Summer Routine - 3.5 Months

ironman

ironman

ironman

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Made a similar thread last year and wanted to lose fat but not muscle, worked quite well, lost a noticeable amount of fat but this time I am starting a lot earlier so have 3 and a half months to really get rid of my belly.

My weight at the moment is 92kg and bodyfat is around 18%, I can train everyday and have access to a gym so I would like to get another routine going but this time I am including long distance running training towards the half marathon I am running on 30th September. I think this will be a great way of getting some good cardio into the routine as I am hoping to run a good few miles (outdoors) every other day and in between them, weights sessions.

I know there are plenty of training boffs here so I ask for some guidance for a 7 day training plan.

Aims are to:
Lose the belly
Be fit enough to run 13 miles
Not lose muscle mass
 
good luck :D

first question has to be abotu the 13 mile run. how far and in what time can you do now? if you are nowhere near then this target and not losing muscle will be quite hard. if you are quite close then both targets can be met :D

having said that, i am told by others (as im no good with long distance training or anything like that) that you need to have your body in a state where it is using oxygen as the main fuel for the running rather than any muscle or fat or carbs that are currently stored in the body. no idea how true this is though, i know there are a few runners on here who will be able to guide you on this.

i am thinking that you could continue to keep your lean mass by a good weights routine (i am thinking HST for this), however, the diet and the want to run a half marathon may not be too beneficial to keeping the mass, shouldnt lose much if done right though!

biggest thing for you will be your diet, of which i will leave someone else to advise on, you have quite a specialist requirement :]
 
Morba said:
good luck :D

first question has to be abotu the 13 mile run. how far and in what time can you do now? if you are nowhere near then this target and not losing muscle will be quite hard. if you are quite close then both targets can be met :D

having said that, i am told by others (as im no good with long distance training or anything like that) that you need to have your body in a state where it is using oxygen as the main fuel for the running rather than any muscle or fat or carbs that are currently stored in the body. no idea how true this is though, i know there are a few runners on here who will be able to guide you on this.

i am thinking that you could continue to keep your lean mass by a good weights routine (i am thinking HST for this), however, the diet and the want to run a half marathon may not be too beneficial to keeping the mass, shouldnt lose much if done right though!

biggest thing for you will be your diet, of which i will leave someone else to advise on, you have quite a specialist requirement :]
Click to expand...

Interesting, I haven't done such a distance before so its going to be a big challenge. Could I get down to 10% bodyfat in 3 months, providing I eat properly too? As for as what energy i'll be using whilst running, it entirely depends on my heart rate I think.

cleanbluesky said:
If you are training to do the GNR rather than get a particular time then I'd suggest running every other day and adding 10% to your running distance after every 2 runs
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Thanks, my aim is just to complete it, not after a particular time as I haven't done it before, although i'd like to stick to an average 10 minute mile. I'll be going jogging with my dad who is quite a keen jogger and has done 4 miles in 20 minutes at his best:eek: so i'll have someone to keep me motivated.
 
Morba said:
i am thinking that you could continue to keep your lean mass by a good weights routine (i am thinking HST for this), however, the diet and the want to run a half marathon may not be too beneficial to keeping the mass, shouldnt lose much if done right though!

biggest thing for you will be your diet, of which i will leave someone else to advise on, you have quite a specialist requirement :]
Click to expand...

I'd agree with that - although not having done any weights routines for nearly 10 years I'm no authority. I will say though that I've noticed no significant reduction in my muscle mass (I'm fairly top heavy from past years of rugby and associated training), but I'm quiet careful with my diet. I do realise though that a weights routine may actually aid my performance, but I have no desire to spend time indoors when I could be outdoors!
 
firstborn said:
I'd agree with that - although not having done any weights routines for nearly 10 years I'm no authority. I will say though that I've noticed no significant reduction in my muscle mass (I'm fairly top heavy from past years of rugby and associated training), but I'm quiet careful with my diet. I do realise though that a weights routine may actually aid my performance, but I have no desire to spend time indoors when I could be outdoors!
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Did you find training for long distance running you lost a lot of fat? Well assuming you had some to start off with?
 
gurdas said:
Did you find training for long distance running you lost a lot of fat? Well assuming you had some to start off with?
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I did when training for the sahara jaunt. But my mileage/week was pretty high and carrying weight. Was carrying 13% bf going out (after stuffing myself silly), same coming back from the event though.
 
gurdas said:
Made a similar thread last year and wanted to lose fat but not muscle, worked quite well, lost a noticeable amount of fat but this time I am starting a lot earlier so have 3 and a half months to really get rid of my belly.

