Weight That World Riders Usually Bench Press?

[billycraig]

Ok, so if I understand you correctly you would normally train using like a Circuit training kind of style? Lower weight, higher reps and little rest time rather than a separate Cardio/Weights program?

I do sometimes use that, although lower weight confuses people, even if you do 20 reps it still needs to be enough weight that you could only do 21 reps maximum. The aamount of times I've seen people select a weight that they could easily do 50 reps with. Remember it has to overload the muscle.

Even during a normal program lifting weights for 60-90 seconds is a good cardio workout. 10 reps at a 3-0-3 tempo would be 60 seconds and if you breathe properly during the exercise your getting a good aerobic workout while lifting a weight. The better you breath, the more effectively you burn fuel so you can progress to more weight etc

[jools]

What if you dont want to get any bigger though!!?

I'd like to cut up more to be honest! Get the chisel out!

[billycraig]

What if you dont want to get any bigger though!!?

I'd like to cut up more to be honest! Get the chisel out!

It takes a lot of effort to put on size which is why its so laughable when women get scared of lifting weights. To get size you'd need 4-6ish reps with long rest periods (4-5 mins maybe) and multiple sets. Its not uncommon when I'm trying to get size on a client to have 12 sets of 4 reps with massive rest periods,

To cut up diet is 95% of it, without it any training is futile. You'd limit carbs and burn all the glycogen in your muscles with weights and then use intense cardio to burn fat (no glycogen left so the body will use fat stores). If I have a model who needs to prep for a photo shoot they can normally lean up and stay healthy in 4 weeks if they know what they're doing.

[funtrials]

...yes, from what I understand, reducing body fat (like billy says above), is the best way to get "cut" if you already have plenty of muscles.

I'm taking CLA pills (I think it's "conjugated linoleic acid"....or something like that) to help burn fat.

But when I don't *exercise* I simply can't lose much fat (unless I reduce to 1200 calories per day, which worked for me years ago but is NOT the way to go, I believe.) Diet AND exercise seems to be what works for me best.

[funtrials]

For what it's worth, HEART-health wise, my doctor said that trials riding is not great exercise....I was surprised when he said that. He's said it twice now. Intense cardio is what he recommends for heart-health, at or above 130 beats per minute (for a 46 year-old, that is.) Heart-health is certainly one factor for us to consider.

He also recommended yoga for trials (balances, stretches, etc.) Interestingly, I only see a tiny tiny percentage of yoga-class attendees and aerobics-class attendees who are MEN. Those classes have lots and lots of well-toned *women* in them...hmmm, but now that I think about it, maybe I SHOULD attend those classes...

So I'm unsure if those type of classes are best (not just good, but BEST) for men, who want endurance and strength (and wouldn't mind extra muscle size, as well), like many trials riders do. I'm not particularly, as such, trying to reduce the fat in my hips and butt to fit into a smaller dress size...