The Dark Side of Cardio-and a Cure

I meet a lot of you that are stuck. Stuck with 20-30 even 50 pounds of fat you don’t want. Stuck in clothes that are 4 sizes larger than you want to be in.  Often you’re stuck working out for hours and hours with no results to show for it!  Sometimes you’re even gaining fat because of the exercise you do!

Everyone it seems, including the USDA, thinks that the key to fat-loss is lots and lots of aerobic exercise. And you’re probably thinking to yourself, “If I could just get an extra couple of hours of some of that  sweet cardio  maybe 6 or 7 days a week, then I’d see a flat stomach for sure!”

For the record –IT’S NOT TRUE! Not at all. Not even a little bit.
You’ve been told Lies, Lies, Lies!

Did you know the USDA came out with their recommendation to do 60-90 minutes of aerobics for fat-loss in 2005?  The FIRST EVER research study to confirm the accuracy  of their advice didn’t come out until LATE 2007. Do you know what the study showed?

Men who did moderate to vigorous (target heart rate zone) exercise for over 60 minutes per day, 6 days per week, for an ENITRE YEAR lost ONLY 6.5 lbs of body fat! That is a half pound per month, for more than 6 hours of exercise per week!

So, if you had 20 lbs to lose, all you’d need is 18 hours of aerobic exercise per week and you’d be set in 12 months! Do you have 18 hours to spare each week? No really do you? If you did would you really want to spend it power walking on a treadmill?

There’s a better way that will get you much leaner in way less time. But because of the brainwashing that has set in you may need a little more convincing.  So let’s look at two more studies.
Researchers in Australia took two groups and put them on very different programs.
Group 1

■ 20 minutes of high-intensity interval training (at week one they did only 5 min)

■ 3 days per week

■ In 15 weeks, they lost an average of 5.5 lbs of fat

Group 2
■ 40 minutes of steady state aerobics (TWICE as much exercise)

■ 3 days per week

■ In 15 weeks, they GAINED an average of 1 lbs of fat

In HALF as much time, the interval group lost body fat while the steady state group actually got fatter(ouch)!

This is not new information.

Way back in 1994 Canadian researchers pitted steady-state aerobics vs. interval training:
Group 1: Was put on a 15-week interval training program

■ Burned only 13,614 calories during their workouts

Group 2: Was put on a 20-week steady-state aerobic program (5 weeks longer)

■ Burned 28,661 calories during their workouts (more than TWICE as many)

But Group 1(interval training) lost 450% MORE body fat than group 2, despite the fact that their training program was both shorter AND burned fewer calories! The calories you burn during your workout are much less important than the calories  you burn after your workout.

What exactly is Interval Training? I’d describe it as working very hard for a brief period(usually 30seconds to 2min) followed by a longer period of relatively easy recovery. You warm up, do this hard/easy cycle 6-10 times, cool down and stop.A 20-30minute workout at most. But way better results than hours of cardio. And you also have more time for the more interesting things in your life.

Why Interval Training Is So Much Better:
Interval training is like putting your money in a high-yield, low-risk mutual fund (which doesn’t actually exist) while steady-state aerobics is like saving your money under your mattress. It beats spending everything you make, but you get no residual benefit and your money (efforts) are constantly being eroded by inflation.

Example:A 30-minute jog will give you 30 minutes of a metabolic boost and that’s it. So, it is definitely better than watching American Idol for fat-loss.

However, a 20-minute, high-intensity interval workout will:

■ Burn more calories during the actual workout

■ Create a 12, 24, or even 36 hour metabolic boost after you workout (this way you actually can work on your fat-loss while watching American Idol)

■ Cause your body to burn more fat all day long (your body will burn a greater percentage of calories from fat all day long after an intense workout. Whereas, the low-intensity stuff, like jogging, seems to decreases this percentage slightly.)

In addition there really is aerobic “inflation.” Every time you do an aerobic workout your body gets better at it – better in the sense that it burns fewer calories and less fat every time you do the workout.
With interval (and resistance training) you can train once and reap the benefits for 1-2 days afterwards.  But, with aerobics the benefits cease as soon as you stop exercising.

These studies are one reason clients dump so much fat when they switch to our  programs. Even when they’ve already been exercising for a long time. Our Bootcamps don’t have any long runs. Just short burst cardio sessions(usually body-weight cardio) interspersed with resistance. Because steady state isn’t effective for fat loss we threw it out. So you get better results in less time.

Friday I’ll share a few beginner and intermediate Short-Burst Cardio programs you can use in your training to start or accelerate your own fat-loss.

Dedicated to Your Success,

Dave