No Cardio? Bodybuilding Prep Lesson 1

So far in my prep for 2023, there have been MANY changes compared to my last prep.

But I want to give you tangible lessons YOU can apply to your own fat loss.

Here's my first BIG lesson.

Walking/Step Counting - NOT Cardio

In the previous competition, the workout protocol was super simple.

Do 45 minutes of cardio each day, on an incline of 8-12% and 2.7-3.2mph, aiming for an intensity of 60-70% of heart rate max.

Later on, as I got closer to the show, I did that twice a day.

Standard bodybuilding protocol.

BUT there are 5 major problems here that I corrected with walking and step counting.

Consistent Calorie Burn

Doing cardio once a day doesn't take into account the rest of my day’s calorie work.

I may have done cardio in the morning, but if I sit on my ass all day, my metabolic rate isn't that great. It may only still be around 5-7K steps. This means, my calorie-burning average is inconsistent and likely to lower with the stress of the calorie deficit.

So using my step count off my Fitbit, I can keep a consistent output.

Instead of the traditional cardio on a machine, I do 2-3 walks a day (morning, noon, and night).

If I can at minimum have 14K steps a day, and if I'm eating 2000 Cals a day, I will have a net deficit of at least 1000Cals, which means likely 2lbs of body fat a week.

This activity can come from the walks OR if my job training people, playing sports, or even just doing chores throughout my day.

The great part is if I do MORE than 14K steps (which my average ends up being over 15K), it hasn't felt MORE straining because it's mostly so low intensity. (I'll elaborate in the energy efficiency section)

Joint Stress

If I focus on outdoor steady-pace walking, it is soooooo much easier on the joints.

Hunter/Gathering tribes have been observed to walk an average of 5-7 miles a day. This likely means this is how we evolved and our body can handle A LOT of walking.

But in the past I've done cuts, I use incline walking, biking, or even elliptical, I can feel the joints not liking the over use of it.

I've been managing a knee issue throughout this, and it doesn't like ANY of those daily habits.

BUT I can walk daily with little to no issues.

Our bodies evolved from solid ground walking. NOT treadmill or cardio machine work.

Doing cardio machines are not necessarily bad to do SOME of the work on (which I do when I want to watch TV) but when you want a large consistent quantity of extra work, it's so much healthier just for your joints to walk OUTSIDE more.

A bike is always hutched over.

An elliptical keeps your ankle and foot fixed.

A treadmill is mostly you keeping yourself up, as the treadmill moves, rather than pushing forward so it changes your walking pattern and the muscles you'd be using.

These are all wonderful low-impact machines BUT still not better than just walking on solid ground for long periods.

Note: For me, this is February in Winnipeg, Canada, so I KNOW it can be cold out. Bundle up. You literally just end up moving more to physically put on more layers. NOT a bad thing.

Energy Efficiency - Save Your Carbs

Fat burning is super efficient. It's like comparing a log burning on a fire to a twig. It's a perfect analogy because of how carbs vs. fats are used.

Fats are slow and steady, with a small flame from a log, e.g. Walking slow

Carbs/Glucose are fast and explosive, making a BIG flame from twigs - e.g. Strength Training.

Now when I'm walking around outside, with a heart rate under 110 beats per minute, I'm likely near 80-90% using just fats as my energy source.

I don't encourage people to think of this too much unless you have a really good understanding of the calories and the performance you're trying to control. Most people wouldn't be having as low of calories and carbs as I am, so this would have less of an impact.

But it's still noteworthy to see why walking is fantastic.

If you did the traditional cardio I mentioned above, aiming for 60-70% of heart rate max, although it's still MOSTLY fats, it would likely start using more of your carbs.

If I use up my carbs from cardio AND I have to strength 5 days a week, I'll likely start feeling more and more exhausted from the diet.

Imagine I have a TON of logs to burn, but I only have so many twigs every day I want to use up. Ideally, I only use those twigs for my strength training because I NEED twigs to strength train.

If I start running out of twigs by the time I strength train, I'll be flat in my workouts, and then I could even lose muscle mass sooner.

Walking allows me to focus on the logs, and keep my twigs, and I'm finding a perfect balance so far.

Systematic Fatigue

Let's carry over the problem again of using your carbs up too fast, it's so important to know our mind uses carbs (twigs) as well.

Your body stores sugar in the muscle and in your liver to keep your blood sugar regulated. If your stores of sugar become too low, your system knows you are in a dangerous place of food scarcity.

So what will it do?

Adapt.

Slow you down.

Your body will say "Hey now. It seems we have food storage so let's not do too much today." So this will make day-to-day tasks harder. Energy for your job is harder. And definitely, workouts become harder.

This will end up being my issue likely in the last 6-8 weeks, ideally, because I'll be so lean, even if the fat storage is low. But that should ONLY happen at the end of getting VERY lean. NOT from the calorie intake.

I'm still in pretty healthy body fat, but until I get below 8-7% body fat, I shouldn't need to put that strain on my body.

Because I'm sparing my carbs, I can still do my workouts, and do my job well.

Mental Fatigue

Mentally, this is just sooooo much easier.

I LOVE that I've spent most of it dog walking for the last month. That's not stepping on the same treadmill every day.

I LOVE that I can go for walks with my girlfriend. Or I can simply make sure I park farther from the buildings. I walk around more when I'm training people. I clean more! I look for simple moments of activity because it all counts! And trust me it works.

So far doing an average of well over 15K steps a day, I've never seen more consistent weight loss with so little sweat. (It's also cold out when I go for walks so there's a bias there).

Caution - Time Costly

This is NOT time efficient UNLESS I have to walk around a lot for work. (Which doesn't happen often for me).

Cardio on equipment is waaaaay faster at getting more calories burned quicker. You can burn 100 Cals every 10 minutes doing some steady-state cardio stuff. So If you are in a time crunch (which I've had), cardio does still make sense for some people.

BUT most people don't need 14-16K steps a day for accelerated fat loss. You really just want a good solid consistent metabolic rate.

You just need 10K steps. That's adding up to around 90 minutes of walking from place to place throughout your day.

I think a step counter, like a Fitbit, is honestly one of the MOST helpful tools for you to know what your metabolism is truly like.

Because you are your metabolism!

How much you weigh (especially how much lean mass you have) and how much you move in a day are the 2 biggest predictors of your metabolism.

The 2nd one is waaaaay more controllable than people are aware of.

I cannot urge people to respect this approach enough.

Step more, walk more, as much as you can OUTSIDE, rather than cardio.

Here's the update on how well this has worked so far.

My weight in trend these past 30 days.

Honestly, some of the smoothest fat loss I've ever had.

I'm thrilled with how simple and steady this has been so far.

It's A LOT of work and time, BUT significantly easier than the first phase of my last prep.

If you thought about adding more cardio to your routine, hopefully, this encouraged you to consider more walking instead.

Walk well, my friend.

Rhyland