Question about Cardio

[teresand77]

i have a quick question...i plan on competing may 17th in a figure competition. from reading all of your posts i'm thinking that i'm doing WAY too much cardio in general. i still do have a lot of fat to lose though for sure and i'm wondering what i should be doing. if i reduce cardio now will it be harder to lose fat since my body is sort of accustomed to it? right now i lift legs on mondays, chest and triceps on wednesdays, and back and biceps on fridays. i do cardio every day at least once and sometimes twice a day. and usually if i do it twice one session is intervals and one is more of a moderate, constant pace. thanks for any help!

teresa

 

[MsBeverlyHills]

hey Teresa-- Im in the same boat

I cut cardio back to 3/wk-- 40 minutes max (intervals 2days/ distance 1 day)... & changed up my diet (lower carbs)... also thermos work real good to take off the extra weight about 3wks out from your contest.

good luck to you!!

 

[teresand77]

thanks...i think diet is where i really need to make my changes but i just feel lazy if i don't do cardio every day! i'm going to try to change that though because i can tell i'm going to be in danger of overtraining soon if i don't. thanks again.

 

[JJFigure]

What's your diet like?

 

[Daisy_Girl]

thanks...i think diet is where i really need to make my changes but i just feel lazy if i don't do cardio every day! i'm going to try to change that though because i can tell i'm going to be in danger of overtraining soon if i don't. thanks again.

I would cut back the cardio but increase the intensity. Like BrickGirl has said - if you are doing this much cardio now, what are you going to do 2-4 weeks out when you need to lose the last little bit? Do cardio 3 hours a day? I think not. You body also needs rest. You don't want to over train yourself and 2 weeks before the contest you fall apart.

Check that diet!

 

[teresand77]

well, i think my diet is okay during the week but i could be wrong. just this past week i started using spatts' cutting diet for the most part. i try to get to the gym by 6 am.

get up at 3:30 and eat 1/2 c. oatmeal and 1 scoop protein (by the way, i have no problem falling back asleep...i have more of a problem staying awake long enough to eat it!! )

lift from 6:00-around 7:30 three days a week. if i am doing only cardio in the morning i don't eat at 3:30.

8 AM 3 egg whites, 1 egg, 1 red potato
11 AM chicken breast (about 4 oz) and 1/2 c. whole wheat couscous with 1 T. salsa
1:30 PM chicken breast, 1/2 c. broccoli
4 PM 2 scoops protein with 2 t. glutamine
4:30 to 5:30 PM cardio
6:30 PM 4 oz of orange roughy, 1 c. broccoli
9 PM 1 scoop protein with 1 t. glutamine

i also take hydroxycut (new, ephedra free version) three times a day at 5:30 AM, 11 AM, and 4 PM but i just started that. i also take a multivitamin once a day but usually forget!

but the problem is the weekends! i can't keep that diet on the weekends and i don't know why. it's a problem with habit. i always think of saturdays as a cheat day and sometimes it extends all the way through sunday. this is probably what's killing me, right?

thanks for any help.
teresa

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Watch those cheat days/weekends. It IS so easy to start cheating Saturday and continue through until Monday morning. You just gotta buckle down and NOT cheat Saturday.

Maybe Satuday eat good all day, but go out to dinner Saturday night. Then, Sunday you can have a "cheat breakfast" and healthy (good for you, but maybe not totally clean) lunch, and then a clean dinner?

Also, make sure you are still getting in all your protein on your cheat day. I know that helps me not overdo it on cheat day. If you are filling in the gaps with a proteion shake, you will be less likely to munch on "bad foods".

 

[teresand77]

thank you, daisy girl! that's a good idea to not cheat until sunday because then it will be easier to get back on track on monday morning. i'm going to try that this weekend. thanks.

teresa

 

[rez]

just do a ckd - really makes a difference.
i do cardio most days...but no more than 45mins and low intensity...you will see changes after 2 months, probably sooner if you have more bf% to lose.