drtbear1967
Musclechemistry Board Certified Member
There are many ways that we burn calories, but lifting alone doesn’t burn very many. And cardio is something our body gets better and better at quickly and we end up burning fewer calories at the same length of time/intensity as our cardiovascular fitness improves. For this reason, adding more cardio isn’t always the best answer when you need to burn more. Ultimately paying attention to diet is the best strategy, but here is another:⠀
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As we diet, we become slower, lazier, sluggish, and just more efficient machines (for example, when walking to my car in a parking lot, I find myself automatically taking the most direct line to my car rather than walking down the rows and aisles like I normally would) and this is where a lot of people think their “metabolism is slowing down”. It’s not really, your body is getting better at conserving energy. ⠀
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NEAT, or non exercise activity, is actually what I give the most focus to in terms of burning calories. I aim to keep my step count at 11K per day. At this point in prep, even that is challenging. And during peak week when I rest, my step count is closer to 3K! That’s a HUGE difference! I find paying attention to my steps and general movement MORE effective than doing 30 minutes of cardio and then sitting on my butt the rest of the day. (To be clear, this deep in contest prep, I have a step goal AND a small amount of cardio)⠀
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Do you monitor your steps or neat in some way?⠀
How do you make sure your overall activity stays up?⠀
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THE EVIDENCE:
Eric T Trexter. Metabolic adaptation to weight loss: implications for the athlete. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2014; 11: 7.
•⠀
As we diet, we become slower, lazier, sluggish, and just more efficient machines (for example, when walking to my car in a parking lot, I find myself automatically taking the most direct line to my car rather than walking down the rows and aisles like I normally would) and this is where a lot of people think their “metabolism is slowing down”. It’s not really, your body is getting better at conserving energy. ⠀
•⠀
NEAT, or non exercise activity, is actually what I give the most focus to in terms of burning calories. I aim to keep my step count at 11K per day. At this point in prep, even that is challenging. And during peak week when I rest, my step count is closer to 3K! That’s a HUGE difference! I find paying attention to my steps and general movement MORE effective than doing 30 minutes of cardio and then sitting on my butt the rest of the day. (To be clear, this deep in contest prep, I have a step goal AND a small amount of cardio)⠀
•⠀
Do you monitor your steps or neat in some way?⠀
How do you make sure your overall activity stays up?⠀
•⠀
THE EVIDENCE:
Eric T Trexter. Metabolic adaptation to weight loss: implications for the athlete. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2014; 11: 7.
