Sprinting = better than LD for cutting?

[Griffith]

I'm trying to find a good way to lose body fat without losing too much muscle mass at the same time -- i've been doing 100m wind sprints instead of long distance running, what do you guys think?

Cheers,
Griff

 

[coolguy676767]

Do what works for you, people swear by both methods, I am a fan of the Long distance, but then again by long distance I mean by like 1-3 miles, I am not in great shape so I can only jog for like 1.5 miles, if you get past 3 miles I would say switch to higher intensity.

 

[[S]alvatore]

People either:

-Do cardio in the morning first thing with a protein only meal (whey protein shake) approx 75% max heart rate ie. powerwalking for around 40-50 minutes.

-Do HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). It is done in 20 minute sessions where you are spinting, then walking, spinting, walking etc. Although some people lack fitness levels to do it.

 

[mrRuckus]

Originally posted by coolguy676767
Do what works for you, people swear by both methods, I am a fan of the Long distance, but then again by long distance I mean by like 1-3 miles, I am not in great shape so I can only jog for like 1.5 miles, if you get past 3 miles I would say switch to higher intensity.

If you're doing sprints wouldn't you end up going a mile or two anyway?

 

[Egoist]

there were a couple of studies that demonstrated importance of intensity in your cardio.

regular cardio is nothing more than calorie burning, but HIIT/sprints do much more than that.

sorry i cant come up with specifics, but the gist of evey study on this i've seen was that HIIT beats regular cardio every time when it comes to proper weight loss.

 

[ethnomethodologist]

You want to keep muscle mass... for what reason? For strength, or for power?

Power wise, go for sprints... they'll activate your muscles more deeply, burn is faster, and stronger, but your endurance will begin to fade. Take it in the same stride as lifting weights 800 times at 1.5% of max power, compared to lifting a weight 8 times at 90% of max power. A sprint will hit you faster, since your nuscles are being activated so quickly, be wary of pushiong yourself too hard, your mind drifts during sprints, so you can't focus directly on your breathing, or the burn... You may get injured, so short sprints is key for a beginner.

For strength, go for jogs... they'll activate slow twitchers... Go for them, stretch and compress, your muscles won't tear inside of you, they'll just get more pumped. So you won't get the RIPPED look as fast, but you will get the BUILT look.

You will almost always attain the LEAN look, when you focus only on running... as it is a practice in muscle dynamics, or aerobics, whichever is your style, increased VO2 max, all that jazz.

So what is your GOAL when you do this, we're aiming at different goals...

I aim for an undemeaning look, wirey I'd say, moderate weight, no blging muscles.. Bruce Lee... Not chuck Norris. So I used to do a lot of cardio, and I was brought down to 4%BW at 154lbs, that was just nasty on me, I enjoy being able to check my friends in a good game of hockey and not have people tell me I'm bony. So, I got into lifting, and eating AMAP, and I ballooned to 225, got the chubb going on, but I could bench more than 320 but I had horrible endurance, couldn't last more than 30 minutes in the gym without having to go for a nap.

After those days I broke down, my mind, my soul, and my body... been searching for a good answer... I'm even at 190, have been 190 everyday on non-sick days for at least 3 years now... pot belly, flabby muscles and arms, twitchy muscles, stiff back and neck, spasms every day... I can't sit still for 30 minutes in a theater without popping a few big muscles... So I'm looking for determination...

What is it you look for in a workout? Big beach muscles? Or lean look, and being able to carry yourself, and handle yourself when the time comes?

Exercise safety, instead of intimidation...

 

[silverfox]

I would go with the sprints. Compare the physiques of a long distance runner and a sprinter and draw your own conclusions.

I usually run a leisurely mile or two after an intense workout but my reall cardio training is done with interval sprints.

This link contains an article from Muscle Media.

http://www.cs.unm.edu/~wneumann/files/guerilla_cardio.pdf

Google tabata protocols too.

 

[Griffith]

Silver: thanks for that link.