[SSMOKINHOT]

Originally Posted by CFD

A lot of people say low intensity cardio is good for fat burning but studies show that higher intensity is better and HIIT is the king. You can burn more cals doing 15-20 min HIIT than an hour of low intensity and HIIT does help buid muscle as well. I'd rather do the 20 min HIIT and spend the other 40 doing something I like and burn more calories to boot. If you look at programs like P90x etc they lean towards HIIT and do shred fat.

Originally Posted by CFD

This may be a little lengthy but with the above examples you gave is the perfect time to explain my reasoning behind making the suggestions I do to you as well as everyone else. I once heard some advice and it was something like look at the people that have the type of body you want and train like they train. Look at long distance runners, thin, lanky no real muscle to speak of and they do long distance low intensity and that's what they train for. Now look at sprinters muscular especially in the lower body those guys have huge legs, how do they train, short high intensity bursts. Look at fighters, lean and muscular regardless of weight class(some heavy weights excluded) Most of their training is with weights and high intensity cardio of some sort.They burn fat like crazy and build muscle at the same time.This is the basis for HIIT. Now look at their diets, these guys eat thousands of calories a day. When you were burning 800 cals a day it would have been fine if you supported it with adequate calories. You probably didn't 'cause you were cutting, so you lost weight by burning your muscle for fuel because of insuficient carbs. Do you know why people say low intensity is better, the theory is that if you do low intensity and bring your heart rate to your "fat burning zone" you will burn more calories from fat which is true, When you do high intensity you burn more calories from carbs which is also true. The thing is it still boils down to cals in versus cals out, doing high intensity may be it from carbs you still burn way more calories. My belief is that rather than trying to diet away the fat burn it off with more exercise But you need to support that with proper nutrition to support and maintain muscle growth. Now it is said that you should keep cardio sessions to no longer than 1 hr at a time. Doing low intensity cardio fo an hour you might burn 200 cals not a big return for the time spent, longer than that you become catabolic and there goes your muscle. So what do you do High intensity interval training. In 20 min you can burn up to 400 cals or so and as long as you properly feed your workouts you will build muscle which turns you into a fat incinerator. From what I've seen you put in a lot of time and effort and that's what it takes but you havn't quite found the right combination.Most of the pro's have found that and that's why they have the results they do, that plus good genetics. I am a firm believer that you work harder and eat more, rather than work easy and eat less. You won't see overnight changes but the changes are solid rather than bounce all over the place. When you talk about pro's bulking and cutting these guys devote their lives to training and to do what they do you have to train like they do it's that simple.

AND


Okay...so my update...I am happy to report the scale that I used (and was upset for losing 5 lbs) was actually inconsistent. I have confirmation from a number of sources that my weight did not change so I am sitting at 140 still which I am happy about. I'm also happy to report that I now have a fridge in my room so I am able to make some of my own meals versus having to be at the mercy of what they offer at the chow hall. I also was able to get my protein powder (I use Syntha-6) so I have been using that every morning for breakfast after my morning workouts. Yesterday I did a 3.5 mile ruck march in modified battle rattle in the morning and then did Kenpo X (kick-boxing of sorts) at night. Must go shopping....my pants are falling off of me!!