Fat Burning, Weight Loss, Diet and Fitness Question of the Week
Every week I answer a question or questions that are sent in to me regarding fat burning, weight loss, diet, fitness and or the Fat X program. Today's question was e-mailed in and was in regards to losing belly flab by doing extra cardio along with the Fat X fat burning workouts.
Hi Coach,
First I just wanted to say I've enjoyed your workout videos thus far. I'm on day 8 and doing great.
But I have a question about incorporating cardio into these workouts. Basically, my goal at the moment is to lose the belly flab that I've gotten due to my first two years at college (I'm 20 years old). Toning my muscles is important to me too (like I do want big arms and abs) but I want to lose the belly flab most importantly. I was wondering if in addition to your workouts, would it be ok to run like 25 minutes beforehand (a little more than 3 miles)? I used to be a runner in high school, and I'm not completely out of shape now (even tho I don't look it exactly). The fact of the matter is that I can do the run and then your workouts no problem. Is this ok? I saw that cardio could hurt my losing goals on your website so I was wondering if I should stop running so much. Keeping up with the diet is kind of difficult; I can't seem to get that many veggies in, but all i eat are turkey wraps with one slice of cheese and protein shakes.
Thanks ahead of time and I appreciate your help,
Anthony
Did you read both parts of "Cardio Can Hurt Fat Burning Goals"? If not, read up on that article. The gist of it is that cardio is actually any activity that elevates your heart rate into a certain range for a prolonged period of time. The Fat X fat burning workouts, done properly, not only serve as strength training, but also as cardio.
My suggestions is to save your energy so that you can give the Fat X (FX) fat burning workouts 100%. If you exhaust yourself with 25 minutes of running, which doesn't stimulate you metabolism the way strength training does, you will not get the most out of the Fat X fat burning workouts and workout routine.
If you feel the workouts are too easy, use heavier weights, do more circuits within the prescribed time, or finish faster as some of the workouts are based on total time required to finish. Basically, follow the power formula: Power= Work/Time
High power engines burn more fuel ; )
As far as diet is concerned, it seems you're on the right track, but getting in more nutrition via vegetables, berries and fruit would be a good idea.