Cardio vs. strength training

PressedRat, you know a lot about these things, you should consider a career in health.

 

I hope you don't do intermittent fasting anymore! It's really not a good thing for women.

 

My boyfriend used to do long fasts for spiritual reasons (a week to 9 days). I thought I would give a shorter one (48 hours) a try since he raved about it. It just wasn't for me, I suppose. It did help me to sever the connection with junk food though. It sort jump-started my healthy eating plan.

I've never heard that it was bad for women before. Why?

 

I'll have to look for the article on it. I know marks daily apple wrote something about it. There's several Paleo bloggers that recommend against women doing it as well.

I don't think there's an issue with women occasionally fasting, but studies are showing our bodies and hormones aren't cut out for daily intermittent fasting.

 

Definitely Cardio, for me, I do most of my cardio on mountains around my home, so going uphill is a great way to get a workout and enjoy the outside and nature at the same time..I do plan on doing more strength training though, I usually just rely on physical labor to take care of that part but as I get older I know I will have to stay more concentrated on it as my testosterone levels will gradually decrease.

 

There are a lot of women who do IF without any problems. Others don't take as well to it. It is true that IF does seem to work better on average for men than women, but it's really an individual thing. It seems to mostly boil down to differences in endocrine function between men and women. Because fasting is seen by the body as a mild nutritional stressor, women, because of their physiological makeup, are more susceptible than men to adrenal fatigue and hormonal problems which can result from the said stress fasting can have. IF in female rats has been shown in some studies to correspond to a decrease in ovary size and an increase in adrenal gland size. There was also some reports of menstrual cycle dysregulation.

 

damn rat, it almost sounds like you got those facts from science or something
i thought you didn't "subscribe?"

i hear what you are saying.

but your height and weight do come into play. isn't that how they figure out Body Mass Index? i know that's that not exactly a body fat percentage..but my BMI is underweight. i don't need to get thin or skinny...or lean. i can't pinch fat on my body anywhere. i dare you to test my body fat!

 

I believe you. You're very thin.

 

what is the shortest time without food that would be considered an intermittent fast? just wondering if i think i would die or not

 

Basically any period of time without eating would be considered fasting. The average person fasts 7-10 hours a day while they sleep (hence the reason the first meal of the day is commonly referred to as breakfast -- break-fast). However, most people who do IF do the 16/8 fast, which is 16 hours fasting with an 8 hour eating window. Basically that means the person would eat their last meal or snack around 8PM, then skip breakfast the following morning and have their first meal sometime around noon or slightly thereafter. Some people do slightly longer fasts. I personally fast around 20-22 hours at least 6 days a week, and it's partly to do with my work schedule. I eat my last food just before leaving for work around 10:30 (usually some raw eggs, coconut oil and an avocado), and I don't eat again until around 6:30-8:00 the following evening. Usually I break my fast just after working out with a whey protein shake, followed by a big meal (my only meal of the day). Some people who IF do 24 hour fasts, but those fasts are only usually 2-3 days per week at most. So basically there are different variations of IF, but the most common ones are 16/8, 18/6, 20/4, and then the 24 hour fasts. Fasting longer than 24 hours generally isn't good for muscle gain, and can have a catabolic (muscle burning) effect. Longer fasts (24 hrs+) are generally for cleansing/detoxing purposes.

 

i usually have a snack around midnight or later. then i eat breakfast around 9. i have lunch between noon and 2 usually, and dinner at like 7 or 8.

the only time i go 10 hours without food is on the weekends when i sleep in. and maybe not even then.

i'm hungry after this post




back on the topic of cardio:
i rode my bike ~7 miles today (1.5 miles to work, ~2.5 to the bank and then home, 1.5 to work again, and 1.5 home). a little more than my daily 3 miles.

 

I eat like every two hours. I'm a pig. Fasting is not for me lol.

 

I just kind of skimmed this thread. I'll take strength training over cardio any day but I still do enough cardio every week too. I think PRs point in the OP was pretty spot-on. I honestly have always been somewhat skeptical of the fasting thing because it doesn't seem to make sense with almost every other thing I know about lifting but I will also say that I haven't looked into the idea very deeply either.

 

There is a lot that flies in the face of conventional wisdom when it comes to a lot of things. Most people think gaining muscle with regard to food consists only of eating a surplus of calories and huge amounts of protein. The fact is, hormone levels are just as important, and perhaps even more important when it comes to building muscle, and doing intermittent fasting optimizes those hormone levels so that you grow muscle while losing fat. The idea you need to eat every two hours is complete nonsense. Most people who do IF get the same amount of calories as people who don't fast, they just do it within a shorter time window.

Another thing that flies in the face of conventional wisdom is that a person needs to spend hours in the gym "training hard," which creates a large enough stress in the body to cause cortisol spikes which cause fat gain/retention and the breakdown of muscle. I know people who have seen twice the results in shorter time spending half the time in the gym as some other people.

There is a lot of broscience out there which is not only outdated, but simply wrong.

 

I don't think you need to eat every two hours. I do eat to keep my metabolism up but I know a guy who I think is on a 4500 calorie/day diet and 400g of protein. That's pretty over the top IMO. He's got about 25-30 lbs on me but I don't want to be as big as he is.

 

I do a decent bit of cardio, walking down and then back up 5 floors of stairs plus all the rest of the walking I do. I need to start working out harder so I won't be as skinny.

 

This guy is a bit of a douche bag, but this is a good video on the effects of intermittent fasting on HGH levels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUjXA1YRxgg"]Intermittent Fasting = 1300% to 2000% Boost in HGH (More Muscle & Less Fat in Less Time!) - YouTube

 

Low Carb Cory in the video looks like he stunted his growth hormone. It's like Tiny, the 500 lb circus lady, coaching people on how to be slim. Might as well use a midget for the growth hormone video.

 

Armchair contrarian diet fadders abound.


Low-Carb Cory and Fasting Freddy

Hormone Harry and Grass-Fed Gary

Organic Terry and All-Beef Barry

No-Grain Mary and Lean-Gain Larry

Coffee Cary and Paleo Perry

Supplement Sherry and Pro-Dairy Jerry


All have been on the Dr. Oz show pushing their products.

 

Oh damn. How many years did he run marathons for? I would imagine it would take years of marathon training and running to screw up your knees so badly. Does he regret it at all?

I try not to go above 13-16 miles. I could never do 26 (marathon), that is for sure. 18 max. I would probably cut back on miles soon and do more "soft surface" running too. Did he run on the pavement and concrete a lot? What kind of body frame does he have? I would imagine a smaller frame would be more suitable to long distance (not that the Ethopian marathon runners is realistic or desirable frame but I imagine they have less joint pain). I have kind of a smaller frame for a 6"1 tall person.

Part of it is gentics I would think. A lot of the time, for me, I feel fine within 48 hours of a 13+ mile run. Sometimes I am able to do some running the next day after such a run. But, I do need to be more careful in the future, just the same! I just like running because it really clears my mind and allows me to think for a good stretch of time with no interuption. All that distanc just means I have tons to think about on that given day..