Little Pig, Little Pig - Time To Cut Back!!

I really wanted to start this blog post off with a dictionary definition of the word “Piglet”. I wanted it to say something cute about being partial to having a solid heaping of food – but it only said pretty nasty things and used words like ‘glutton’ and ‘greedy’. These are way too harsh for what I want to outline today. I also noted that “Piglet” is a slang and derogatory word for a Police Officer and I've weathered more than my fair share of them! So I won’t go there with “Piglet”. Instead I’ll use something else. Can't find anything else that fits other than piglet, glutton or greedy pants. Ah stuff it – Piglet it is!!

So let’s get down to the Topic Of The Day. How original – it centres around food – again! But this time it’s not all about me. It’s about Him. He who can consume mammoth amounts with little change to his shadow dimensions. He who can splurge regularly on sweet, savoury or cheesy goods and have no bum dimples as a result. The Chocolate Monster who can magically make a whole bar disappear in an ad break. Otherwise known as Rob. My own not-so-little piglet.

So here’s the scenario; We are on two weeks holiday and we have no plans other than a few jobs around home and a fair whack of rest. We start off our first Monday morning with a trip to the gym, a yummy coffee at a café and home for scrambled eggs covered in mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and cheese. Rob wraps his 5-yolker in four tortillas and devours them with the heady smell of yeast wafting over in the air. For me, I am somewhat content with my 2 yolks, 4 whites, mushrooms, tomatoes & onions and a decent 30g of tasty cheese all heaped onto a huge bed of wilted spinach. It’s a pretty good looking feast and the only way to make it better was the sprinkling of salt & pepper and a drizzle of flaxseed oil for good measure. How is it that I feel just the slightest little feeling of resentment that I’m not tucking into tortillas too? The eensiest feeling of being a little f***d off at the lack of anything yeast based on my own plate.

“Go ahead and eat them too!! What’s your problem with carbs??!!” I hear you scream at the computer screen! “No problem with carbs at all” I reply. I just chose on that day to pile them up later in the day because I wanted oats and rice in big quantities with my lunch, dinner and afternoon tea! These days I have no rules on what I allow myself to eat - it's just that I'm also a piglet and prefer quantities to be large. This means I carefully choose what I eat and make sure there is plenty of it!

Anyhow, this isn’t about me this time. It’s about him! So he devours his tortillas and massive plate of cheesy eggs and a short time later I hear something like this, “Honey – do you reckon I need to lose a little bit of this?” “this” is the playful little roll of soft stuff that has formed nicely in a perimeter near his belly button. I’m unsure what to say. We have been on a mission to put weight on him for such a long time now and, all of a sudden this mission has become an overwhelming success. It is so successful that it’s time to sabotage it a bit! Yes, the soft beginnings of the spare tyre could do with deflating just a tad. Can I be a bit honest and agree with him? Bloody oath I can!!

So I gently agree that it might just be time to formulate a Maintenance Plan. And I sell myself as The One to write this new plan. Is that because I’m excellent at writing plans? Is it because I care so much that I only trust myself with this delicate operation? Is it because I have a vested interest in seeing the tyre deflate? None of the above. It’s because I’m going to get a real kick out of seeing him cut back on the piles of food he is eating!!! Bahahahahaa!!!!!!

So the first job to do is blatantly obvious. In fact, anyone starting on a plan to achieve just about anything in life must first take stock of what they currently have/do/eat because how the hell can you change something if you don’t know what to change? I digress but it frustrates the hell out of me when people start on a health and fitness campaign and, instead of taking stock of their current regime and writing out what they do and what they eat – they just launch into a meal & exercise plan that someone else has written. Urghhhh – kills me!! Why? Because only a bloody noddy would change absolutely everything in a person’s life in one big hit! Only a complete gumby changes an overweight, emotional eating woman onto a sudden life-plan of chicken salads and cardio!! Mental! And they actually make money out of this crap!!

