2 Cardio Mistakes You're Still Making
The controversies over cardio for fat loss are
endless: steady state versus intervals, fed versus fasted, long and easy versus
short and intense, and so on. Obviously there is a lot of interest in cardio
training and how to do it right. Sadly, most people are still doing 2 things
terribly wrong and it’s killing their results…… As best as I can figure, there
are two major reasons why people are still mucking up their cardio programs for
fat loss.
REASON #1: NOT ENOUGH FOCUS ON TOTAL CALORIES BURNED
Most people aren’t burning enough darn calories.
Why? Well, I guess they are
too busy worrying about the “proper” type of exercise
(which machine or activity), the mode (steady state or intervals), the
“optimal” ratio of intervals, or the “best”
duration.
Some people coast along on
the treadmill at 2.3 miles per
hour or some similar sloth-like pace and they think
that just by hitting a TIME goal, such as 45 or 60 minutes, that with
“X” duration completed, they are assured to get the results
they want.
On the other extreme, we
have folks who have found or created
some mega-intense, super-duper short training protocol like the
“4-minute wonder workout from Japan.” Just because the
workout is high in intensity and it is performed in intervals, they too
think they are assured to get the results they want.
What’s missing in both cases is the realization that total
fat loss over time is a function of total calories burned over
time (assuming you don’t blow your diet, of course).
AND…
Total calories burned is a product of INTENSITY times DURATION, not intensity OR duration.
Too much focus on one
variable at the exclusion of the other
can lead to a less than optimal total calorie burn and disappointing
results. And remember, intensity and duration are *variables* not
absolutes! (“Variable” means you can change them…
even
if your “guru” says you can’t!)
When you understand the
relationship and interplay between
INTENSITY X DURATION you will find a “SWEET SPOT” where the
product of those variables produces the maximal calorie burn and
maximum fat loss, based on your current health
condition and your need for time efficiency.
REASON #2: TOO MUCH FOCUS ON WHAT TYPE OF CALORIES BURNED
As best as I can figure, there is one whopper of a mistake
that is still KILLING most people’s cardio programs and that is…
Way too much focus on WHAT you are burning during the workout -
fats or carbohydrates - also known as “substrate utilization.”
This idea comes from the notorious “fat burning zone” myth which
actually tells people to exercise SLOWER and LESS intensely
to burn more fat.
Hold on a minute. Pop quiz. Which workout burns more calories?
(A) A 30 minute leisurely stroll through the park
(B) A 30 minute, sweat-pouring, heart-pounding, lung-burning run?
Like, DUH!
And yet we have trainers, authors and infomercial gurus STILL telling us we have to
slow down if we want to burn more fat??? Bizarre.
The reason people still buy it is because the “fat burning zone” myth sounds so plausible because of two little science facts:
And that's the problem. You
should be focusing on total calories and total fat burned during the
workout and all day long, not just what type or percentage of fuel you
are burning during the workout.
It’s not that fat oxidation doesn’t matter, but what if you have a high percentage of fat oxidation but an extremely low number of calories burned?
If you really want to be in the “fat burn zone,” you could sit on your couch all day long and that will keep you there quite nicely because “couch sitting” is a really low intensity (“fat-burning”) activity.
(Of course, “couch sitting” only burns 37 calories per half hour…)
HERE’S THE FAT-BURNING SOLUTION!
In both cases, the solution to burning more fat is drop dead simple: Focus your attention on how you can burn more TOTAL
calories during your workout and all day long.
If you want to burn more fat, burn more calories and you can
do that by manipulating ANY of the variables : intensity, duration and also frequency.
If you build your training program around this concept, you will be on the right track almost every time.
BUT WAIT - THERE IS MORE TO IT…
Naturally, we could argue that it’s not quite
this simple and that there are hundreds of other reasons
why your cardio program might not be working… and I would
agree, of course. But on the exercise side, the ideas above
should be foremost in your mind.
On the nutrition side, you have to get your act together there too.
For example, many people
increase their food intake at the same time as they start a cardio
training program thereby putting back in every calorie they burned
during the workout!
Then some of them have the nerve to say, “SEE, cardio doesn't
work!”
Incidentally, this is the exact reason that a few studies show that adding cardio or aerobic training to a diet “did not improve fat loss”: It’s not because the cardio didn’t work, it was because the researchers didn't control for diet and the subjects ate more!!
It should go without saying that nutrition is the foundation on which every fat loss program is built.
Choose the combination of type, intensity, duration and frequency that suits your lifestyle and preferences the best, and WORK THE VARIABLES to get the fat loss results you want, but whichever cardio program you choose, remember that a solid fat burning nutrition program, such as Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle is necessary to help you make the most of it.
Train hard and expect success,
Tom Venuto
Tom Venuto is a
natural bodybuilder, certified
personal
trainer and freelance fitness writer. Tom is the author of "Burn the
Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean
without
drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and
fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your
metabolism by visiting: burnthefat
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