Lean Bodies Consulting Newsletter

Volume 5, May 27, 2007

Welcome to another addition of the Lean Bodies Consulting Newsletter! This'll be a quick one. If you haven't received the previous issues of the newsletter and you'd like to, you can now find the archives here.

In this issue we've got the second of a two-part interview with Eric Cressey of www.ericcressey.com and a Q&A on how much cardio to do.

What's New At Lean Bodies Consulting?

I've been getting some emails asking what the latest is on the exercise video samples I talked about a few issues back. It's taken a lot longer than I expected unfortunately, but I've sent off the time codes and I should have the clips back in less than a week. Then it's just a matter of getting them uploaded. Stay tuned.

Next weekend I'll be heading back down to Detroit for another contest. I've got three girls competing in figure there and I expect all to do well. Two weeks after that it's off to the Junior Nationals in Chicago where I'll be there supporting six of my girls. Like the Junior USAs, this is going to be a huge show. The Junior USAs had over 125 competitors split into six classes so I'm expecting at least that much in Chicago. Keep your fingers crossed. You can follow along with Ali, Noel, Patricia and Neely in their blogs which can be found on the Lean Bodies Consulting site.

I also wanted to extend a congratulations to Martha Haraf who recently placed 3rd in figure at the ONBF Columbus Classic as well as Jennifer Heath who placed 2nd in bodybuilding at the NGA Grand Teton Invitational.

Volume IV Q & A

Question

How much cardio do you recommend for someone looking to lose body fat while maintaining muscle mass and strength?

Answer

The short answer would be, the minimum amount necessary to see results. I am a firm believer that nutrition should be responsible for as much of one's fat loss progress as possible. Cardio should be used as an 'adjunct therapy' as needed and weight training should be used to preserve muscle mass and strength - not for fat loss.

Some people will have to do more than others to achieve the desired results - typically females of lighter bodyweight. The reason for this is that since their maintenance intake tends to be relatively low (due to a lighter bodyweight), creating the appropriate caloric deficit requires a painfully low caloric intake, which in addition to the obvious hunger issues, also has the potential risk of not meeting one's nutritional needs. So in these cases, it might be better to eat more, and do a bit more cardio to create the necessary deficit. For the most part, a deficit is a deficit whether created by caloric restriction, energy expenditure by way of exercise, or some combination of both.

As to the type of cardio, you generally see people fall into one of two camps - lots of low intensity, long duration cardio (steady state cardio) or some form of interval training. I fall somewhere in the middle and think utilizing both is the best approach. Intervals are great for fat loss and also have the side benefit of being a short, albeit intense, workout. However, it's also a very demanding workout, particularly for the legs if you're choosing running or stationary cycling as your exercise of choice. Coupled with one or two intense lower body sessions a week, too much interval training might result in some localized overtraining of the legs. So, this is an instance where more is not necessarily better, especially if you're trying to hold on to your strength and size. So depending on how your lower body workouts are structured, I'd say a couple interval sessions is going to be sufficient more often than not. I often choose two and when doing so might reduce leg volume and also consider reducing the weekly lower body training sessions from two to one.

While still on the subject of interval training, and having made mention of the potential issues with localized overtraining of the legs, I think that the optimal positioning of one's interval training workouts would be on leg days, but in a session separate from the leg training workout. This has the benefit of allowing the legs to have more complete rest days. If a person had their training set up as two upper body workouts and two lower body workouts for example, and they positioned their interval workouts on upper body, or even off days, you're looking at four intense lower body days per week, which for some might be a bit much.

So in terms of a recommendation? I'd probably start with 1-2 interval sessions per week and another couple low/moderate steady state sessions and adjust accordingly from there. However, remember to look to your nutrition first when plateaus hit. Don't automatically assume you have to do more cardio. Might you have to do more? Perhaps, but again, look to your diet first and then start looking at the other elements of your training program second. I do not believe that anyone has to resort to the nonsensical approach you see so many competitors these days following - twice a day steady state sessions of 45-60 minutes. I think anyone who has to do that much cardio to lose fat is a dieting moron.

One last thing to hit on is the issue of whether cardio should or even needs to be done in a fasted state. The short answer is no it doesn't. You'll hear it preached in bodybuilding and fitness circles that to 'burn more fat' you have get up early and do your cardio fasted. It's not necessary, and in the case of intense interval sessions, definitely not recommended. While you might use more fat as fuel during fasted cardio, at the end of the day it's irrelevant. What's important is the caloric deficit you created during activity, not where that deficit (fat vs carbs) came from and fasted vs fed cardio doesn't change that. In fact one might argue that eating first might be a better option since performance will improve with a full tank, which could translate into greater expenditure during the workout.

Interview with Eric Cressey - Part 2

Dynamic warm ups, mobility exercises, soft tissue work/foam rolling, static stretching - who should be doing this and with what kind of frequency?