Back on track. Rob’s first task is to list for me exactly what he ate yesterday. Why not today’s food? Because I know exactly what happens when you ask the average person to track their food “Starting from today” – you bet your bottom dollar they immediately manipulate their food just to look that eensy bit better!! Trick for young players!! I’m not easily fooled so I delve into Yesterday! And it looks a little like this;

Breakfast

-          5 eggs – scrambled

-          1 cup cooked mushroom and onion

-          Splattering of spinach leaves

-          4 x tortillas

-          1tsp flaxseed oil

 

Lunch

-          100g dry weight of oats

-          200g low-fat greek yoghurt

-          1 large scoop of True Mass protein blend

Afternoon Tea

-          200g cooked weight of white rice

-          1 large scoop of True Mass protein blend

Dinner

-          Nice large piece of bbq’d rump steak

-          Decent sized green salad

-          Large serving of steamed vegies

-          3 x tortillas

-          Drizzle of flaxseed oil

-          Basil pesto

Before Bed

-          1 large scoop of True Mass protein blend

-          300ml of low fat milk

Snacks

-          2 x Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

-          3-5 coffees with low-fat milk

-          1 x can of coconut water

I plug this list into My Fitness Pal and mainly use scanned barcodes so I know the figures are very accurate.

It gives me an overall calorie count.

4,668. Calories. In. One. Day.

Respect.

Seriously – there has got to be some merit in the fact that he can consume this amount of food and not be morbidly obese. And to clarify, Rob does as little cardio as he can get away with. The MAXIMUM I can persuade him into is 1 x 25minute HIIT session per week, and he often finds a way to weedle out of that!! But he does a solid and intense weights workout at least five days a week. Consistently.

So after the hugest laugh at just how many cals he is consuming, I take my knife to the menu and slash it mercilessly!! Haha!! Such great joy in bringing him down a carb or two!! I show no mercy and zero tolerance! A trait I learnt at work.

 

Actually, the reality is far less sensational. The only changes I make are as follows;

-          Take one egg out of the breakfast omelette and replace with egg whites.

-          Replace the large scoop of protein to a normal 30g size

-          Limit the tortillas at 4 per day – much to his disgust!! (yeah – my heart bleeds!)

-          Limit the sweet treats to only one in a day

Believe it or not, this took the overall count down by between 1,500-200cal per day. But the best part is this – as soon as I gave Rob the good news about the cuts, he started stressing about being hungry!! It was hilarious! Quite honestly I don’t think he would have noticed the changes had I phased them in without him knowing. Yet because he was aware of the sudden lack of food (chortle chortle), he had nightmares about waking up ravenous! At least 3 times a day he started making mention of how the decrease in food was starting to haunt his enjoyment of an impending meal. I couldn’t stop laughing!! I laughed right into my bowl of salad!! Bahahahaha!!!

 

Coupled with this, he has started to stand sideways in front of every available mirror and he tells me regularly that he swears he can feel himself fading away before his very eyes. He also starts mentioning that he can see the odd vein popping out and some striations appearing in the delt region. He is only joking and I can only half-heartedly laugh at the reaction of a Man on a Diet.

 

In my quiet times I have a little sob sob sob as I still can’t quite come to full acceptance at how I can’t just pig out all day everyday!! Sigh sigh sigh….

So we are 1.5 weeks down and he is down 2.9kg. True story.

 

So FREAKIN unfair.

 

 

 

Would I Want To Be A Sponsored Athlete?

Wait a minute - Am I actually an ‘Athlete’? – LOL (for my Mum who surely doesn’t know short text - that means Laugh Out Loud).

You see, in my mind I have always associated the term ‘Athlete’ for the likes of Usain Bolt or Cathy Freeman or that caliber of achievement. I have to say that I have never been able to really accept the ‘Athlete’ title for the first-time winner of a bodybuilding show. Geeps – I’m surely going to lose a few more social media friends here … not my intention by the way, but I’m sure it will happen.

