Jumper & sweatpants or shorts & Tee? High Ambiant Training-Fact or fiction?

[MTBer_Lizy]

Over the last 8 weeks I have dramatically changed my lifestyle in the desperate attempt to shed the weight I gained after a pretty major op and a years worth of rehab (I lost a fair whack of muscle so in reality I think I must have gained about 8-12kg of fat and lost around 3-5kg of Muscle, scale said +7kg) I am still pretty fit as I have luckily been able to ride and swim all year but my diet has been somewhat slack! plus then I topped off the year with 3 1/2 weeks in the UK which was a rather over endulgent holiday full of booze and foods I have been missing the last 12 years!!

As per any lifestyle change the first 3-4kg shifted relitively easy but now it is time to get drastic... without jeopardising my muscle growth/health/fitness!

I have 6 weeks left before my first big race of the new season (I have spent the last year doing the smaller races and training to about 1/2 usual intensity) and I still have 4-5 KG fat to drop...(down 3.5kg on the scale and 3% body fat gone)
I have cut Alcohol and sugar out of my diet, changed my macros to 20-30/35-40/35-40 (Carbs/ Fats/Proteins but have one day a week with 35-45% carbs to keep them in the system) and train 2+hours a day 6-7 days a week.

I have joined a new gym which has defo helped with the motivation and I have a trainer helping come up with a suitable program, (OK FINALLY getting to the point now! promise) and he has suggested I start doing my Cardio all rugged up in jumpers and trackpants etc to make me sweat more?! Now I have never been a big believer in this technique as I believe it is purely shifting water weight which in turn will dehydrate you/put too much strain on the body and be more negative than positive BUT within 90 mins of this style cardio I consume 2-3 litres of water which keeps me hydrated and I am always well fuelled and only work within my fat burning zone so to not break down muscle for fuel so in theory I can see that it may actually be a good thing? If nothing it helps flush my system of any toxins? Plus it is easier to raise the heart rate and get me to the right zone/keep me there? (I have a pretty low resting heartrate so it is pretty hard to get to the zone) Which can only be a bonus right? AND when it comes around to racing I will be in lycra and nice and lovely and cool so it will therefore be a little easier??

What are your thoughts? Have you tried this? Does it work? is it beneficial or will I be doing more negative than positive?
Any other suggestions to drop weight fast but healthily? I run with a 500cal deficit at the moment but eat around 2000-3000 a day exercise dependant and am not interested in reducing my intake any further as I believe it would be only detrimental to my health (I am 27yr old, 5ft4, 63.5kg female)

Appreciate your comments and if you havnt snoozed off my now then thanks for reading!! 🙂

[Raviv · Accepted solution]

I will admit that I don't know the science pros and cons, but I see a few people do it at my gym and I'm not even slightly tempted.

Yes, it raises your body temp, and it makes you sweat more.  I'm sure that's somehow a wonderful thing because you're likely burning more calories or something.

But I live where it gets hot, and I don't mean just a little.  Our forecast high for this weekend is still over 100F, and it's nearly October.  It's that way from around May until it finally breaks sometime in October.  I run at the gym during the week because heat really does not make for a good workout.  There are charts you can find all over the place that will tell you an increase of X degrees ambient temperature will result in a pace reduction of Y seconds per mile.  I've tried it running in heat, thinking it couldn't be that bad, and it's really hard.  And I've lived here for almost two decades, so I'm used to it.

So, while I'm sure you're burning more calories at higher temps (which is what adding clothing is doing - artificially elevating the temperature you're working out in), your stamina is going to be lowered and your power will also be less.  I'm not sure that's a very good tradeoff.

The only time I could see it being beneficial is if you know you have some kind of competition and it's in a hot climate, so you would be acclimating yourself to the heat so you could perform better when you compete.  For regular training?  Nope.  I don't see a net gain.

[WendyB]

I totally agree with @Raviv. It will also not help you lose weight faster.

Its better to come off slow so it stays off.

It also does not appeal to me.

Good luck with what ever you decide!

[MTBer_Lizy]

Thanks for the reply raviv and Wendy! 🙂

Makes total sense and it's how I have always thought too! Just being told by a professional to give it a go made me raise the question because it's important to get back to race weight and I know once it's gone it's gone!
I've only done it three days this week and felt great but today at the gym I felt very fatigued and think it's down to that!!
Not for me I don't think! Probably best to just train harder!!:) and keep the intake clean and lean 🙂
Ps raviv where do you live?!! Sounds far to hot to be fun!! Eash!

[Cath123]

ugh that trainer sounds so silly. i feel bad for you :L like come on, if you sit in a sauna eating chips, does that mean you can get away with it cos you sweating the calories out?

[Raviv]

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@MTBer_Lizy wrote:

Ps raviv where do you live?!! Sounds far to hot to be fun!! Eash!

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I'm in Vegas.  And yes, it sucks.

Making it even more fun, the hottest part of the year is also monsoon season.  Despite what everyone says, it's not always a dry heat.  We have storms coming in about once a week or so for at least two or three months.

Thankfully, I no longer work outside.  I did that for six years, and it was really rough.  Some of my routes were up to 20 miles of walking in a day.  Most were 10-15 miles.  When it's 110F and you're walking on gravel and blacktop, it's just plain hot, no matter how many years you've had to acclimate.

[MTBer_Lizy]

Oo the real Vegas! In New Zealand we have a place called Rotorua (you may have seen it if you watched the Crankworx events this year) and we call it Roto-Vegas haha not actually 100% sure why (it doesnt even have a casino!) but I think it is because it has THE best Mountain Biking in the North island of NZ and I suppose the gamble is with your life haha, it is Epic there anyway and I spend as much time there riding as possible...even if it does smell like rotten eggs!

Anyways wowsers to the heat and Monsoons! all sounds rather horrible to be honest! Humidity is a killer! It does get pretty muggy and humid here but I do not think I should complain really?!

That is mad how much you used to have to walk! Although a sure fire way to keep fit I am sure?! I hate sitting at a desk all day but it defo has its advantages eh?!

On a side note, I was super lathargic yesterday and felt horrific whilst at the gym, I know I am well hydrated and fuelled but I guess its extra added strain on my body with the extra heat so it has really answered my question for me aswell as reading your advise 🙂 Problem solved! back to dry fit and lycra haha

[MTBer_Lizy]

I have to give the guy a little credit, he did highlight the fact diet is the biggest factor for this and he wouldnt have even mentioned it if he thought I wasnt going to put in the effort, not like he was suggesting I simply try and sweat more to burn calories, he has prescribed hard work! treadmill jogging with 12-15% incline is a sure fire way to burn calories, jumpers or no jumpers! and when it comes to the exercises he has done lots of research to look after my needs (my body is rather faulty) and knows what he is talking about.
I guess when somebody rocks up and says they have to drop weight fast water loss is an easy solution that a lot of people would like to hear, I do however have to keep the weight off and it isn't a matter of just being a certain weight to weigh in for, like for a fight or something so perhaps I will mention that another strategy may be the way for me 🙂 It may have been me that explained my situation wrong rather than him being silly. Not here to point fingers 🙂

[Raviv]

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@MTBer_Lizy wrote:

That is mad how much you used to have to walk! Although a sure fire way to keep fit I am sure?! I hate sitting at a desk all day but it defo has its advantages eh?!

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I have a desk job now but, believe it or not, I was actually gaining weight while I had that job.  Only about 30 pounds, but I definitely found a way.