Bolts of Lightning

Part V - "Cardio" is Garbage

" CARDIO" IS GARBAGE
5 Reasons Why Your Current Cardio Training Should
Be Tossed Out in 2009.
Part 5 of 6
 
First, here's a quick review of the first 3 reasons:

   1. It doesn't maximize fat burning.
   2. You're only burning calories while you work out.
   3. It does nothing to add muscle to your frame.

REASON #4:  IT'S NOT NEARLY INTENSE ENOUGH!

It drives me crazy to see people jogging on a stationary bike while carrying on a pleasant conversation with their trainer, and then calling it a workout.  For years, it has made me nuts that some women put on make up to go to the gym!  And don't even get me started on the guys that hit on the women next to them while they are "getting their cardio in" on the Stairmaster.  I'll give you another one:  When I was a Personal Training in Long Island, I actually had a few prospects that would tell me, "I don't want to sweat when I work out, so we'll have to go easy."  At that point, I politely asked them to "FIND ANOTHER TRAINER!"  Let's pose a few questions here:

Do you sweat heavily during every workout?

When doing your "cardio", are there times that you have to say "I can't talk to you right now, I'm out of breath!"?

During strength training sets, do you fail regularly?

If you can't say yes to any of these, you're not really working out.  Sorry.  If you're not sweating or breathing heavy, people, you are not working out.  A better statement for you would be: You are "slightly active in a workout environment."  Yes, your heart rate is elevated.  Yes, it is better than sitting around.  But please realize that you can be a lot more productive in the time that you reserve for exercise.  Stop fooling yourself, and jack up the intensity level... PLEASE!

I know many people have concerns with the word "intensity."  It just sounds too difficult to some.  Intensity can be tricky, as everyone has different conditioning levels, strength levels, and abilities.  Not everyone needs to sprint on a treadmill at 13 mph on a 10% hill to get an intense, fatiguing workout.  For someone of a lesser conditioning level, they may accomplish that same heart rate and respiration increase with an uphill fast walk at 3 mph and a 5% hill.  Due to chronic injuries or orthopedic problems, some people may not be able to run, jog, or walk at all.  They may need to bike or swim for their conditioning activity. In these cases, they may not have a computer screen to track their speed or level.  When you think about weight training and some of the full body conditioning exercises that you should be doing, the weight that you choose will significantly alter the difficulty and intensity of the movement.

All of these examples call for the need for a simple way to track intensity.  Many cite that taking your pulse or heart rate is the best way to properly gauge how hard you are working at a given task.  This is a truly effective way, but is difficult and impractical without special equipment (heart rate monitors, watches, etc).  The built in heart rate monitors on commercial cardio machines (treadmills, bikes, elliptical, etc) are very inaccurate, and what happens when you are outside and don't have a machine?

With these issues in mind, there is a real effective way to track how hard you are working, and that is a simple 1-12 Intensity Scale.  1 would represent the difficulty of climbing up off the couch.  12 would represent the difficulty of climbing up Mt Everest!  1 is the intensity of sitting at a computer typing.  12 is the intensity assigned to the fatigue of completing your fastest 400 meter race ever!  You get the idea.  Not everyone will run that 400 at the same speed... but everyone can feel the same level of fatigue after if they push themselves!  

With your own current workouts, begin to assign an intensity number to it.  If true, lasting fat loss is a goal of yours, most of your workouts should be in the 8+ range.  If it is anything below that, you simply will not achieve lasting success.  This does not mean that you run right out and score yourself a 12 during your next treadmill run.  To implement this system safely, you should build up to these high numbers.  Try to increase by 1 level or so every other workout.  Within 3-4 weeks, even if you are at a low intensity number, you should be in the effective range.  From there, it's all about finding new and creative ways of manipulating speeds, levels, hills, weights, and recovery times to not only maintain these high intensity numbers, but improve on them as well.  We'll look at some of these types of manipulations in a week or two!

No fancy ending here.  Just one important note for you to take with you to the gym tonight... START SWEATING!!

WE'RE COMING TO THE END THE REPORT!!  Next week, we'll look at the final reason your current "cardio" workouts are trash...
Reason #5:  You are wasting your very precious time!

Yours in Strength,

Jesse

PS.  The latest in fat burning programs is already available online!!  Take a minute to check out  www.worldwidesportsperformance.com!

Part IV - "Cardio" is Garbage

" CARDIO" IS GARBAGE
5 Reasons Why Your Current Cardio Training Should
Be Tossed Out in 2009.
Part 4 of 6
 
REASON #3:  YOUR "CARDIO" DOES NOTHING TO ADD MUSCLE TO YOUR FRAME
 
I can hear the voices echoing from the weightroom right now...

