darrenham Member

No individual exercise will "tone" your legs any more than any other. Remove sub-cutaneous fat via weight loss is the only way to improve muscle definition. By all means keep up the lifting though, more muscle = more calories burnt just by being alive. Plus bigger muscles = more area for the fat to be spread over, thus a…

Double post, sorry.

Not sure I like the reasons behind the hate of the puffed grains. The reason I'd advise against them is because they're full of air. As soon as you chew them, you realise how little you're eating, and it doesn't fill you up. Per weight they're actually pretty high calorie foods. Calories ARE calories too, no-one will lose…

Tone will only come with weight loss I'm afraid. That doesn't mean don't lift, but lift for calorie burns, muscle growth (it won't turn you into a female body builder overnight either) and improved fitness. Also, don't listen to whoever said to stretch before and after. Stretching has NOT proven to decrease injury…

I'd stick with the electrolyte drinks available at the station. You shouldn't need more fuel for a half, the main issue is maintaining your body's hydration status and electrolyte balance, which the powerade/gatorade type drinks they offer will do fine (bear in mind these will contain some sugar anyway - providing a small…

The only way to lose fat is to be in calorie deficit. No specific exercise will target weight loss from a specific part of the body. Anyone telling you otherwise is misinformed and merely perpetuating one of the worst and most frequently given pieces of advice in the fitness world. If you're currently losing weight then…

Muscle definition comes with a) losing the fat layer between the muscle and skin, and b) increasing the size of your muscles. No exercise will burn that layer of fat away, so don't listen to ANYONE who refers to an exercise as a toning exercise.

Keep losing weight. If anyone in here comes in with an exercise, they're wrong. You cannot spot-train for fat loss.

Quite the contrary, it's not rocket science. The science behind it can be complex, but it always comes back to simple principles. To lose weight, eat less than you burn. To gain muscle, don't lose weight, and lift big weights, few times. etc,

When you want to lose fat and gain muscle, you have a bit of a compromise to make. In order to get the best out of a weight gain programme, you need to be in a positive energy balance. Which is obviously counter-intuitive to fat loss. So what I'd advise is to try to maintain energy balance. But to add a proper lifting…

Personally, I wouldn't bother. Do what you're doing and eat what you're eating. Weigh yourself at weekly intervals at exactly the same time of day (mine is before breakfast on a Tuesday). If you're putting on weight, the exercise you're doing is burning less calories than you think, and vice versa. Then it's up to you…

To lose fat and gain lean muscle you need to do the following. - Stay on calorie balance. Eat the same calories you're burning, or you'll limit your muscle building potential. - Eat a varied balanced diet. If you're doing that and the above, you'll be getting enough protein for your protein intake not to limit your muscle…

Boss isn't a misnomer. He's done what I couldn't be bothered to do, good job sir.

It entirely depends on your personal limitations. If in doubt, speak to your doctor or another medical professional who knows your case.

I disagree with "the most important part". As a simple X = Y - Z equation, Y (calories burned) and X (calories eaten) are equally important when it comes to defining X (weight loss).

Because as I said, it doesn't matter what substrate your body is metabolising at the time of exercise, it's the net calorie deficit which sees you lose weight. And even if it did, the body will always prefer to metabolise carbohydrate, because it's a faster fuel. Heart rate does not equal calories burned either, you can…

You cannot spot-train for fat loss. Keep up losing weight, the skin may bounce back after a certain amount of time, but the extent is hard to say. I'd say it's better to be in shape but with loose skin on your arms than to be overweight and unhealthy. No idea if that's of any consolation :D

Rest it a few days. If it still hurts after that, go and see a doctor and ask to be referred to a physiotherapist.

I've just read the second paragraph, and no, the science does not make sense. Losing weight happens when calories burned is greater than calories eaten. It doesn't matter what metabolic substrate the body is using when you're actually doing the exercise, because as long as it's not replaced, the body will have to dip into…

Do whatever you want. Go for a walk, go for a run, cycle, swim, jog, skip, hop. Play football, basketball, gridiron, hockey, ice hockey, tennis, squash, racquetball, badminton, cricket, baseball... etc.

Who the hell gets their sports science from Yahoo? Doing exercise burns calories. As far as is important it doesn't matter what order you do it in. A real training programme probably wouldn't put cardio and resistance training in the same session anyway. Heart Rate != Calories burned, and I have no idea why so many people…

Neither HRM nor treadmill counters are accurate measures of calories burned. A HRM is just that, a Heart Rate Monitor. This has nothing to do with how many calories you're burning. A HRM may provide a calorie function, but this is a poor estimate relying on tons of assumptions. The estimates on here are likely to be more…

Erm... it's still cardio. I'd be wary of running every day, make sure you listen to your body. If your joints, bones or muscles get tender, rest. I'm not exactly sure what this insantiy thing is, but there's no problem with working out every day if it doesn't involve high impact forces on your joints and bones. As I said…

I agree and disagree with your post in pretty much equal measure. You're right that the body can't deal with excess protein, but rather than magically turning protein to fat, it excretes the excess. Literally flushing your money down the toilet. When you take your protein doesn't matter too much either. Hence why an excess…

HIIT is fantastic for fitness, calorie burning, body-shaping... pretty much everything. You can alter it however you want, if you're unfit, or want to really hammer the sprints, you can extend the rest period until you're completely recovered. If you're a sicko who enjoys the lactic burn, you can go 1:1. If you just want…

Yep, they're all estimates, even a HRM will give you an estimate (they're not even designed as calorie counters), and it's impossible to say which is most accurate for you. Stick with one source though and if you don't lose weight despite sitting in calorie deficit as far as MFP is concerned, then either it's reading high…

So do I. Lactic Acid build-up causes NO negative effects in Lactose Intolerant individuals. If your muscles are burning during ex. that's lactate, if they're hurting days after, that's DOMS. If you're drinking milk, that's lactose.

What's your actual question?

This is wrong. You don't have to be burning fat at the time of exercise. As long as you're eating less calories than you're burning over the course of a week, a month, or more, you'll lose fat. It's that simple, and I wish people who think they know better (purely because they've mis-read some research) would stop trying…

A HRM is not a calorie counter, it's unlikely to be any more accurate than MFP's figures. There's really no need to buy a HRM unless you're either medically advised to, or a serious athlete.