What to eat when training

i've always looked at it as "a clogged artery, is a happy stomach"

kidding.....kinda
 
Sorry I did NOT mean to be rude, I just jump in when there are misconceptions. I think I know what you meant to say though. When your heart rate is high, it means your heart is trying really hard to pump that blood- It doesn't necessarily mean that you're working hard. For example- if you're not fit, a jog of 100m could get your heart rate up to let's say 180. If you're really really fit, a 400m sprint could only give you a heart rate of 140. The difference in this is that you're actually using more muscle energy for the sprint, even if your heart rate is low. See a cardio workout is a workout that keeps your heart at a "challenging-but-not-overly-stressful" level. For example, you said you did 5 miles a day. Sure, those five miles burn calories, and they probably also tear muscle (which is why you take the protein so that you can repair+build the torn muscle), but your heart rate can be low, so it's not challenging your heart. It's hard for me to explain this:

The person that jogged and got 180 would probably benefit in the long run if he kept his heart rate at a challenging level but not so high so that it works too hard. And eventually, by increasing his time, he can go down to sprinting 100m eventually without having a heart rate that high. This is a cardio workout.

The person that sprinted the 400m would most likely benefit if he ran for a longer period of time keeping his heart rate at a challenging level but not too high either. This also is a cardio workout because, like the jogger, he is DEcreasing his heart rate, thus making his blood pump more efficient.

A cardio workout benefits us in the sense that, at such altitude, with a bad heart, we wont have enough blood pumping through our veins and our heart would be working too hard trying to keep us moving. You want to have a challenging heart rate while working out (but make sure it's not too challenging or else it defeats its purpose) so that your heart stands a better chance during basic.

Now, those body builders are probably telling you to keep your heart rate down so that you can do it for longer periods of time. For example, with a low heart rate, you can burn off the calories easy if you can go for a long time. With a challenging heart rate, your heart (which is a muscle) gets its workout, but you'll probably be beat pretty quickly. Body builders probably do not like spending their energy on a treadmill when they can spend it lifting, so this way they can lose weight while not really challenging the heart or the leg muscles.

So after you run those five miles, you lose fat AND muscle? This is possible. You mentioned earlier that you have lots of protein and fat and carbs. This is good. After a workout, you want to not only get protein in your system, but also carbs. For example have a 20-30g shake with a loaf of bread with peanut butter on it (and if you want even a fruit) after a workout. It's been said that eating cereal right after working muscles can quicken muscle recovery, I've never really tried it. Anyway, the carbs help restore the torn muscles almost the way protein does (I'm not too sure how the biology plays into this, so I don't want to make up facts).

Sorry if it's hard to understand. I learned the cardio thing from track. We called them thresholds, I hated them but knew they had to be done. I don't know how you can find out your heart rate accurately other than put your index and middle fingers next to your jugular, count to ten, then multiply the number of beats by 60(?). then that's your heart rate. Or you can go to a gym and go on the treadmill where you just put your palm on those things. or buy one yourself, they have watches with that (I'm actually thinking of buying one of those after basic..hmm..). I don't know, whatever floats your boat.
Thanks for clearing it up, I understand now. And your comment about the carbs after workout is true as long as they are high glycemic carbs, preferably fruits as you mentioned because your glycogen levels are generally low when you wake up and after a workout, so by replenishing glycogen levels in your body, your body tends to use to repair torn muscle tissue rather than store as fat reserves. Anyways thanks again for clearing it up.
 
I try to stay less technical... no twinkies, lots of water, pasta, and protein... along with veggies and fruits.
 
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