5:2 Exercise & Fitness Thread Number 2: Advice and information for those following 5:2 / IF (Intermittent Fasting)

[BigChocFrenzy]

Why Exercise ?

Maintaining a normal bodyweight and taking regular exercise are 2 major areas of life which we can address to improve our health.

Regular exercise helps reduce the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, some cancers, osteoporosis, dementia, depression.

Increasing your % muscle and / or reducing your % body fat lowers the risk of death from all causes LowerRiskMuscle

Regular exercisers gain the greatest benefits over their lifetime and theyj can minimise biological aging, i.e. "Bend the Aging Curve BendAge

Fasted training

i.e. training on FDs, seems to increase the benefits of both training and IF.
Most experienced exercisers soon manage fasted training without loss of performance for session of up to 90 mins.

Hormesis

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
Hormesis Mattson , BlackSwan and Hormesis is cutting edge science for nutrition and fitness.

Its principles are that alternating between "extremes" of feast and fast (5:2 / IF) or intense training and rest (HIIT), makes the body more resilient.

The intermittent stress of lifting an extreme weight or performing at high speed for a short period pushes the body to overcompensate and prepare for an even greater future challenge HormesisTrain , Hormesis-Edge , and AntiFragile The following recovery period avoids damage from over-stressing.

INEFFICIENT: Low-Medium Intensity Steady state Cardio

Steady state cardio is NOT necessary for fitness and should only be a small part of your weekly cardio, unless it is all you can manage to do.

Walking outdoors is beneficial psychologically, is easy on the knee joints and has some physical benefits.

However, at speeds of 5mph or faster, running will burn more calories per mile than walking Ref

Also low-moderate or steady state exercise tends to increase appetite, whereas intense exercise can suppress appetite for up to 15 hours.

BEST TYPES of Exercise

HIIT cardio and resistance training / weight lifting are recommended to boost the effect of 5:2/IF, to increase weight loss, reduce body fat, retain muscle and maintain TDEE / BMR.

Anyone who is not specialising in a sport at a high level should aim to do both HIIT cardio and lifting / resistance training.

FAST Exercise

Dr Mosely developed a Fast Exercise program to complement his 5:2 WOE FastExercise

He lists many HIIT and strength routines that only take a few minutes, but can make significantly improve metabolism and fat-burning capability FastExercises

HOW to Exercise

The cardio machines and the girlie pink dumbbells that gyms push are NOT adequate to significantly improve fitness or burn fat.

Whether you join a gym or train at home or in the park:

• Train as intensively as your time, health and fitness level allow.
• Do not remain in your comfort zone, or you will not improve.
• You are supposed to drip sweat and pant heavily !

However, a brisk 30 mins daily walk plus 5 mins hoop is better than nothing and if done regularly will bring some health benefits.

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

HIIT is an exercise strategy which alternates brief intervals of high intensity exercise with less-intense recovery periods.
Examples:

• 20 seconds high intensity + 10 secs recovery
• 60 sec high + 30 sec low etc.

HIIT is very time-efficient, producing the greatest fitness benefit in the least time (the advantage of hormesis).

Scientists have proved that HIIT burns more fat than steady state lower intensity exercise and speeds up the metabolism, which helps burn more calories for up to 48 hrs.

HIIT also improves the insulin metabolism, which is very important for health.

HIIT reduces risk of heart problems more than doing lower intensity SteadyState , pp. 31-34.

HIIT increases both aerobic and anaerobic endurance

HIIT can be applied to cardio: e.g. cycling, running, skipping, jumping, mountain climbs or to bodyweight exercises, e.g. squatting, situps, burpees, pressups

Most gyms offer HIIT classes, e.g. spinning, circuit training, CrossFit, Tabata, Fartlek*(Fartlek = HIIT with irregular intervals)

RESISTANCE Training / LIFTING

Helps retain muscle mass during weight loss and hence to maintain TDEE.
You can lift at home, or in the gym weights area, or in a pump class.

It is best not to train the same muscle groups 2 days in succession, so have rest days, or cardio, or train different muscle groups on different days.
Try to build up to weight training for 30-60 mins twice per week.

Reps = the number of repetitions in a set of a particular lifting exercise
Sets are normally separated by brief rests E.g. you might do 3 sets each of 12 reps all of the same exercise.

WARNING
Do not lift massively heavy barbells, more than bodyweight, unless you are really fit with good technique.
Women who have given birth and / or are aged 40+ have a higher risk of pelvic floor / prolapse injuries when lifting heavy than young non-mums.

