Vince DelMonte graduated with an Honors Degree in Kinesiology, is a Personal Trainer, became a Canadian Fitness Model Champion, is a contributor to Men's Fitness Magazine and has the #2 top selling exercise program on the Web in Vince DelMonte's No-Nonsense Muscle Building .
My training protocol over the past 8+ months has been high intensity interval training (HIIT) combined with circuit training. While this protocol has been extremely successful for me, I realize that it doesn't work for everyone which is why I started to take a closer look at Vince's program which focuses on the periodization method of training .
While there are pros and cons to every type of training program, there is no argument that Vince has had tremendous results which makes periodization training a definite consideration.
Q&A With Vince DelMonte
Question: Do you need to do cardio to burn body fat? If so, what kind of cardio is the most effective?
VD: Unless you have amazing genetics than you can probably eat whatever you want and do zero cardio and still have ripped abs but lets leave those people out of the equation.
Fat is simply “stored energy’ and we need to burn that energy off our bodies. There is no “best” form of cardio because I have gotten ripped doing interval cardio, long and slow cardio and a mixture. It all works and just depends on your fitness level, your time availability and what you prefer.
Personally I like to do long and slow cardio on an empty stomach in the early morning for about 45-60 minutes – this does not drain me for my weights later that day and it does not strip my muscle off.
In the evening, after my weights, I'll do another 20-30 minutes of interval cardio or moderate intensity cardio to really dig out the fat.
My cardio regime might appear intense and my total training volume can be over 2 hours a day during the last 4 weeks before a show – but realize that I progressed to this over time. Did you get that?
A beginner should create a “pre-set” cardio regime and just add “sessions” or “units of time” each week if necessary. For example, you might start with four 45-minute cardio sessions and then add a fifth 45-minute session when your progress halts. A few weeks later you might need to add a sixth 45-minute session. However, if you are dropping weight with four 45-minutes sessions then you don’t need to add the fifth. See how YOU must think too?
There is no magic formula that works like fairy dust. You need to be involved in the process and watch your body change and add more intensity and volume based on your progress. This is not a guessing game and “hoping it will come off” game.
Question: What is the best exercise to lose belly fat?
VD: I honestly have no idea – I have not found that exercise yet.
Any exercise that forces you to sweat furiously; causes your heart rate to pound out of your chest; makes you suck for air like you’re sprinting; and makes your muscles burn like they
are on fire would be the best exercise.
If you had the fitness level to perform 10-20 minutes of squats or dead lifts then this would create the experience I just described above.
Remember, fat loss is a function of being in a caloric deficit and creating high levels of growth hormone in your body. Now ask yourself, which exercise or combination of exercises will achieve this?
Question: How did you use social support during your competition preparation phase? How did you deal with people who wanted you to go out drinking or for crappy food?
VD: Despite how strong your will power is, certain situations are best off just being avoided so I developed a mentality, "I can drink alcohol and eat the foods I'm missing out on for the rest of my life but for the next 8 weeks I'm going to get ripped or die trying."
People make you feel like you're obsessed and doing this "crazy thing" the rest of your life but in reality it's only 6-12 weeks of your LIFE and then you'll look SO different you'll be motivated to stay where you are which is much easier than getting there.
I announced that I was competing to my closest friends, on facebook, my blog, to my family, and clients. When that happens all eyes fall on you and people are now watching your every move and will decided if you're just a talker or really serious. That was HUGE motivation for me personally.
There you go Catapult Fitness Blog readers. New food for thought and certainly the first posting on this blog that has ever touted long, slow cardio. When you look at Vince's success, it makes you feel it's worth a try.
You can read more about Vince's No-Nonsense Muscle Building program by clicking here .
Train hard; stay strong.
Peace.
Susan
Vince DelMonte graduated with an Honors Degree in Kinesiology, is a Personal Trainer, became a Canadian Fitness Model Champion, is a contributor to Men's Fitness Magazine and has the #2 top selling exercise program on the Web in Vince DelMonte's No-Nonsense Muscle Building .
My training protocol over the past 8+ months has been high intensity interval training (HIIT) combined with circuit training. While this protocol has been extremely successful for me, I realize that it doesn't work for everyone which is why I started to take a closer look at Vince's program which focuses on the periodization method of training .
While there are pros and cons to every type of training program, there is no argument that Vince has had tremendous results which makes periodization training a definite consideration.
Q&A With Vince DelMonte
Question: Do you need to do cardio to burn body fat? If so, what kind of cardio is the most effective?
VD: Unless you have amazing genetics than you can probably eat whatever you want and do zero cardio and still have ripped abs but lets leave those people out of the equation.
Fat is simply “stored energy’ and we need to burn that energy off our bodies. There is no “best” form of cardio because I have gotten ripped doing interval cardio, long and slow cardio and a mixture. It all works and just depends on your fitness level, your time availability and what you prefer.
Personally I like to do long and slow cardio on an empty stomach in the early morning for about 45-60 minutes – this does not drain me for my weights later that day and it does not strip my muscle off.
In the evening, after my weights, I'll do another 20-30 minutes of interval cardio or moderate intensity cardio to really dig out the fat.
My cardio regime might appear intense and my total training volume can be over 2 hours a day during the last 4 weeks before a show – but realize that I progressed to this over time. Did you get that?
A beginner should create a “pre-set” cardio regime and just add “sessions” or “units of time” each week if necessary. For example, you might start with four 45-minute cardio sessions and then add a fifth 45-minute session when your progress halts. A few weeks later you might need to add a sixth 45-minute session. However, if you are dropping weight with four 45-minutes sessions then you don’t need to add the fifth. See how YOU must think too?
There is no magic formula that works like fairy dust. You need to be involved in the process and watch your body change and add more intensity and volume based on your progress. This is not a guessing game and “hoping it will come off” game.
Question: What is the best exercise to lose belly fat?
VD: I honestly have no idea – I have not found that exercise yet.
Any exercise that forces you to sweat furiously; causes your heart rate to pound out of your chest; makes you suck for air like you’re sprinting; and makes your muscles burn like they
are on fire would be the best exercise.
If you had the fitness level to perform 10-20 minutes of squats or dead lifts then this would create the experience I just described above.
Remember, fat loss is a function of being in a caloric deficit and creating high levels of growth hormone in your body. Now ask yourself, which exercise or combination of exercises will achieve this?
Question: How did you use social support during your competition preparation phase? How did you deal with people who wanted you to go out drinking or for crappy food?
VD: Despite how strong your will power is, certain situations are best off just being avoided so I developed a mentality, "I can drink alcohol and eat the foods I'm missing out on for the rest of my life but for the next 8 weeks I'm going to get ripped or die trying."
People make you feel like you're obsessed and doing this "crazy thing" the rest of your life but in reality it's only 6-12 weeks of your LIFE and then you'll look SO different you'll be motivated to stay where you are which is much easier than getting there.
I announced that I was competing to my closest friends, on facebook, my blog, to my family, and clients. When that happens all eyes fall on you and people are now watching your every move and will decided if you're just a talker or really serious. That was HUGE motivation for me personally.
There you go Catapult Fitness Blog readers. New food for thought and certainly the first posting on this blog that has ever touted long, slow cardio. When you look at Vince's success, it makes you feel it's worth a try.
You can read more about Vince's No-Nonsense Muscle Building program by clicking here .
Train hard; stay strong.
Peace.
Susan