Want to lose Body fat? Stop doing only cardio workouts!

If you are a cardio junkie and not getting results you want, you need to rethink your approach. A personal trainer can help you create a plan that consists of the following to help you FINALLY get the results you are seeking. Group classes are awesome for general fitness but if you want to make some real changes or have some real fitness goals, it may be time you invest in a personal trainer and do some private 1-on-1 training or semi-private training.

When constructing your workout plan it should consist of:

Most of the time when we talk with clients, they have the cardio down but are missing the other components.

Now I am not saying don’t do cardio. It has a ton of benefits and should be part of your routine.

However if cardio is something you enjoy doing and it keeps you active and healthy, I support that 100 percent!!! But when you come to me and complain that you aren’t getting results and we look at what you’re doing and it’s only cardio, then we need to talk!

Let’s get clear on what I mean by cardio.

When I’m taking Cardio I don’t mean conditioning such as internal training, sprints, jump rope intervals, farmer’s carries, etc., I mean the steady state stuff when you maybe row while watching TV where you never really get your heart rate too high.

Also, we don’t want to be doing the opposite where you get your heart rate super high every day doing intense cardio workouts not allowing your body to recover. Both of those will only take you so far in your fitness journey. And if you’ve plateaued, that’s why!

I do feel that cardio is a necessary component of a fat loss plan and overall health and wellness plan, and I would argue that the majority of people won’t be able to reach their fat loss goals without it.  However, most people jump the gun and do WAY more cardio than is actually needed, and I feel this is the reason many of them never reach their ideal physique.

We’ve been trained to think that we need to have these super intense workouts and be sore all the time to get results.  You know, that saying, No Pain, No Gain? FALSE!  If you are past your 20’s then we’ve gotta get you out of that mentality. It leads to workouts that are doing more harm than good to our bodies.

My recommendation is to get 2+ cardiovascular workouts in a week on top of 3+ strength training sessions. Now that’s five days! Many of you are saying, I don’t have that much time. Well then pair them up and do concurrent training.  You can get 30-45 min strength sessions in followed by 20 mins cardio. Done! Do that 2-3x/week and you’ll be on your way to your goals of feeling better, sleeping better, having more energy and looking better!

Let’s do a visualization….

Think of a long distance runner…what do you think of? Tall, skinny, not much muscle. These athletes only run. They are actually causing more stress on their bodies, aren’t building any muscle, and have repetitive stress injuries often.

Think of a sprinter….strong, muscular definition all over their body and powerful.  These athletes are more well rounded. They are strength training, performing more interval training working on power.

Which one would you rather be? Now I am talking about extreme’s with that example but if you are doing a ton of cardio and want to change your body shape you are doing about it the wrong way!

Muscle changes your body shape. Do you get muscle from doing cardio, nope!

Still not sold on this idea and you think cardio is still your answer to all your fat loss goals?

The body is a survival machine that adapts to the stresses placed on it.  I’m not going to get much into the science behind this, but just realize that an increase in cardiovascular activity is a stress, and therefore the body will adapt and become more efficient at performing the activity.

Whatever the amount of cardio you begin your diet with, whether it’s two days for 30 minutes or six days for 60 minutes, the body will adapt in a fairly short amount of time.  

Starting with two cardio sessions is no problem.  You lose fat for a few weeks, hit a plateau, and can either add another day of cardio or increase the duration of a current session(s) to get the ball rolling again.

Starting with six sessions is a little different.  You’re still going to lose weight for a few weeks (I say weight because not all of it is going to come directly from your fat stores), but once you hit a plateau (and it will hit far before you reach your goal physique), you’re really out of moves.  Increase cardio anymore and you will hinder recovery and continue to eat away at lean body mass (a big no-no).  

You can decrease food intake, but eventually you will get to a point where reducing it any further will lead to malnutrition and a crashed metabolism.

And this is where people fall off.  They realize that they can’t reduce food intake anymore, they can’t increase cardio (and the sight of the stair master makes them want to go ), so they just throw in the towel and give up.  And that just starts a whole new host of problems.  

Remember that cardio is a tool for fat loss, but it’s not the only tool.  Strength training and proper nutrition are much better options for this endeavor, and cardio should only be used when absolutely necessary.

HIIT or LISS

There are a lot of great articles covering which form of cardio is best for fat loss, so I am only going to touch on it briefly.

HIIT (high intensity interval training) has the best effects on fat loss of any form of cardio.  It burns a crap ton of calories in a very short amount of time, leads to a much greater post exercise caloric burn (you burn calories hours after the session is over), and stimulates the same muscle fibers used in resistance training, so it’s much better at helping you maintain muscle mass.  However, it’s also extremely taxing on the central nervous system, and therefore can’t be used too frequently without interfering with your recovery and performance in the gym (which takes top priority).

In most cases, I don’t recommend going over 2-3 days of HIIT per week.  

If more cardio is needed to continue losing body fat, then that is where LISS comes in to play.  Low intensity cardio can be used without having too much of an impact on recovery, and I would argue that it can actually enhance it because of increased blood flow.  Obviously everything is situational, but HIIT and LISS both have a place in the overall fat loss plan.

So, let’s get to it…

How Much Cardio Should I Do?

Ideally, aim to keep cardio as LOW as possible that will keeping you progressing toward your fat loss goals.
For me, I like to perform at lest 2 days of cardio for about 30 minutes. Some people may not start with any cardio; others will start with a pretty decent amount.  The time frame for reaching your fat loss goals, your current metabolic rate, current training program, etc. all come in to play when determining where you decide to start.  Either way, take a minimalist approach, and only increase cardio when you absolutely need to.

Summing Up

One of my favorite quotes from T-nation editor Chris Shugart is that “cardio is for prey, and conditioning is for predators.”  There is nothing inherently wrong with doing traditional cardio, but unless you are an endurance athlete, there are much better options for accomplishing your fat loss and physique goals.  If you enjoy cardio, then go ahead and do it.  Just realize that abusing it is dangerous, and if you are serious about building/revealing an impressive physique, you should prioritize resistance training and proper nutrition, and only use cardio as a last resort.

Need help planning your workouts? Schedule a FREE Discovery Call with us today or call 612-656-9306.