And another one of those questions is this – who decides you are an ‘Athlete’? Does Facebook Management see the gazillion post-show photos showing a ripped happy winner, holding tight with an overhead biceps pose on one side and an uplifted trophy in the other, and make contact suggesting you rethink your name banner and add on the clearly appropriate title that you have now earned? I mean how does it happen? A few protein shakes with friends and suddenly you all hatch the idea to make yourself an Athlete? Do the fans suggest it should happen?

Can a bodybuilder be classed as an Athlete? Well I think they can. There are some out there that have years of solid work behind them and they present a physique of a world standard consistently and they clearly live the life of their chosen sport. So surely a random Fitness Division first-time winner who touts themselves suddenly as an 'Athlete' is a bit of a kick in teeth? Or maybe that's just my opinion and the everyone else feels different to me - won't be the first time that happens!

Does a world-class runner become an Athlete because they won a race? Or because they have been around for a certain amount of time, giving credibility to their status? Open for interpretation isn't it.

As for becoming a Pro - am I dreaming or is this becoming so much easier with each season? Not due to the diminishing physiques, but due to the serious increase in the number of pro cards being offered and the relative ease in which you can qualify. In saying that - I haven't earned one so it can't be that easy!! I guess I'm meaning in relative terms to what I hear it used to be like to earn that status.

Following on from this controversial theme – when do you cease to remain an Athlete? Do you get to keep the banner when your last show was some 3-4 years ago? Does one heady win mean the ‘Pro’ status stays as some sort of lifetime achievement award? Does it get awkward when the Athlete no longer looks like an athlete, doesn’t compete in shows and yet still maintains this page? Well I find it awkward!

Am I just jealous because Facebook haven’t contacted me and urged me to rethink my lowly status as simply Kirsten Engels? Haha – maybe I am! And they haven’t by the way.

Least this just sound like a meanie blog, I’ll move onto the second topic – being sponsored. Again, no one has beaten down my door and offered me the prestigious title of Sponsored Athlete/Person/Mum/Wife/Daggy Dresser – I’m not sponsored for anything and nor have I been. I suspect there are a few reasons for this – the main being that I haven’t really done anything profound enough to warrant sponsoring. That’s a bit of brutal honesty for the day.

Here are a couple more reasons; I’m a tad mouthy and won’t pretend to like something that I actually don’t like. I’m not really into looking fabulously chic and am much more at home with whatever’s comfy and cool (I mean cool in the tropical weather – not cool as in ‘dude’ cool – I just can’t seem to pull off that sort of cool no matter how hard I try!!). I don’t care whether the likes of Lorna features in my gym attire or whether a capital W is responsible, and I certainly have not, will not and never would contemplate a full face of make up for training. Nor do I care for the taking of constant selfies – though I understand that, due to this stance, I’m missing out on a million “You look great!!” and “Hot hot HOT!!!” comments from loved ones .. sigh.

Oh yeah, I also like to write this blog that stirs the hornets nest.

Being sponsored is like another job if it’s done right, and I probably don’t have time for that if I’m being honest.

Proviso: If there are any of my favourite protein makers out there that were just on the cusp of sponsoring me – please, please, please ignore this whole blog and make contact asap!! I’d sell my Grandma for a constant supply of my delicious chocolate powders!!

Ok – I’ll start being serious. As I said, being sponsored is a job. The items being offered are only being offered because you are expected to do something in return. If you’re not doing anything to promote your sponsor, your sponsor is a dick and clearly has more money than good sense. It’s a partnership and your shameless self-promotion should be used to sell or promote the article you are being supplied with.

That means you shouldn’t then support another item from a competitor. Sponsorship 101.

That means you can’t shit-can your sponsor or their product. Sponsorship 101.1.

That means you are now a walking advertisement for that product so swearing, badmouthing and showing yourself in a bad light to the general public is somewhat uncool. Sponsorship 101.2.

 

 

There are some sponsors out there that are not savvy enough to keep an eye on their ‘Athletes’ which is unfortunate for them because their behaviour on social media is atrocious. I shake my head and have a good old laugh some days. Other days I just shake my head. If I were a business advisor I would seriously suggest the money would go way better into standard advertising on some occasions!!