Press ups

• By far the best upper body exercise
• Keep attempting one full pressup rather than doing several dozen girlie ones with your knees on the floor.
• Once you can do one pressup, you will soon be able to build up to 5, then 10 etc.
• Tip: keep the abs rigid, so strong abs are as important as strong shoulders & arms
• Hand Release Pressups are good to build up strength for full ones
• Also build up via inclined pressups InclinedPress , see bottom of wiki page
• To increase the number of pushups IncreaseNum

ATG Arse To Grass bodyweight squat

• The best exercise for the large muscle group in bum and thighs.
• Basic principle: It is like having a pee on a public loo - get your bum down low and pointing to the rear, but not actually touching the seat.

-Lean back on your heels, so that weight is on them, not on your toes. -bring your arms forward

• keep your back straight, but angled slightly forward, not vertical.
• Go down as far as you can without knee pain.

Pullups

• Very few women can do full ones, but assisted ones build excellent muscle
• Work the same muscles with the much easier Australian pullup or imverted row InvertedRow

If you have access to dumbbells / barbells, then for maximum effect, work the large muscle groups:
squats bent-over rows (press button "female") Behind neckPress (press button "female") dead lift

To increase Strength Rather than Muscle Mass
Lift as heavy as you can, low reps, with 1 minute rest between sets e.g. 5 sets x 5 reps each, i.e. totalling 25 lifts.

To Build More Muscle
Lift lower (NOT Girlie) weight, do 3 sets x 8-20 reps, i.e. totalling 24-60 lifts.

AVOID OSTEOPOROSIS

To retain bone strength and avoid a painfully disabled old age, start now:
Ideally weight-bearing exercises that load the bone along its length of these types:

Impact exercise E.g. walking, running, jumping, skipping rope, step class, hitting a heavy punch bag.

Lifting: squats, press-ups, bench press, overhead press etc.

Squats are much better for osteoporosis than lunges, also for knees:
The weight in a squat is transmitted down along the spine, through the hip, and down along the bones of the leg, whereas in a lunge, it is transmitted across the shinbone and puts pressure on the knee joint.

Note: Cycling normally does NOT increase bone density, as it does not load bones along their length. Osteo

KETTLEBELLS Kettle
Beginners:
. Two-handed swing
. Sumo Deadlift
. Turkish Getup
. Swing
. Clean and Jerk
. Press

Improve your GRIP STRENGTH GripMen , BodyBuild

CALCULATORS:
Fast Fitness Calculators: 52FastExercise
Estimate your fitness age: FitAge
Estimate Vo2Max iTunes App: Vo2APP
Body Fat Calculator:BF
Healthy Body Fat Percentages at Different Ages: HealthyBF
TDEE with detailed activity times: TDEE

I guess so! I aim to get to parkrun every week and improve little by little.

Trenzalor I bet you'll be surprised how fast you will improve your time. How often a week do you manage to run? I wish we had park runs here in France. But the mentality for sports is more selfish here, even for marathons there are very few people who run for charity. Very different from the UK.

Inspirational thread over here, BC, by someone who says she lost weight purely through exercise. I figure that once she started exercising, she was more aware of what she was eating - but that's by-the-by, whatever she's doing is working.

I posted a link to your post on my blog, since I thought that was appropriate. Here it is for anyone who hasn't seen it.

Great stuff, Trenz! I look forward to seeing a series of PBs from you over the coming weeks!

A few women (more men) do lose weight by exercise alone:
they are usually those who start doing a LOT of exercise after having been sedentary AND manage not to increase eating - most new exercisers eat more extra cals than they burn, get discouraged, then stop.

You are right that exercise often prompts healthier, more organised eating habits too, because junk is poor fuel and a stuffed gut is uncomfortable during exercise.

B&W That lady's scenario really resonated with me as her exercising has clearly led her to also consider what she's eating. I did it more the other way round so that I made the decision to eat healthily most of the time, and be mindful about what I was eating. This led to me feeling better, because I was eating more nutritiously, which made me want to do more things that would make my body work better and feel better so then I added in the exercise. I go out running first thing a couple of times a week - on those days I'm am much better at avoiding things I shouldn't eat too much of, partly because I already feel great and have engaged the happy parts of my brain, and partly because I don't want to undo the good work I've done.

It's good to write that down now, because it's school holidays, I'm sitting in the kitchen and I'm feeling distinctly peckish! I will wait until lunch! I absolutely do not need to nibble before then.

Trenzalor I think you'll be acing your previous pbs pretty quickly. It's surprising how quickly your stamina increases with the regular outings. My 'local' park run is too far away to be useful but I've managed to create a regular running crew who are prepared to run early in the morning and we spur each other on. It's good to find equally motivated and enthusiastic buddies. Even if we don't feel quite so peppy at 6.45am, we do by the time we finish!

