return to cardio work

Magnet: Rory

I have just recently sprained my wrist (last night) and i am going to use this as an opportunity to get back to cardio (running) work. My question is, will this diminish the muscle mass i have built up over the last few months and should i continue to use the protein shakes i was taking when i was doing upper body work?

thehamo

Depends on how long you are out for with the wrist really. You should keep up with the protein shakes so your muscle doesn't diminish too much and make sure you are getting adequate calories while working out. If you dont replensih your body properly after your work out, it will use your muscles as a prefered source of energy, so after your run, try a good source of carbs to refule your body. THis said, you will not hold on to the same muscle that you have at the moment, but it is purely damage limitation.

Magnet: Rory

Thanks for that, i dont believe ill be out for too long (id say ill be ok in a week or so). Im thinking of using the time to trim down the little bit of baby fat around my abs, with this in mind would you still recommend the shakes?

Al_Fernz

Rorser wrote: »

with this in mind would you still recommend the shakes?

How can anybody tell? You never posted your typical daily diet - so it's impossible to say if your diet has sufficient amounts of protein. If it doesn't then supplementing might be an option.

Magnet: Rory

if i take in too much protein would that slow down the burn of the fat around my abs?

thehamo

as the poster metnioned previously, a hell of alot depends on the diet that you have. Presuming that you have a healthy diet, in order to trim the fat from around the stomach, you must combine both cardio and weight training. The secret to burning stubborn fat is through your motabalism or the rate that your body burns calories. The best way to raise your motabalism is through a good weight training session and a good high intensity cardio session (on different days). THe reasn these work is that your resting metabolic rate, i.e. the rate at which you burn calories when your are idol, remains higher much longer than a simple jog or easy cycle. It is very important to increase your musle mass as your the heavier your muscles, the more calories you will expand in a resting position than without it. Thats why its important to have a decent weight training program as part of your overall regime. To keep your mucles going you must have adequate protein to repair them. UNfortunately you can not spot reduce fat and it does take quite alot of effort to reduce from the stomach, but its worth it in the end. So introduce your cardio, but makesure that you add on your weights program as soon as you can

Magnet: Rory

So if i increase my cardio (and increase the intensity) and increase my ab work ill be making the most of the downtime as a result of the wrist injury.

My diet is relatively good (all bran for breakie, 2 chicken and veg wraps and at least 3 additional portions of fruit). I know it wont do everything for my stomach but is it the best way to make use of the 2 weeks that i have to shelve the weight training?

thehamo

well lets put it this way, your not going to loose any fat at all if you dont do a thing in your down time. Start on the cardio now but dont gove it up as soon as you get back to the weights

aye

could you not do leg weights also?

Magnet: Rory

i spose i could do some leg weights, what would you recommend to avoid contact with my hands?