Starting Over... Questions

Hey there. I’ve been reading a lot of the forums for a few years now and figured I might as well get a username and support the group in ways that I can from a different perspective. Anyhow, obviously as the subject stated “Starting over”, there lies a question in which I feel that I may have the answer but I have for too long been victim of the internet in terms of information and what is really “true”, and what is really “bull”.

I have a program that I did that I am going to go back to where I lifted Mon/Tues, then Thurs/Fri. It started to work extremely well for me and I lost a good amount of inches from my waist, while other areas such as thighs lost fat and slowly gained size. It included big 3 BP, Squat and DL along with assistance workouts.

So herein lies my question. Realistically going at this approach, is there anything to say that doing a rowing machine on Wednesdays for 45 minutes in the morning, and doing sprints/loaded hill climb(by this I mean loading my duffle bag with 30lbs+ and walking up a steep-A hill) will “over-do” it? I am looking to drop the fat right now and because this workout worked for me in the past (without any of the rowing or sprint/hill climb) I am just seeing if adding the cardio side in would help, or make things worse.

The only other “big” thing that I have changed is going to a 90% Paleo lifestyle which has also helped me to start drastically losing weight without any exercise as of yet. I know this is quite a loaded question, and with that I truly appreciate the time that anyone puts into this. Thanks much and have a great day!

Ox

not a problem in the least, mate. Go for it!

Obviously recovery rates vary from person to person but you just have to try it and see.

Several programs will have a similar day focusing on conditioning. Shouldn’t be an issue. Just like most programs, depending on your activity level prior, it’s really a question of can you get into it and keep it.

Regarding the rowing. There are several articles on here extolling HIIT over steady state cardio for weight loss. I’m not a weight loss expert by any means, but I’d rather do HIIT work over steady state cardio any day. Something to consider.

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So how much truth is there really to overtraining? I almost feel that this term is misused and should be held in regards to those who have been training for long periods of time and their growth is much slower than a beginner. Am I right then in assuming this?

So I looked into what exactly HIIT is and what I was doing for sprints, and I never knew what I was doing actually fell into the HIIT category. I have a track by my house and so what I had done in the past is sprint the straight aways and walk the curved ends. Looks like I’ll be going back to that; thanks for turning me onto that Pookie79

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So what exactly is HIIT? I’ve seen the terminology everywhere but don’t fully understand it.

High Intensity Interval Training.

As I understand it, it’s a sprinting type activity followed by a controlled duration rest period. You now have multiple parameters to tweak. You’re looking to get your rest period to be no longer than your work period as you progress (or even less).

So let’s take rowing. If you want to set up an HIIT session on rowing it can be as easy as this: 30sec sprint, 1 min steady for 10 intervals. As time goes on, you shrink the rest periods, prolong your work periods, or both.

Most people never work out hard enough to “over train.” Just use common sense about training, rest, and diet, and listen to your body. I have a couple of body parts that need more down time than others, and I pay attention to how they feel.

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