"I don't want to look like a guy!"
"Coach, the weightroom is gonna make me look like a football player!"  "If I bump my weights up, I'm gonna get too muscular!"
 
In my time training athletes, mostly from the FEMALE athletes (guys, you're pretty much exempt on this one), these are the statements I would hear regularly.  The women would constantly fight me about increasing their weights in their strength training programs, with great concerns about adding too much muscle and altering their feminine appearance.  Yes, this came from the athletes, believe it or not!  This is supposed to be the percentage of the workout population that you think would go all out in the weightroom, to do everything they can to enhance their on-field performance.  Guess again!

This small example brings about a critical issue to discuss when we are talking about exercise; specifically, fat-loss workouts.  Overall Resistance to Weight Training. (pardon the pun!)  Many people, both guys and girls, avoid the weightroom when they go to the gym.  They walk in the door, swipe their membership cards, bee line straight over to the row of 25 ellipticals, change the TV in front of them to their favorite show, and go about their 30 minutes of "Cardio."  This sequence is the sole source of frustration in people that are trying to lose fat and get that toned, muscular look that so many are looking for.  Please hear me when I say:  You MUST include heavy, progressive, strength training in your exercise program if your goal is to lose fat and look better.
 
Let's take a look at a study from the Journal of American College of Nutrition done in 1999, (Vol 18, No. 2), titled the "Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate."  Long title, I know... but it was an amazing piece to demonstrate a very important point here.  All subjects were given an 800 calorie diet for the length of the study.  The first group performed aerobic exercise (either walking, biking, or stair climbing) for a total of 4 hours per week, while the other group performed 2-4 sets of 10 strength exercises for the entire body three times per week.  In the end, both groups lost enough weight to say that each program worked.  The strength training group, however, lost significantly more fat, and they preserved their lean body mass (lean body mass is what gets you those muscular, toned arms that you are looking for!)  This group also increased their Resting Metabolic Rate, while the aerobic group's RMR actually decreased!  Remember, we discussed metabolism last week, and how important it is to burn calories in the time you are NOT working out.  An increased RMR is the way to do that, and to ensure that your body is burning additional calories 24 hours per day.   There has been other research showing that a sound strength program can increase this resting metabolism by as much as 15%.  In considering normal calorie-burning numbers in the average human being, this RMR increase could mean a 15-20 lb loss over the course of a year!

The goal here is not to bore you with science and research, but to drive home an incredibly important point.  If we think about true "results-oriented" programming practically, the answer almost appears right before us.   In Part I of this report a few weeks ago, we already cited that most people exercise to look better, right?  In looking better, most people normally point to well-known celebrity bodies with 6-pack abs, toned shoulders and arms, and muscular legs.  Common sense suggests that to achieve that type of appearance, we have to build muscle (to get the muscular look), and we have to burn off body fat (so those muscles we are building underneath can show).  The next logical step, then, brings us directly to programs that involve STRENGTH TRAINING!  Knowing that this type of exercise ignites fat burning and builds muscle means it is the true solution on how to get those "Halle Berry" arms and shoulders, or those "David Beckham" abs.  Believe me, those two (and any other fit, celebrity bodies that you would like to name) train with heavy weights.  I GUARANTEE IT!

Which brings me quickly to that term "heavy."  I know, when you read that word, most are thinking of some huge Olympic Lifting champion with a 500 pound bar on his back ready to squat himself to a world record.  But it doesn't, and shouldn't, have to be like that for the majority.  The word "heavy" simply means "fatiguing" for that particular movement or muscle group.  It is relative term and is very much tied to the exercise performed and the person performing it.  To simplify this, your body's understanding of "heavy" is much different than, say, Governor Arnold's body's understanding of "heavy."  He will obviously train with bigger weights than you.  The key is, with all of your sets and reps, is to train heavy enough for YOU, and to induce what we call "Momentary Muscular Fatigue."  This phrase simply means that your muscles should be tired, to the point of rep failure, at the end of most of your sets.  If not, you are fooling yourself into thinking you are building muscle and you are really just wasting your time.  Training with 10 pound dumbbells for your shoulder press for 10 straight weeks just ain't gonna get it done!  As long as you maintain your technique and form, it is ok to pick up heavier weights and fail at the end of your set... IN FACT IT IS ENCOURAGED!

