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Depending on your goals and body type,
different amounts of cardio may be required. A
lean "hard-gainer" trying to add mass may
benefit from only one or two cardiovascular
sessions per week. On the other hand, someone
like myself who is extremely prone to storing
fat and sensitive to carbohydrates may require 3
or more sessions in order to maintain peak
physique. Since you can only get better at a
particular exercise by performing it, those
interested in running marathons or participating
in endurance events such as a triathlon must
increase their frequency of cardio in order to
prepare for the event.
MAXIM 1: Your body type and goal for training
will dictate the type, frequency, and length of
your cardio
When your goal for cardio is general health,
you have a few decisions to make about what type
of cardio you will perform. Many people enjoy
taking long, slow runs. Enjoying cardio is
important, so if you find an enjoyable method of
cardio, there is no reason why you should
discard it. The same decision should influence
your choice for timing. Many people claim that
you must perform cardio first thing in the
morning and/or on an empty stomach to see
maximal benefit. I disagree. If you have trouble
waking up or putting a full effort into morning
cardio, and will get a much more vigorous
workout in the evening, then why not do it then?
Perform cardio when you feel the best, when you
are ready and know you will stick with it and
give it 100%.
MAXIM 2: Find cardio that you enjoy, and do
it when you feel you have the most energy
There are many styles of cardio. There is
some debate about what cardio is best for you.
People preach about training in the "zone" of a
particular heart rate for maximum fat burning
benefit. While it is true that your body will
utilize more fat for energy during this period,
this is not the entire picture. Moderate cardio
means your body will recover quickly - your
heart rate will return to normal within a short
period. Intense cardio, which elevates your
heart rate beyond the "zone", may not burn as
much fat during the exercise, but your body will
take longer to recover. Your body must process
waste and your heart rate will remain elevated
for hours after the bout of exercise. You will
burn more calories throughout the day, and
therefore you will receive a superior benefit.
To better understand this, let's consider a
situation where you burn 200 calories during
exercise. You have a choice: you might burn
those calories walking at a brisk pace and
reading a book, and it will take you 1 hour. Or,
you might burn those calories performing short
sprints followed by periods of moderate jogging,
and you will burn those calories in 20 minutes.
While the "hour" cardio kept you in the "zone"
for fat burning, guess what? The 20-minute
cardio elevated your heart rate and took you
into an anaerobic zone where your body
accumulated an "oxygen debt" - a need for oxygen
and fat burning to help flush waste from your
system and recover from the intense exercise. So
during a 24-hour window, you will burn MORE than
the 200 calories, and therefore be closer to
your fat loss goal.
While there is no hard, scientific evidence
to support this next maxim, I truly believe in
it. I have witnessed this not only in my own
transformation, but also with countless others
as well.
MAXIM 3: The less time it takes to burn the
same amount of calories, the more calories you
will expend later that day
This maxim may seem confusing, but it's very
simple. It means that if you are going to burn
200 calories, when you burn that 200 calories in
20 minutes instead of 1 hour, your metabolism
will increase throughout the day and you'll end
up burning MORE than 200 hours when that day is
done. This is why high intensity interval
cardio, like that recommended in David
Greenwalt's book, The Leanness Lifestyle or the
"20-Minute Aerobic Solution?" which is
recommended by Bill Phillips in Body-for-LIFE?
is so effective - it burns the most amount of
fat in the shortest period of time
Just because high intensity cardio may burn
more calories doesn't make it superior to
moderate cardio except with respect to calories
burned. There is some evidence that you may
improve your cardiovascular health more quickly
with high intensity cardio, but this is no
reason to discard your long runs. If you have a
busy schedule and wish you fit 3 short,
20-minute sessions, then intensity is the way to
go. If, however, you truly enjoy your long bike
ride or jog on the weekends, then go ahead and
do it - you will still be improving your health
and burning calories, and if it is something
that you enjoy, you will stick with it!
Remember, too, that if you are training for a
marathon, all of the 20-minute high intensity
cardio in the world will not prepare you fully
to run 20+ miles. You must perform the moderate,
long duration cardio to prepare your body for
the event.
This leads us to another maxim. Your heart
rate can provide you a lot of information about
your training. Over time, your resting heart
rate should decrease. Mine went from the high
60's to a current value of 48 due to my
cardiovascular conditioning. When you train with
weights, you can use a heart rate monitor to see
what your target heart rate is (weight training
will take it to the anaerobic levels, or about
the maximum heart rate you would want to train
at) - this will provide much better feedback
than a generic formula. By tracking your heart
rate, you can monitor your effort. If you train
today at 160bpm then have a lousy day and don't
feel like you're receiving any benefit, use your
heart rate as a guide. As long as you are
pushing hard enough to hit that 160bmp mark
again, you know you are getting at least the
same intensity from your training as the time
before.
