@Cultured Bogan said:
Does anybody here take body conditioning seriously? I'm trying to trim down and carb backloading was suggested. Does the system actually work?
I've been lifting weights in the gym since I was 18 CB, so half my life basically. I've never competed in a bodybuilding contest but have friends who have, and I've tinkered around with a few diets over the years, but the best way for me to slim down, has always been a case of keeping my diet strict and boring (which isn't hard for me since I'm a fussy eater anyway).
I'm at a point now where I'm slimming down slowly simply because I find my current bodyweight a little too heavy. Weight training is a great way to burn bodyfat, so I would suggest by starting off your training with mixed weights. Don't be concerned about lifting huge weights, what you want to do is lift a moderate weight, something that will give you a burn, but something you can bang out 10-15 reps with. Keep the rest breaks very short, the idea here is to keep the intensity up and get your heart and blood pumping. You should spend no more than 30 minutes on the weights, and then move into cardio, and provided you don't have any injuries, mix it up, alternate between jogging, spin bike, cross trainer, rowing machines etc. Basically just keep changing it up. 30-45 minutes should get you to where you want to be IMO. You should be aiming to train a consistent 4-5 times per week.
The other factor is diet. My big weakness is sugar, rather than outright carbs. I've always found protein powders beneficial for recovery, rather than for gaining size, and these days they are considered meal replacements with all the vitamins and amino acids that go into them. Avoid starchy vegetables like pumpkin and potato (slow burning carbs so they'll sit on you for longer). Plenty of meat, chicken and fish and change that up with a variety of vegetables and salads. A few bodybuilders I know eat rice cakes for snacks (very bland but they're filling and contain stuff all carbs). Avoid fruit juice because of the sugar content, obviously soft drinks and alcohol too. Basically drink as much water as you can. Diet will play a huge part in how effective your training really is mate.
Hope some of this helps, but there are so many different diets out there, it can get confusing so my advice is to try and keep it simple.