what's your thoughts on increasing cardio instead of dropping cals?
My problem with increasing cardio and not dropping calories is injuries, over reaching too quickly and looking like ****.
I know a ton of people who go to maintain and increase cardio to lose weight. That approach is closer to a week end gym goer than someone serious about this ****.
The way I do it is...go to maintenance or at least to the point where I'm stalling out on the scale for 2 to 3 weeks. Before I even started this diet ...it took 2 weeks for my weight to change. This is my starting point and that was around 3500 calories. I dropped once to 3200. 3 weeks later is my sticking point. This next drop will shed maybe 2 to 3 more pounds off of me before I stick again. Then I'll drop to 2800, then 2600, then 2500 but THAT IS THE MINIMUM!
After that I will use my secret weapon. Increasing my energy expenditure. From my gym is about 1 to 1 and 1/2 miles. I will start walking home once a week. After that stalling point it will become twice a week and so on until 4 days a week. If I am not lean enough at that point...I should just stop lifting.
I find that adding extra cardio when the diet starts is like blowing my load before my wife is fully undressed. I'm spent, shes not happy and there's a big mess that I end up having to clean up out of shame.
Maybe that analogy got derailed a bit but..... I feel it would hold me back in other words. I will only increase cardio when needed because I'm doing daily cardio anyway. All that extra activity could lead me to injure myself easier in training and "peak" sooner than I want to.
in other words,... I'll be able to hold on to more strength, recover faster ,and probably get leaner while retaining more muscle. Although a little bit slower. Oh, and I'll be able to reverse diet and gauge progress easier if I add less cardio.
I think my 10 minute cycling, high volume days, and extra cardio on my low volume days will do the job just fine.
I know that was a long answer but hopefully that clarified things a bit. This will kinda be how someone would handle contest prep.GW helps with fatty acid oxidation(fat loss) anyway which is my goal. The endurance will come in my workouts anyway.