AboutRich Ruffing Expertise I can answer to questions to all aspects of exercise: strength training, flexibility, cardiovascular, body composition, etc.. The questions can be general or they can be more specific or individualized. I can help you with workout design, exercise selection, recovery methods and any other aspects that are part of your program. Visit my website, www.richruffing.com, for more information.
Experience I have been training since 2000, working in health clubs and studios and working with a variety of clients.
Education/Credentials I have a Bachelors Degree in Sports Biology and am certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Currently, I am working towards my licensure as a massage therapist.
Question QUESTION: Hi-I am 56,have trained on and off since I was around 21,but have just gotten serious in the last few years.I have followed many routines,with some limited succsess(I look better than people my age who dont train,and better than sommewho are younger and do)The last month I have been doing 30 mins hard cardio on the morning,and,work pemitting,weights on the evening.I wanted to loose the fat that has accumulated around my lower stomach.It has worked to a certain degree,but after a weeks holiday,eating and drinking to much,some of it has come back.I normally try to eat 5-6 times a day,1.2 grams protien per lb body weight,plus carbs and some fats.How much cardio should I do to hopefully reduce fat and gain lean muscle?(I appreciate testosterone levels are very low at my age) What cardio/weights ratio would you recommend? H oping to hear from you,Thanks,Joe.
ANSWER: Hi Joe. For body compositon or fat loss purposes, cardio is not your best option. Performing steady state cardio is aerobic and catabolic (breakdown of muscle tissue) in nature. What you want to do for fat loss, is be in an anaerobic and anabolic (build up muscle tissue) state. So I'd suggest spending more time with your weight training and less time with cardio. And your cardiovascular sessions should be more interval based than steady state based. Interval training burns more calories and boosts your metabolism more than steday state cardio.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi-first,thank you very much for your quick reply to my question about fat loss/muscle gain.There was one or two things that I did not quite follow,and I hope you can clear these issues up for me. First,what is "steady-state cardoi",and what do you mean by "interval based cardio sessions"?-My cardio sets at the moment are 30 mins long,using a cross-walker machine(to excercise the whole body)and consist of 1 minute at a low level,then 1 minute at a much higher level,which consistently gets higher,so I would start the session at level 2,then up to level 15,then down to level 2,then up to level 16,and so on.How much cardio would you recomend each day(or would you not recomend a daily session?-Once again,thank you for your time-Joe.
Answer Hi Joe. The type of "cardio" that you are currently doing, seems interval based. Just make sure on your hard efforts that you're near exhaustion at the end of the designated time. I would suggest 2-3 of these sessions per week with each one lasting 20-30 minutes (5min. warm-up, 10-20min. of interval work, 5min. cool-down).