No-one should ever blame themselves for gaining weight - it’s what we’ve developed to do! We’re programmed to eat when there is food around – to store up fat for the lean times ahead – which in this day and age, don’t generally happen. We’ve never in our whole history had such an abundance of food available – nor have we eaten three meals a day, until very recent times.

Hevs don’t forget all the health benefits you’re gaining by fasting. At the very least you’ll have interrupted a constant supply of glucose to your body’s cells and forced them into self-repair mechanism!

Here's one for you, BC!
The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not. - Mark Twain

Mark Twain was a wise man, but evidently not always right!

hi. Can I ask for some advice please?

I started exercising properly at the beginning of this year doing 30 day shred, Jillian Michaels yoga meltdown and swimming. I did 7 days a week around 30 - 60 mins most days for around 8 weeks before cutting down.
I was reasonably active before this but had never done 'proper' exercise before.
I was also calorie counting and had gone from 10 stone 4 to 9 stone 2. I'm 5ft 8.

I started 5:2 and in the first week lost 2 pounds making my weight 9 stones. I'm very happy to maintain at this weight.

my exercise regime now is
mon, fri-- C25K (week 2) then 30 min yoga

Tues, Thurs- 30 day shred alternating levels each week

Weds- C25K

I've been having trouble with weak legs and a restless feeling I could describe as tickly in my legs that usually goes away soon after I eat.

I had assumed when I was CC that i wasn't getting enough calories to fuel the exercise which was part of the reason for switching to 5:2 but I'm having the same problem.
Can anyone shed any light on the cause?

I should also add that I became vegetarian at the start of the year too and although I'm not vegan I have been eating next to no dairy or eggs.
I think I'm eating plenty protein (provably more than before going veggie) so I don't think it's that. I also eat much healthier in general.

Sorry this is so long.

Mark Twain was a wise man, but evidently not always right!

Well, there was no 5:2 in his day, was there?

MrsWhiskers You made 2 major changes at the beginning of the year: going near-vegan and ramping up exercise.
Strenuous exercise requires more protein, as well as more iron and other minerals such as magnesium.
Your body may need time to adapt, but also you may need to tune your weekly routine.
I suggest tweaks in 3 areas:

Rest
. Ensure you go to bed early enough for sufficient sleep
. You seem to have Sat+Sun as restdays, so 5 consecutive training days. Try to make Thursday a restday and move that shred to Saturday
. Your exercise is very leg-oriented. Can you make one of your training days upper body only ? May also give you a more balanced body.

Protein
. Eat quinoa - about the only plant food which contains all amino acids
. Plenty of beans, lentils and legumes (peas, peanuts etc)
. Eat a small handful of nuts & seeds most days
. If you've no moral / taste objection, try grating cheese on suitable dishes or having yoghurt as a pud or garnish, e.g. raita, tzatziki

Iron, Magnesium
Women exercisers in particular need more iron (if young enough to have periods) With a vegan / veggie diet, you need to eat iron-containing foods with those containing vitamin C, to enable sufficient absorption.
Handily, these knds of foods will also up your magnesium.

Combine Vit C sources - especially good: apple, tomatoes, pomegranates, peaches, dates, bell peppers
with iron sources - recommended: spinach, soy / kidney beans, chick peas, almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, broccoli, baked potato

Suggestions:

• Bake cake / biscuits with dates and walnuts
• Add spinach and sesame seeds or roasted nuts to curry or stirfry
• Moroccan vegan tajine with chick peas and dried apricots
• Garnish a savoury dish with yoghurt and pomegranates
• Dessert: slices of orange sprinkled with roasted nuts and pomegranate

Thanks so much bigchoc that advice is really helpful.

Another study showing that shorter, more intense, sessions lower the risk of premature death more than longer sessions of low or medium intensity exercise.
Why I recommend HIIT, heavy lifting, martial arts, tabata.

mrswhiskers, is there a reason you can't eat eggs? I get most of my protein from them together with beans and peas. nothing beats a spicy bean and egg burger! Even so, I rarely hit my protein targets on mpf.

re arms: Shred Levels 2 and 3 are pretty tough on the arms and abs esp. with heavier weights. If you did want more arm stuff, though, Jillian's NMTZ workout always leaves mine trembling (esp circuits 1, 3 and 4 if time is an issue). Really, though- Shred is plenty.

mildly You need sufficient protein if you are exercising. Can you eat fish ? - salmon, mackerel etc are super-healthy. If not, I suggest you regularly have scrambled eggs or cheese / spinach omelette.