And let's keep it real - sponsorship for females in particular often means a beautiful girl is selling a product. There are some fabulous physiques out there that aren't sponsored and there is an aesthetic reason why sometimes - yes I know, not all times, but some times. Surely you agree.

So being an unknown has its benefits. Sure, you have to pay for everything you use, but you can remain unscrutinised other than by those you choose to have in your life. You can also stay true to your choices without any influence.

To illustrate freedom, I’ll leave you with this thought; there is a particular supplement manufacturer that produces a range of products and they also provide mega sponsorship (there are so many of these companies about the place that you’ll never work out which one it is so don’t even try). Their protein tastes like I imagine chemical warfare would taste like. On top of that, it is watery and bland. It is seriously the most horrible protein I have ever tasted. Watery chemicals. And yet, there are happy little campers all of the place posing with these products and singing its praises and I can only think one or more the following is applicable;

·         They have all lost their taste buds in a nasty accident with a hot beverage

·         They are on drugs

·         They like drinking watery chemicals

·         Or they are excellent fakers

The thought of being sponsored by this company and actually having to drink that protein would present a very awkward scenario of being paid for something I wouldn’t use or recommend - unless stuck on a desert island with nothing else to drink. So it is with genuine excitement that I can confirm this company has never approached me to be one of their ever-expanding team. Yay for no sponsorship!! LOL (means Laugh out Loud Mum!!)

What Do I Eat When It's All Over???

I have to give myself some credit – when something doesn’t work out the first time, I’ll generally go home, re-group, refocus, make a new plan .. and then go and hit the same problem and try to fix what was broke. Sometimes I can keep going and the phrase “flogging a dead horse” comes to mind, hehe, but I won’t let up until I find some way around the issues.

Post competition nutrition really perplexed me. That’s actually a nice way to put it. Bluntly put, it bugged the freakin hell out of me. And let’s be clear - to date I have never received a post competition nutrition guide. I’ve always muddled along on my own. So, in lieu of that, I have tried a number of ways that have given me a widely varied post-competition experience.

Not that there isn’t plenty of people that will give advice, there certainly are. But I’m afraid the fluffy ideas didn’t actually work – as they say ‘advice is cheap’. But no one actually gave me anything practical to do. Plenty of Good Ideas Department blogs and posts on how to protect your tummy, and how to keep the focus on Long Term Health, and the Sensible Plans … but that did NOT help me one little iota when it came to figuring out just what I could eat and how much of it to wolf down in those first few days.

So I’m prepared to summarise what I think works, and what I think doesn’t – based purely on my own experience. Take it, leave it, file it away for a rainy day – whatever works.

1.       The “Eat all you want for a good few days and then jump back onto a massively calorie restricted diet for the foreseeable future” approach.

Pros:

·         For at least 2 whole days, you can ensure that you plug into every taste in the entire world that you haven’t been able to indulge in for the past few months. Think cheese, ice-cream, fried donuts, milkshakes, oats, jam…… fast food, burgers, chips, PIZZA!!!

·         You have an End Date in sight. You know you only have a small amount of freedom before the reigns will come back in. And you can’t do too much damage in a couple of days! Right?....

·         Your poor, depleted system will absolutely love the increase and you’ll quite possibly be able to lift mammoth amounts in the gym – IF you stop eating long enough to get there!! Only 48 odd hours remember!! So much eating to do  - so little time!

·         Your friends are going to encourage you the whole way along, repeatedly reminding you that “You deserve it!! You’ve denied yourself for sooooo long!!”

Cons:

·         When your poor, depleted system meets up with some full-fat, high sugar treats, it’s pretty much the culmination of The Perfect Storm. The side effects will undoubtedly surface sometime in the next few hours and WILL include; sore tummy, the trots, a mouth so dry it will feel and taste like sandpaper by the morning, a pounding head and swelling to most of your limbs as those carbs start driving water back through your muscles.

