I'm 4.5 weeks out and have recently started running intervals as part of my cardio. It was suggested to me that this type of cardio might burn through too much muscle and might lead to increased injury risk... neither of which I can afford.

I use a 12-lap indoor track - warm up walk for 2 laps, jog two laps, sprint one lap. Then I start alternating a walk/jog lap with a sprint lap. I try to go between 20-30 minutes.

What's your opinion? I'm I risking burning too much muscle? I still have about 4% bf to lose to get to my single digit goal.

I also try to include a 30 bike ride on my turbo trainer later in the day.

Thanks,
Julie

Julie

How many times per week are you doing cardio?

Start slow and increase the number of intervals with each cardio workout. Most people screw this up and immediately start doing tons of cardio. You have 4.5 weeks. Do enough cardio to keep the fat coming off and no more.

Let the cardio work, when it quits add a bit more. Add another interval or two.

Make sure you have your bodyfat checked to verify if you are or are not losing muscle. If losing muscle somethign may need to be changed, ie more calories (yep more) might have to be added to your diet. If you start looking smooth and can never seem to get a good pump you are probably over doing the cardio. Back off a bit and adjust your diet.

If you are working with someone at Beverly I would talk to them about what the total number of skin folds needs to be for you to be competitive.

I would do this instead of focusing on the BF% number. Depending on method the BF% will vary.

Use the sum of the 9 skin folds as the marker and shoot for a total.

Good Luck

Ray

Julie.. Ray gives you excellent advise.. and I sometimes have to REMIND myself to adhere to it. I, too, tend to go all out cardio and HIIT/Intervals from the get go.. then soon discover that I'm looking too thin, gaunt and lose my energy for lifting. Also, a lot of people (females especially) tend to do BOTH.. add cardio AND drop total calories. Opt for one OR the other.. then assess. Add gradually to increase your time/intervals or caloric burn. Don't panic.. you have plenty of time to adjust!

Thanks for all your advise! I'm doing cardio 6-7 days a week right now. I do at least 30 minutes and try to get at least a couple days of doubles in.

So far, I've been able to lose a whole BF percentage weekly for the past several weeks. I guess I'm not only interested in adding the running in so that I don't get bored, but also to keep that fat burning fire going.

I'm not sure I'm understanding you when you say - total number of skin folds for me to be competitive.

Last year when I competed I was in the single digits so I was gauging my number on that.

Thanks again, I really do appreciate your input!

Julie .. that's great if you can keep up the cardio and it keeps working for you. If it's not eating into your muscle and you aren't concerned .. keep it up! I think what Ray meant by the 'total skin folds' is the total number your 7-9 sites add up to. Say for example all sites are 45 total one week - then drop to 40 the next week. It's just a different way to look at the bodyfat % without doing the formula to get your 'percentage' based on gender, age, etc.

Oh... OK, thanks! Thought I was missing something.

I am losing a wee bit of muscle, but keeping a watch on it