continue on the treadmill, I would, if I were you, raise the incline and do the intervals with a significant incline, this way the speeds won’t be that high and there is less pounding on your joints – safer.) 

Sprints are also one of the best forms of abdominal training you could do. You ever see the glutes and abs on a sprinter? Google them and see what they look like.. then ask yourself which body type YOU prefer?

Excessive jogging is not only time-consuming, it also increases cortisol.. which in turn increases belly fat.. wears down your joints.. reduces your strength.. makes you lose muscle.. lowers testosterone.. and most importantly, runners will never have a truly amazing butt.  You know, one of those ‘from another planet’ butts. Sprinters have them. People that lift weights have them. Runners don’t. (And here we go again, with the stick pins in the Voo Doo doll... thats ok, you are sticking it into muscle... and before you start sending me viscious emails that I immedieately delete and "send to trash" I am simply directing and advising the "stop running" info to people who want to be tight, lean and have a killer fitness body.)

And it’s all because weight training & sprints, hill sprints, and sled work builds muscle while burning fat.  You just can’t say that about running a marathon. You will be in great cardio resperatory condition in this case, but not a "Fitness Model" body.

Now many people are confused about this, and honestly, I don’t blame them.  Somewhere along the way ‘running’ became popular, and it didn’t take long before Nike jumped on the bandwagon and started promoting ‘running’ as the cool thing to do  (prob due to Forrest Gump).

Unless you get intense joy out of finishing a marathon (and I 100% commend you-I would if I could do it, but I can't), running will only set you back when it comes to your "fitness Model" physique.

Yes it increases your endurance, but it has nowhere near as much impact as hill sprints.  And yes, “some exercise is better than no exercise”, but that’s another talk.

If for every dollar spent on stock A you get $100 back, and every dollar spent on stock B would give you a million dollars.. you’d go for stock B right?

Hill sprints & sled work = stock B.

Stock A is stuff like jogging, stairmasters, and elliptical machines..
Stairmasters and Ellipticals?  Yes that's what I said, Stairmasters have no "High intensity" effect - it's just tiring on the legs and cardio, Elliptical Machines have momentum. Momentum is only good when you’re playing golf or in the Pinewood Derby.

Stock A is not good for challenging your body and burning the max amount of calories in minimum time. (notice I said max cal in min time)

One of my favorite quotes is:
“If you want to be successful, look at what everyone else is doing and do the complete opposite.” ..

The same goes for your cardio.  Now you keep hearing me say ‘hill’ sprints and there’s a good reason why..

Hill sprints place your body in a safer position than flat ground sprints because of the angle, so there is far less impact.  Also, hill sprints and sled work slows you down and is for that reason very safe. The risk of pulling a hamstring or popping an achilles or something in your knee is greatly reduced.

Remember, that sprinting for fat loss is different than sprinting for speed. The latter requires specific timing, longer rest periods, etc. But to drop body fat and just bring up your conditioning without compromising your strength gains, you don’t have to get too tedious about this.

Just do the darn sprints. That’s all that matters :)

If there is a big enough "why", you will find and do the "how"!  What is your "why"? And how important is it to you?

Get in the back and start sprinting today. See we even have an indoor spot ready for you... :)

You will be at a pool party or on the beach before you know it.  And you will regret what you didn’t do.

Yours in health,
Greg

Greg DiRenzo, M.S.

Lakeside Fitness Center

www.lakesidefitnessclub.com

"Small Hinges Swing Big Doors"