Getting back to the best shape of my life

cjoz98

Hey everyone,

A little advice/insight would be much appreciated. I was in the best shape of my life pre-holidays 2012 -- had done P90X, was doing martial arts and kickboxing, etc.

And the hammer dropped. A new job, school, laziness, and bad eating habits ballooned me up from 147 to about 170 (I'm about 5'9" and 30 years-old) in about a four-month period. It was so embarrassing not to be able to button my pants (my suit pants even split up the *kitten* crack once when I bent over at work once, no BS). So I ordered Insanity. I followed it exactly in preparation for one of those fun mud races, and it got me ready, but not back to where I was less than a year ago. So I decided that my daily workouts would consist of nothing but month two Insanity workouts. My pants started to fit again and I noticed some definite improvement, but for some reason, the my belly wouldn't disappear completely. I even refused to weigh myself the whole time I was doing Insanity but, when I broke down and did just a week ago, I had only lost about three pounds (seriously, my diet was strictly grilled chicken, fresh veggies, brown rice, and fruit for the past four months, so diet wasn't the problem).

If you stuck with that long lead-in, here is my question. I have read on a lot of reputable websites that looking to ab/core muscle workouts without strictly cardio workouts to burn fat won't do you much good -- at best you'll barely lose any inches/pounds, at worst you'll stay the same (which is where I am -- I seriously look in a mirror and see a toned upper body until I hit the belly button to waist area). So I decided the problem is that I am not doing enough pure cardio (i.e., running). Insanity has great cardio, but it always mixes in ab/core work. So, being the (non)expert that I am, I figure alternating days running and doing Insanity will actually get me the best results -- the running will burn the fat, while the Insanity will help me keep up with the strength training. Thoughts? Does this sound like a plausible solution to the toned upper body/beer gut/toned lower body conundrum? Or do people see this as a non-expert just grasping for straws?

Thank you for any help/advice.

arl1286

If you want to build muscle/"tone", you need to be lifting heavy weights. Cardio will help you burn fat but it won't do much in terms of muscle growth.