I searched the forums and found several good tips on HIIT vs LISS etc.

My goal is not to be shredded like the cover model for Mens Health or to be as big as arnold. I just want a flat tummy and a good healthy life. I talked to a friend of mine and he is in the armed forces. He reccomended I do the following to build up basic muscle tone and get a brief cardio start and reccomends doing weight training course or a navy seal prep course after I am ready.

week 1.
M/W/F Run in the morning before breakfast for one mile jogging pace
Tu/Th/Sa 4x10 Pushups, 4X15 Crunches, 2 x 4 Pullups

Week 2.
M/W/F Run in the morning before breakfast for one and half mile jogging pace
Tu/Th/Sa 4x15 Pushups, 4X20 Crunches, 3 x 4 Pullups

Week 3.
M/W/F Run in the morning before breakfast for two miles mile jogging pace
Tu/Th/Sa 4x20 Pushups, 4X25 Crunches, 4 x 4 Pullups

Then Week 3 till whenever it takes me to run two miles in under 17.5 minutes, and keep adding 5 more pushups, 5 more crunches, and 1 more pullup to the reps.

When I can get to the point when I can do 2 miles in about 15-17 minutes and do about 5-6x30 pushups and 5-6x40 Crunches and 4x10 Pullups I should then be good for a begining weight training regiment (biceps, legs, triceps, back, shoulders etc.)


The food he said to make sure initially cut out all the junk food, burgers, chips, sodas etc.. Eat 5-6 tmes a day. When I get used to eating 5-6 times a day, then start counting calories etc.. He visits this site and said to read about the 40/40/20 which should be good enough.

I am 6'2", 205lbs, 25%BF 41 waist and have not done cardio in over a few months now and have not lifeted weights in over a year if that helps. Does that sound likea sound plan?

Raj

Lifting is huge when you start. Personally I can't overemphasize the importance of lifting to lose fat.

In January, I had just come off of a cardio challenge sponsored by Concept 2 (a rowing machine company). I did over 200K meters between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That's a lot of time on that machine.

On Jan. 13, I went to the Dr.'s for a checkup. I weighed in at 246 lbs (subtracted 4 lbs for clothing - so I started at 242). I'm 6'3" and nobody thought I was really fat, but that just stunned me.

The next day I spoke to a friend of mine who was a personal trainer (seriously fit guy - great teacher) and he reccomended a book and told me that no matter what I did I had to start lifting. It would get me burn fat much faster than anything. I do cardio as well, and (like all the success stories around here) I have rethought my diet and eating patterns. I'm now at 202.5 lbs.

Pick a program. Follow it. But make sure that you will be lifting - otherwise you just become a skinnier fat person.

Good luck with your transformation. It's tough some days, but it is completely worth it.

My question to you BigDog is this:

I'm going to start cutting soon, as I've been lifting hard and heavy since January of this year. I'm 240-245 lbs, 6 feet tall, waist is 37.5", arms are 15" (cold flexed), shoulders are 50", my calves are starting to rip, and my arms are starting to look like bowling pins. I did some heavy strength training from January to April, 4 weeks of MaxOT in May (with great gains), and am now doing 4 weeks of German Volume Training. I eat clean 6 times a day (~2200 cals a day or so), eat vitamins, and drink lots of water (~ 6-8L). I estimate my % bodyfat is around 18-20% or so. I still have about 2-2.5" of fat around my waist and quite a bit of fat on my back to get rid of.

Question: In order to cut up, should I do a full-body HIT routine 3 times a week (and get my cardio solely from that) or should I do HIT and cardio together. If I was going to do cardio, I may try the Max OT cardio routine -- apparently, it is good for getting ripped. My goal is to hit 200 lbs even by Xmas. I might try to get down to around 175-185 range and participate in an amateur lifting competition early next summer.

I've heard that I should do both from various people -- here and there. I know, I really need to get some pics on here for a good critique of what I should do next... maybe a weekend project!

freddy