·         Your 6-pack abs will almost immediately become a keg.

·         Instead of strutting your stuff in hot and funky gym gear, you may find yourself heading for the elastic waist-banded items in your wardrobe due to the discomfort and water-retention.

·         Your weight will spike. Upward. It just will.

·         And perhaps, the worst con of all – you may not find yourself physically able to actually reign it in like you thought you would be able to. All of the best intentions in the world will be there, but reality is, that sugar becomes almost instantly addictive. And the fear of not being able to have it again becomes a tangible feeling.

What it specifically did for me;

This was definitely my most damaging post-comp approach. I ate until I could not longer eat. Literally. I felt that I deserved the food and I kidded myself that it was necessary to feed up a starved system. My legs and feet blew up like I had gout and my tummy was in a perpetual state of being upset. My mood was grim and the more I tried to put the brakes on, the worse it got. I spiralled out of control for about two weeks before I retreated back to the safety of the strictest diet you could imagine. And I sat unhappily in this little ‘pen’ until I made the decision to compete again in order to gain some control of my life. In summary, I did everything wrong for all of the wrong reasons and it was awful. No recommended.

I would give this approach .5 of a star out of a possible 3,258 stars.

 

2.       The – “I’m going to eat exactly what I ate pre-comp but just in bigger quantities” approach.

Pros:

·         It just sounds so damn sensible!! Makes you sound credible and real!

·         It would cycle you perfectly out of a less-than-optimal situation of depletion.

·         It would protect your gut and system from any nasty shocks.

·         It would keep your weight from spiking.

Cons:

·         You have to be a man or woman of steele to achieve this. Seriously. My pre-comp diet really sux. It involves an awful lot of watery based salad foods, pure white meats, and (at the very end) no yummy proteins. Maybe others achieve their leanness with more foods (though some seriously bullshit about this – I know that for a fact!), but to get that last little piece of stubborn fat from my arse, I am ruthless with what goes, or more importantly doesn’t go in my mouth. The thought of only eating those same foods after the heady high of a competition is NOT something I could achieve!

·         You will continue to be anti-social, carb-depleted and basically a little unhappy if you continue with a pre-comp diet in a post-comp setting. But good luck if this one suits.

What it specifically did for me;

This was an ‘ok’ approach for me. The worst part of it was that I felt so terribly unsocial when I should have had some freedom. I continued to spend most of my free hours prepping bloody vegetables and crunching through fibrous leafy greens. All so sensible and so inherently ‘good’ – but, for gods sake – life is about way more than chopping and cooking food!! I laboured through this for a good 18 months and, due to feeling so hard-done-by with all of my constant ‘clean’ food, I would over-do it on the splurges. And the splurges started getting closer together and they went on for longer. I started deeming protein powder as a ‘treat’ food and yoghurt as a dessert. Wake up call. WPI is NOT a treat food. It’s good, no doubt about it, but that is really some screwed up mentality to think it is a real treat. I have grown to detest the whole ‘Clean Food’ approach – it has some air of superiority attached to it and an identity that comes from making what is perceived to be a ‘Better’ choice when all around are minions that simply cannot resist ‘Unclean’ or ‘Bad’ food. If I’ve learned one thing well in the past few years it’s this – pride goes before a fall. This approach worked in the short term for sure. But long-term – no way. Not recommended.

I would give this approach 3 stars out of a possible 10 stars. 

3.       The “F***K It! I’m just going to go with what I feel like eating and not track or weigh or anything” approach.

Pros:

·         The FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!

·         The TASTES!!!!!!!!!!

Cons:

·         The almost certain lack of self-control.

·         The body’s reaction to the introduction of too many new foods in too short a time. See Approach #1.

·         The weight spike.

·         The fat gain.

What it specifically did for me; Nothing good that I can list.  Definitely not recommended.

I would give this approach .5 of a star out of a possible million stars.

4.       The “I’m going to track and plan my new diet and include some of the things I love along with a fair dose of the things I’ve been eating throughout comp prep” approach.