MAXIM 4: Use your heart rate as a tool for
feedback about your progress, not as a "RULE"
for fat loss (i.e. the "zone", etc)
Many people are very intrigued by the
readouts on machines when they perform cardio.
Unfortunately, those numbers are based on
generic equations that fit the "general
population" rather than you as an individual.
For example, calories burned are based on your
weight. A 200-pound person at 8% body fat will
have the same formula applied as a 200-pound
person at 30% body fat. However, the more that
you train and the leaner you are, the less
calories you will burn during the same activity.
In this example, the 8% person will actually
burn fewer calories than the 30% person, due to
their level of health and amount of lean mass.
There are also issues with metabolism, activity
throughout the day, nutrition, and many other
factors that are not taken into account.
Does this mean that the readouts are
worthless? Not at all. In fact, they are very
useful. When I did my morning run this morning,
the readout said that I burned 610 calories in
30 minutes. While I may not have truly expended
that amount of energy, it is a great reference
for me. Why? Because the next time that I
perform cardio on that machine, I'm going to
push myself harder and try to burn 650 calories.
Again, I may not actually be burning 650
calories, but you can be certain that if the
readout gives me that number, I will be working
harder next week than I did today. So it is a
great tool to gauge your own progress. It is
also a great tool to mix up your style of
training. If I do a high intensity workout and
burn "400" calories, then I know if I come back
and perform moderate training, I can shoot for
"400" calories and expend about the same amount
of energy during the activity.
MAXIM 5: Do not take the readouts on cardio
machines literally - use them as a scale to
gauge your own progress
It is interesting to learn the various ways
that different styles of cardio expend energy. A
slow, moderate run may take 45 minutes to burn
400 calories. However, the same amount of
calories might be expended in a 15 minute, high
intensity run. This is due to the fact that your
heart rate becomes extremely elevated, and your
muscles begin performing extreme work in order
to help you accelerate through the intense
periods. On the same token, a "slow" jog on a
steep incline may burn the same amount of
calories. In this situation, your body is
fighting against gravity, so again you are still
performing "high intensity" effort despite the
slower pace.
As a final ingredient, consider variety. I
can guarantee that if you always use the
treadmill, your body will become so efficient at
using the treadmill that you will begin to burn
fewer calories doing the same workout. On the
other hand, if you perform treadmill work one
session, stair climber work another session,
then go for a jog, you will continue to see the
benefit of increased calorie expenditure. If
your training permits, try to build in as much
variety as possible. This will keep the fat
melting off and continuously improve your
cardiovascular condition.
MAXIM 6: Variety is key - whenever possible,
vary not only your style of training (i.e.
moderate, high intensity, etc) but also the
terrain or equipment that you train on
I often have clients complain that they don't
have access to the right equipment to perform
much variety with cardio. If you simply purchase
an inexpensive jump rope, you can easily train
two different exercises: jogging, and jump
roping. Now consider different styles of
training: moderate (low intensity), high
intensity interval training, and just high
intensity training (where you try to elevate
your heart rate and maintain that throughout the
duration of the exercise). This alone provides 6
different possibilities for a cardio session,
which is more than enough variety to change
things throughout your training cycles.
Cardiovascular exercise is an important
component of general health. While certain
people may require different amounts and types
of cardio, everyone should engage in at least a
little cardiovascular activity each week. There
are many methods for training which all have
their advantages. You should learn what works
for you and what you truly enjoy so that you
will continue to perform cardio and reap
benefits of good health.
Don't let someone fool you into thinking
cardio isn't necessary. Even if you are in top
shape, a little cardiovascular exercise can
still benefit your general health. The key is to
change the style and frequency of cardio to
suite your lifestyle and fitness goals. Consider
various styles of training, different terrains,
and new types of equipment to train on. As
always, learn your body and don't use any one
else's rules to dictate your training. Keep a
good journal, and find out what works for you.
Peak cardio is a sure way to move closer to your
peak, natural physique.
You deserve to hear this topic covered in
amazing detail as part of the 5-CD audio
program, Lose Fat, Not Faith - pick up your copy
online at
Natural Physiques today!
Jeremy Likness, the CEO of Natural Physiques
(a division of Golden Summit Inc) is a Certified
Fitness Trainer and Specialist in Performance
Nutrition. He has coached clients around the
world to lose fat, gain muscle, and live healthy
after losing over 65 pounds of fat himself. He
is the author of the internationally-selling
e-Book, "Lose Fat, Not Faith" that has been sold
in over a dozen countries. Visit Jeremy at
http://www.naturalphysiques.com and join him
on his weekly coaching call at
http://www.become-your-best.com. |