My weight at the moment is 92kg and bodyfat is around 18%, I can train everyday and have access to a gym so I would like to get another routine going but this time I am including long distance running training towards the half marathon I am running on 30th September. I think this will be a great way of getting some good cardio into the routine as I am hoping to run a good few miles (outdoors) every other day and in between them, weights sessions.

I know there are plenty of training boffs here so I ask for some guidance for a 7 day training plan.

Aims are to:
Lose the belly
Be fit enough to run 13 miles
Not lose muscle mass
Click to expand...

I've only read this post and none of the replies, but I feel sure that some of the guys will have pointed this out.

Running and retaining muscle mass are mutually exclusive unless you get your diet and training protocols nailed.

I am now going to demonstrate that even a weight training n00b can know his stuff if he takes the time to do his research ;)

Running, by it's very nature, is catabolic, meaning that the activity puts the body in a state where it can lose muscle. The longer the distance, the greater this effect becomes.

There is however a way to negate this to some degree and that is by getting your diet and pre and post training protocols spot on.

In order to keep your body in a positive anabolic state, meaning a state where your body is in a positive nitrogen balance and can therefore retain (in your case) muscle whilst running, I suggest that you buy some decent whey protein and use it thus:

1. Mix around 50G in 500ml full fat milk and drink around 10 minutes before you start running. This will slowly release the protein during the duration of the run.

2. If it's a long run during training, or the actual half-marathon itself, I suggest you visit H&B and buy a couple of protein bars. Perhaps every 5 - 6 miles stop, eat one and have a drink. Another approach would be to stop more frequently and have a quick bite and carry on, so as not to disturb your stomach too much.

3. At the end, drink a bottle of something like Lucozade Sport to replenish the glycogen in your muscles (glycogen is just a fancy word for energy basically). Then within the next 20 minutes have a 50G serving of whey protein, but this time mixed with water so it gets straight to your muscles. About an hour later have something fairly high in protein, with moderate carbs. I suggest scrambled eggs on toast (5 eggs, one whole and 4 whites, 2 slices wholemeal toast).

You need to follow this every day you train. Obviously is you're doing short duration, high intensity work then you can forget about the protein bars during the run, but do not do so on longer training runs and the event itself.

Good luck and I hope this helps.
 
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Thanks a lot, this is exactly the reason why I posted this because I knew retaining muscle mass would be an issue. I do already have a good whey protein from when I was just building so thats not a problem, thanks for the tips though as I just needed some guidance so I don't come out at the end of the summer looking like a kenyan long distance runner!
 
gurdas said:
Thanks a lot, this is exactly the reason why I posted this because I knew retaining muscle mass would be an issue. I do already have a good whey protein from when I was just building so thats not a problem, thanks for the tips though as I just needed some guidance so I don't come out at the end of the summer looking like a kenyan long distance runner!
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You're welcome. Good luck! ;)
 
bleeeehhhhh eating while running. that is a recipe for disaster and vomit

i would suggest you try and source a copy of "Heart Monitor Training for the Compleat Idiot". (yes, i did spell it correctly) by John L. Parker Jnr.

Its is a basic hard day/easy day plan. However, it really forces you to go easy on the easy days and very hard on the hard days.

easy= long

hard=short.

the easy days ramp up your fat burning ability in your leg muscles by encouraging capillary growth (more oxygen to muscles means more aerobic stress rather than anaerobic). This easy pace for me is just above walking. These days also allow glycogen reserves to recover.

the hard days are seriosuly tough, but very short (2 mile sprints, or 800m intervals)

Ive been using this plan to recover from an injury which knocked me out for 4 months and I have been very impressed. It is a very solid and sustainable training base which has prevented over-training (which is very easy with load bearing exercises like running) and helped me start to recover some form.
 
High fat, high protien before a run is somthing I'd avoid to be honest. Where are the carbs?

Do you seriously think just 3.5 months of placing emphasis on cardio is going to reduce you to skin and bone?
 
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