This is definitely my favourite and most successful approach to date. I’ll explain what I did and then go through the pros and cons.

1.       I tracked my calories in the last week before the comp.

2.       I plugged it into My Fitness Pal and noted down the ratio of Protein/Carbs/Fats.

3.       I doubled my allowance of calories (due to the fact they were so low).

4.       I kept the same Protein ratio but gave myself double the Carbs and filled up the remaining space with Fats.

5.       I immediately put back in the things I love and that I know agree with my body. These were: easy to choose; yoghurt, oats, protein, casein, fruit & something ‘bready’.

6.       I made the quantities fit my worked out ratios and calories.

7.       I added in there a treat each and every day and made it fit my calorie and ratio count. Believe it or not, all I wanted for the first week was a beautiful, chewy Quest bar!! Cookie Dough thank you very much!! And I loved every crunchy little mouthful. But I swapped it out for an ice cream some days. So the changes looked like this in comparison;

Pre Comp Week                                                                        Post Comp Week

-          Chicken, vegies                                                                  - Oats, WPI, Yog – albeit small amounts

-          Tuna, salad                                                                           - chicken, salad (couldn’t face tuna!!)

-          Chicken, vegies                                                                  - Afternoon treat = Quest Bar!

-          Egg, vegies                                                                           - roo, vegies

                                                                                                 Casein, yoghurt

So, while it wasn’t a feeding frenzy for one, it certainly excited me to wake up to my favs and a nice sweet treat in the afternoon really helped the cravings. To top it off – going to bed with a bowl of Casein ‘goo’ was something to think about all day long …sigh

Pros:

·         Immediately there were daily ‘treats’ (maybe not everyone’s idea of treats but for me they were enough to keep me excited!)

·         Sweet foods in where I needed them

·         More than enough food to keep me satiated for that first few weeks – and I ‘upped’ the cals and ratios every fortnight

·         A great tracking system that gave me focus and room to increase without it being a big guessing game of what to increase and what not to

·         I kept my abs for quite a long time without starving myself

·         No binging/starving cycles in sight!

·         No tummy aches and not a swollen cankle to be seen

Cons:

·         I couldn’t go crazy and eat everything in sight like I really wanted to for a couple of the days

What it specifically did for me;

The best part of this approach was that it gave me something purely practical to organise before the end of the comp. I had my days planned and the fridge full. I had enough food to curb my hunger and I had a treat in the morning, afternoon and before bed. I was able to increase calories at a set level and I could easily swap out foods to make dinners at restaurants etc fit.

It worked. Very, very well. It worked so well that I still follow it – with oh, so many more cals these days – haha!

The battles still exist and that is finding a balance of allowing in treats – and I mean TREATS!!! The odd cake, pizza, parmy, wine, lolly, ic- cream – all of those things that make going out more special if you have a sweet or cheesy tooth like me. And if I’m struggling to let go of my control, I can default to my numbers instead of spiralling into the void of a food frenzy.

The majority of my days centre around beautiful meats, eggs, vegies and salads, and I add to that the delicious creaminess of WPC (I don’t do WPI anymore – think the extra cost is seriously not worth the few extra bits and pieces in there), fruits and dairy – cheese and yoghurt factor in every single day and are no longer ‘treats’ but staples. I can grab food on the run and happily go out for dinner and pick anything I want rather than taking the perceived superior approach of some boring crappy salad. I might not always pick dessert or garlic bread with it  - but some days I do!

Totally recommended for people like me!

I would give this approach 9 out of a possible 10 stars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cardio - Going Where Angels Fear To Tread....

cardio- Word Origin

1. a combining form meaning “heart,”

 

Cardio. There. I said it. Strike me down with a bolt of lightening – but I said it! And here’s the truly awful part – I use it! Yes I do! I turn to that demonised and detested little tool called cardio, and use it in my weekly routine. Holy hell – how will I live this down??!! LOL.

I feel like I might have just lost a lot of social media ‘friends’!! How can I make this admission for all to see??

