You have the power to sculpt your frame to look and feel however you want. Like any work of art, the end result depends on the tools and techniques you use. If you want to lose weight, which can come in the form of fat, water or muscle, cardio is your exercise of choice. If you want to target fat loss and gain muscle, your approach will require more specialized tools.
Short Cardio
The human body gets about 2 percent of its energy from protein during exercise sessions that last for less than one hour. Because muscle tissue is made of protein, shorter cardio is ideal to build it. Tabata-style running is one good option. Published in a 1996 issue of "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise," the core of Tabata is eight intervals of 20-second sprints followed by 10 seconds rest for a total of four minutes. With a five-minute warmup and cooldown, the entire workout lasts 14 minutes.
Long Cardio
When an exercise session extends beyond one hour, the body begins to rely more heavily on protein for energy. This increase to 5 to 15 percent can promote muscle loss if done repeatedly. While an occasional cardio session that involves running, biking or swimming for more than an hour will not hurt muscle gain, repeatedly pressing the body in this mode can work against muscle building progress.
Controlled Strength Training
Strength training that promotes proper use of muscle will help you gain better control over your body. This mode allows you to push harder, burn more calories and build muscle faster. The National Academy of Sports Medicine describes this phase of exercise as stabilization. In this first step of their training module, the NASM recommends performing three sets of each exercise for 15 to 25 repetitions at a slow pace. They describe slow as a one-second push followed by a four-second controlled lowering of the weight. A sample workout may include sets of bench presses, shoulder presses, crunches, back extensions, rows and squats performed three days a week. One month will help you gain muscle quickly and avoid injury during explosive strength training.
Explosive Strength Training
Forcing large groups of muscles to perform as much work as they can in the shortest amount of time will promote the highest calorie burn both during and after the session, according to the Tabata study. This style of training promotes muscle gain and rapid fat loss with workouts that last about 30 minutes, five days a week. Olympic lifts are the primary focus of explosive training and use almost every muscle in the body. An example of an explosive training session would include 21 repetitions of power cleans, 21 chinups, 21 situps and 21 clapping pushups. Each rep would be done as quickly as possible for five or six sets.
Nutrition
Nutrition is key to muscle building and fat loss. The body can't build muscle if it doesn't have enough protein, and too many empty calories from things like bread, corn and alcohol can cause you to gain fat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has chosen to switch its portion control methods to the MyPlate method, which displays a plate with controlled portions of vegetables, fruit, protein and grain. Dairy can also be included in small doses. Simple tips include balancing your calories and making half your plate fruits and vegetables and half your grains whole wheat. Also recommended: switching to skim milk, keeping sodium down and drinking water instead of sugary drinks.
References
- ExRx.net: Substrate Utilization
- "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise"; Effects of Moderate-Intensity Endurance and High-intensity Intermittent Training on Anaerobic Capacity and Vo2max; I. Tabata, et al.; October 1996
- National Academy of Sports Medicine: Program Design Concepts
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: MyPlate
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