As a last resort, boost protein with shakes, either RTD (ready to drink) or make your own by mixing protein powder with water or almond milk.
Any big supermarket has tubs of whey-based protein powder - choose 80% or 90% protein, preferably with no more than 1g sugar per portion.
Health food shops may also have vegan shakes (pea-based)

Very quick exercises as requested by moo:

HIIT Fitness Blasts
Take a few mins per day, 3-5 days per week
To improve your fitness and your fat-burning metabolism

START with 2 mins warmup then EITHER

Sprint or Rope-skipping intervals
. 1 min sprinting / Skipping flat out +90 secs jogging to recover
. Do 5 intervals

OR

Fast Blasts
Choose one of these exercises:
Running, stationary bike set to low resistance, burpees, punchbag, step-ups, swimming, squats, lunges, pressups, tricep dips, situps, jumping jacks ... or any combination you like.

Then choose your type of Blast from this list:

4-minute Blast
. 4 mins @ 90% effort

"Tabata" = 8 x intervals of 20 secs @ 100% effort + 10 secs recovery (rest or slow speed)

2 x20-sec intervals=
. 20-sec @ 100% effort
. 2 mins walk to recover
. 20-sec @ 100% effort

END any HIIT or Fat Blast with a few mins cooldown walk / jog

Thanks, BigChoc. I don't particularly object to eating fish but never get it as I live very inland and it's not fresh. Might possibly have a look at protein supplements in the future but I don't think they sell them here... or Quorn or tofu. I suppose it's more eggs and beans then... I suspect I am not the most fragrant, tbh! Thanks again for your help.

mildly I can eat eggs and have reintroduced them into my diet. I was trying to follow a vegan diet but I have found it very difficult so have decided to reduce dairy but not cut it out completely.
I was on holiday the past week and have had no muscle pain/weakness at all as I haven't been exercising.
I aim to start again on Monday but will have a rest day mid week and see how I go with that.

MrsWhiskas it may not concern you, but female athletes often suffer from iron deficiency. I became anaemic last September and since then have taken an iron supplement daily, but my iron level is still quite low, even though I eat red meat and don't drink more than 2 or 3 cups of tea a day (tea is the worst thing for absorbing iron). Iron deficiency is just something to be careful of when you do a lot of exercise, more so if you are vegetarian.

MrsWhiskers That's why I was advising you to boost iron (my 1 April post)
It's good you are still eating eggs, because they are the gold standard for protein. However, it might be an idea to get your iron levels checked .
Also, do remember to combine vegetarian iron sources with Vit C in the same meal, to aid absorption.

Big Chocs advice was so good about iron deficiency, I just wanted to emphasize the importance of iron to exercising in women based on personal experience, as I wasn't aware of it before I got the iron deficiency!

Interesting about the tea affecting iron absorption. I've naturally virtually stopped drinking any black tea since my exercise levels increased. Coffee's still ok I hope? I usually drink a couple of cups in the morning.

I've always had to watch my iron intake - it's why I bought my cast iron frying pan - now my favourite kitchen utensil.

I was advised not to drink coffee or tea with a meal, and to have vitamin C with my food to aid absorption. So I have a mug of hot water and a small glass of apple juice with my lunch - but I still have wine with my dinner. Wouldn't want to forgo that!

I eat loads of dark green cabbage, broccoli and all that sort of thing.

My recent bloods have been OK.

While I'm here, does anyone know if the inner, paler leaves of Savoy cabbage, for instance, contain the same amount of iron as the outside dark green leaves?

Tea is particularly bad for iron absorption because the tannins form a complex with it I think. I'd rather forgotten about this - I've never had iron problems despite habitually drinking tea with brekkie and lunch but when I was pregnant I followed the advice to not have tea till well after a meal.

I'm terrible, I always take my iron supplement first thing in the morning...with a cup of tea . Probably as useful as a chocolate teacup.
I managed a PB in my Half Marathon yesterday, 1H42 with a podium place for my category. Really good weather conditions and I still had the marathon training in my legs so that must have helped. Unfortunately my GI problems after were worse than ever, as well as the diarrhea I vomited...maybe time to give up racing? It is definitely the effort that causes the problems, from around 20kms +. 10k racing is OK.

Well done on your helf-marathon pb, Anglaise
I'm so sorry about the D&V, must take some joy out of it.
Yes, that sounds like your body is too stressed by the longer distances, so maybe not good for your health.
I would recommend keeping to the distances that don't cause distress.