In all seriousness, I am somewhat bemused by the current aversion from just about anyone-who’s-anyone to cardio. It’s popping up as a headline on many pages from many people. And I read the comments from followers who are simply over-the-moon that their FB fitness idol doesn’t cardio so now they, by virtue of reading the post, also don’t have to. Hell – let’s not actually take the whole situation in context .. let’s just agree and admit total revulsion at anything cardio and be happy that, because ‘she/he’ doesn’t do it – neither should I have to!!! And ‘they’ can get ripped for a comp without it, so that means I can too!!! Hallelujah!!

Because everyone who has won a comp and posts on FB is right aren’t they? As long as they have the credibility of an Athlete tag or maybe they are sponsored by a sup company. And if they are both an athlete and sponsored, then they are a guru. Of course.

I’m sorry to sound sarcastic (or am I? mmm not sure) – but good luck with that.

To be honest, I don’t ‘get’ the hype. I very much understand the consequences of what I would call ‘over-cardioing’ and know that it is as unwise as under-prescribing weight training. But cardio in appropriate amounts is what I would deem a fabulous tool for the jobs of; keeping fat stores at a desired level; allowing more calories in (that’s right – more food in the mouth!!) and shredding a bit of weight in a quicker time period if needed.

I reject the concept that I’m less of a trainer or trainee because I allow cardio in. I really do.

And while we are on the subject, high reps of lower weights, full-on no-rest weights circuits, ‘finishers’, sneaky little plyo numbers between exercises, battle-ropes and sled pushes – in my world, these are all forms of cardio. Hard to admit perhaps, but I reckon they are.

It seems to have become a badge of honour to proudly proclaim the absence of cardio in a program. That’s fine .. I guess. But never say never. I have. And it gets rather awkward when things don’t work out as first planned.

Proviso: I’ll be the first to say loud and clear that my first program, with its 1hr brisk walking in the morning, weights at lunchtime and 1hr of evening running, was simply ludicrous. I would quit comping if I had to go through that stupidity ever again. But, to date, I‘d say that I have completed anywhere in the range of 2-4 cardio sessions per week leading into the last month. Each session was 25m so a max of around 2hrs per week. Not bad and it certainly helped me achieve the last bit of the lean-down. And, more importantly, I was able to re-introduce some much needed carbs and still lose fat. Would that have occurred without the cardio? I certainly don’t believe so. But what if I swapped out the cardio for some really high reps with weights instead? Haha – that’s where I’d still call the high reps cardio. I guess it’s semantics isn’t it. I just prefer to call a spade a spade.

So there you have it. It’s out there. I’m well and truly out of the closet (though I’ve never hidden the fact to date to be honest). I’m a very happy muscle-builder doing about a 90/10 split of weights vs cardio. My 25-50m (1 or possibly 2 sessions per week) of cardio consists of the most varied circuits either myself or Michelle can conjur up. Recently I have;

-          Run up Dr’s Gully with an overhead plate, ditched the plate for pushups, ditched the pushups for a waterfront run up a nasty hill and completed this circuit four times.

-          Combined one minute of boxing with an ascending ladder of plyo for 25m.

-          Completed a gruelling spin-bike (my latest buy) routine going ‘easy’ on the verses and ‘hard and heavy’ on the chorus!

-          Completed a combination of bodyweight and dumbbell exercises in one massive circuit for a solid 25m. All reps in the 15-20 range and prob 60-70% of my usual lifts.

-          And a Round-Robin on the gym equipment – treadmill to bike to rower to stairmaster.

Believe it or not, I actually love the change of heavy weights into a serious sweat-fest of cardio on some days. I also LOVE the fact that I’m keeping that heart pumping and I’m fitter than I have been for years with the regularity of getting that heart rate up. I work some pretty long hours at short notice and am finding that I’m not so sluggish. Much more ‘pep’ in my system and I’m happy to have the fitness to quickly engage a higher gear and ‘take off’.

And that, my friends, is my opinion on the Great Cardio Debate. Yours for the reading and considering.