Weight loss under less than ideal conditions

[vanslix]

Hey Doc Popeye,

Age 40, male
Poor sleep because, you know.
Bench 290 x three singles
Press 177.5 x three doubles
Deadlift 355 x three singles

I have a month where I have some opportunity where it's feasible to lose some weight. I've gotten WAY too fluffy, shit, let's be honest, I'm a stone's throw away from the Fat Bastard. I know cuts should be controlled and slow and all. Ain't nobody got time for that. I know exactly how much to eat to lose weight. My one single question is thus.

I want to increase my cardiopulmonary stamina while cutting. Haven't done shit but walk the wards for cardio. HIIT for once a week (Airdyne 1:5 ratio x 6 rounds initially) and then 1-2 x 15-20 minute LISS sessions per week sound reasonable while cutting? I know and accept I'll get weaker but will maintain intensity to minimize muscle loss. But getting stronger hasn't solved my chronic pain (congenital spinal defects). Losing abdominal girth seems as reasonable as anything else I've tried as the two biggest defects are at T10 and L6.

Thanks,
Isaac

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

I think if you have a month's time then most of your conditioning time should be spent doing interval work of the anaerobic and aerobic type. While I do think there is utility in pure aerobic stuff, the problem is that one month isn't long enough to generate the adaptations yielded from LISS (those take longer to manifest, in general) WRT to cardiac output/stroke volume/capillary density/mitochondrial biogenesis, whereas we can see these adaptations from HIIT in this abbreviated time. My preferred approach would to do both, but again- time is a concern. So my recommendation is going to be 2 pure high intensity sessions, 1 aerobic interval session, and 1 LISS session. It might look like this to start:

Day 1: HIIT- 15s sprint (uphill if running, rower, airdyne, prowler), 2 min rest x 10 (goal: borderline alactic interval/anaerobic interval work)
Day 2: Aerobic Intervals: Run 100m or Row 200m @ RPE 8 then run 100 or row 200m @ RPE 5-6 (slow jog or row) x 1600m (run) or 2k (row)
Day 3: HIIT: 12s sprint, 60s rest x 12 rounds
Day 4: LSD/LISS: 35 min row/jog/cycle @ RPE 6 (HR <135)

[vanslix]

Thank you, sir.