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2005/08/14, 10:51 PM
I am starting a 12 week leaning period. My 10 year high school reunion is Nov. 5 th and I want to be as lean as possible. I’m no stranger to working out (having lost over 100 lbs in the last year) but I have read some conflicting posts.
I do a pretty standard split, but coming of a 5 month break from lifting I know what it feels like the first 5 or 6 times you do squats. This makes cardio impossible to do without lots and lots of aspirin (anti-inflammatory are BAD for building muscle)....
So my question to all of you is this. If you had 12 weeks to get as lean as possible which would you choose out of the following?
1) Treat you legs like any other body group and lift HEAVY and hope the gained muscle burns the calories. All the meanwhile, thwarting any chance of a hellacious HIIT routine.
2) Skip the squats and do the HIIT routine 5 days a week hoping that burns the calories and has some anabolic effect on the legs.
I've read posts explaining that excessive cardio can train the body to store fat. I usually don’t question BB's advice, but is this the case with HIIT and would a temporary 12 weeks make a difference?
What would you all do if you were in my situation?
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If your muscle wont allow you to do the last few reps, make your mind and heart do it. Your muscles will thank them later.
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2005/08/16, 11:08 AM
I would probably guess you wouldn't really want to do squats, at least with heavy weights more twice a week (at most), especially after such a long break. If you're hitting the gym 5 days a week I would think this would provide you plenty of time to do some squats early in the week and then again late in the week and some HIIT in between. If you're legs are still sore from the squats the day before then just make sure you get in a warmup before picking up the pace and that should relieve too much pain. After the first week or 2 you should be past any discomfort.
I wouldn't neglect squats for cardio though. The legs are some of the largest muscles in your body and they will go a long way to boost metabolism over time.
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2005/08/16, 11:22 AM
Keep doing the heavy weights. Do cardio on opposite days. You MUST keep your muscle mass. By continuing with heavy weights, you tell your body that even though you are dieting, the muscle has to be maintained, because you need it! This is your best fat burning friend.
By all means, do your cardio, HIIT or whatever. Simply do it on different days as legs. I never, ever even on contest training do cardio the same day as legs.
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If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything....
bb1fit@freetrainers.com
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