Well, everyone needs mobility and good soft tissue quality.

If they're serious problem areas, then daily - or even multiple times daily - is the best bet. Others might just go with rolling a few times a week with mobility work prior to all training sessions. The majority of my clients spend about five minutes rolling and working with a lacrosse ball four times a week prior to their dynamic flexibility warm-ups. We also incorporate mobility/activation drills in between sets of compound exercises.

A lot of it is relatively 'new', at least to the physique conscious individual. Why should a physique conscious individual, training for aesthetics, worry about this stuff?

Good question - and I've actually received the same inquiry from a few people now. In a word, longevity. Here's my (admittedly-biased) take on things:

If you've read stuff from Mike Robertson, me, and several others from similar schools of thought, I hope one message you've taken away from the articles is that the ordinary weekend warrior would be a lot better off if (s)he'd train more like an athlete. The strength work athletes do helps you move bigger weights and build more muscle while burning more calories to stay lean. The movement training keeps you functional and helps you with energy system work to keep your body composition in check. The mobility work keeps you healthy and functional so that you can stand up to all the challenges in your training programs without getting injured.

Additionally, from a fat loss standpoint, think about what happens when you improve efficiency: you recruit more muscle fibers, therefore creating a bigger "metabolic disturbance" (to quote Alwyn Cosgrove). Deadlifts will give you more benefit if your glutes are firing, and you'll get more out of chin-ups if your lower traps are kicking on all cylinders. And, improving efficiency will keep the body away from technical breakdown with high-intensity interval training and metabolic-oriented resistance training circuits, decreasing the risk of injury.

Here's a great example - a client of mine who was featured in the Boston Globe for her inspirational story: "Loss fuels her resolve to make a difference".

Steph went from a size 20 to a size 2 in about 18 weeks - and prepared for a fantastic showing for a first-timer at the Boston Marathon. What this article doesn't touch on much is how many injuries she had when we first started; it was like triage! Mobility and activation work was absolutely necessary to get Steph healthy (and keep her healthy enough) to make it possible for her to do what it takes to prepare for the marathon.

She got lean with proper diet and a combination of lifting, sprint intervals, hill work - with threshold runs and once weekly long, slow distance runs thrown in for the sake of necessary aerobic adaptations (I wouldn't include these with a pure fat loss client). However, she couldn't have done any of this if it wasn't for the "money in the bank" she got from the mobility and activation work; it indirectly helped to get her lean.

The elliptical machine is a very common piece of cardio equipment in the gyms these days. I think it's taken over stationary bikes, step mills and even the treadmill as the most used piece of cardio equipment in the gyms today. Is it an effective tool?

I don't vilify it like many others in the industry, as I've seen it prove useful for people coming back from knee problems, back pain, shin splints, and the like. I always like to have a low-impact option available for people for cardio, and this fits the bill nicely (heck, I use it myself a bit). Granted, the calculators on these machines drastically overestimate calorie burn because they don't take into account the momentum utilized, but who cares how many calories you burn during the session? It's about effort and the post-exercise oxygen debt you accumulate.

Still, like almost every piece of cardio equipment, the elliptical doesn't allow for full range of motion, so you need to complement it with mobility work and some more full range of motion energy systems work (e.g., sprinting).

What are the most common program design mistakes you see in training programs today?

There are a ton. Here's the tip of the iceberg, in no particular order:

  • Excessive volume
  • No fluctuation of training stress
  • Foo-foo exercise selection
  • No attention to injury prevention/prehab
  • Not understanding how to take deload periods appropriately
  • Plain 'ol ugly exercise exercise (it's the how, not just the what)
  • Too many machines and not enough free weights
  • Poor training environments/bad lifting partners
  • No attention to recovery/regeneration protocols
  • Thinking that it's JUST about lifting and cardio

The Magnificent Mobility video is a great resource for lower body dynamic warm ups and mobility work. But with over 30 exercises contained in the video, could you provide any insight as to how one might go about choosing exercises that are most suited to them?

Honestly, the best way to go about doing things is to try the movements out and see where you are the most "restricted." For instance, most females will do fine with high knee walks and not have to worry about them. Then, they'll try lunging variations, pull-back buttkicks, and alternating lateral lunge walks and notice that their hip flexors, quads, and adductors (respectively) won't let them get the range of motion they need.

In general, though, they all need to be doing supine bridges and birddogs along with the above three variations relatively frequently, and the rest can be mixed and matched so as to provide variety.


Where can people read more of your articles?

They can check out my website, www.EricCressey.com, where we have a free weekly newsletter. I also publish a near-daily blog at http://ericcressey.blogspot.com/.

Thanks for the interview Eric.

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

If you know anyone you think would enjoy or benefit from this newsletter, please forward it on and pass on the newsletter sign up link www.leanbodiesconsulting.com/newsletter.html

Until next time, thanks for reading.

Erik Ledin
http://www.leanbodiesconsulting.com

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