You get the overall message here, right?  We discussed a couple important topics related to strength and weight training here today, and ones that hopefully open your eyes a little more to the overall message:  Your "cardio" is not going to get you to the look that you want.  Next time you go to the gym, walk right by the treadmill and head over to the weightroom.  Your first instinct may be to shy away from that section.  Just like those female athletes in my example above, your hesitation may be rooted in "not wanting to add too much muscle."  Truth be told, adding muscle is THE KEY INGREDIENT in the overall recipe of getting that body you desire.

So now, we are getting to the last few!  Next week, we'll hit on the fourth reason your current "Cardio" should be tossed into the garbage truck...

Reason #4:  "It's not nearly intense enough!"

Yours in Strength,

Jesse

PS.  The latest in fat burning programs is already available online!!  Take a minute to check out  www.worldwidesportsperformance.com!

Part III - "Cardio" is Garbage

" CARDIO" IS GARBAGE
5 Reasons Why Your Current Cardio Training Should
Be Tossed Out in 2009.
Part 3 of 6

REASON #2:  YOU ARE ONLY BURNING CALORIES WHILE YOU WORK OUT

How awesome would it be if you could burn calories while you sat in your office at work?  Or on the couch at home?  Or in the shower?  No, this is not a written commercial for one of those fat-stimulating, pulsing electrode belts that you put on to make our abs contract... I would not push that nonsense on you, believe me.  But these "calorie-burning wishes" are absolutely possible... when you exercise the right way!

Allow me to introduce you to EPOC.  No, it isn't a group of those little fuzzy guys from "Return of the Jedi", and it's not some futuristic robot either!  It stands for Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption, and it is one of the key training and fitness concepts that ABSOLUTELY needs to be acknowledged in workout-design for a real, results-oriented fat-loss program.  You see, your body goes into physiological chaos during exercise.  It maintains a certain calm, "systems-flowing-smoothly" state while at rest, but this rest is significantly upset once activity begins.  Take a look at some of the things that occur, once you begin working out (this is not an exhaustive list, by any stretch, but gives you a rough idea of some of the changes):

1.Heart function is significantly altered, to increase necessary cardiac output of blood to the body
2.Circulatory system is in complete flux of constriction and dilation, depending on the site in your body
3.Digestion slows down, to allow other, more important, systems to perform their jobs
4.Internal cooling systems of sweat and respiration kick in to dissipate heat out of the body
5.Release of different hormones are either stimulated or retarded, based on need

There is a high energy cost to all of this, to fully fuel all of this increased activity.  This is where the overall calorie-burning of your activity comes in.  For those of you that do a lot of work on treadmills, ellipticals, or bikes, this represents the "Calories Burned" number that your screen reads to you following your workout (you should know, however, that these machine calculations are HIGHLY inaccurate.. more on that some other time!)

But once you leave the gym, that's where the EPOC comes in.  It represents the calorie burning AFTER you get done exercising.  Yeah, you can burn calories after you stop!  In fact, everyone does.  That chaos that I mentioned above certainly uses a bunch of calories while you are active... but if that activity time involves the right type of programming, your energy expenditure can stay elevated for many hours after you get done!  In one example, cited by Alwyn Cosgrove in his book Afterburn, he looks at some average numbers for energy expenditure.  The average oxygen consumption (or Calorie burning) following a normal bout of exercise is about 15 Calories per hour.  For a lower intensity bout of exercise, where this EPOC would stay elevated for about 3-5 hours, this would amount to an additional Calorie-burn of around 75 Calories.  Not bad, and if you total that up over 5 days of exercising, you now have 375 total Calories burned during down time!

Take that example and multiply it by the fact that we know that higher-intensity exercise, involving a lot of musculature and performed in an interval format, will bring about a higher hourly Caloric consumption for EPOC, greater than the 15 Cal/hour cited above (the actual amount is very dependent on the intensity of exercise).  Now, factor in the research, that shows that EPOC stays elevated for up to 24 hours with these high intensity interval workouts, and now we're talking!  With the right program, you can literally transform your body into an energy burning, fat-shattering furnace during all hours of the day!

The disturbing thing about most peoples' current "cardio" workouts, is that they are missing out on all of this.  You don't get all of the additional Calorie burning with the standard "jog-on-a-treadmill-at-one-pace-for-30-minutes" program.  With that type of workout, the EPOC is only minimal, with a low hourly expenditure and an elevated period for only an hour or two post-exercise.  The message here is that old-school "cardio" falls short of the total Calorie burning that you can actually get, if you just alter the workout a bit.  It would be like your wife or girlfriend winning a full day's worth of complimentary treatments, facials, waxing, massage, and nails at a high end day-spa... only to go in and just get her hair cut!

So, again, how great would it be if you could burn calories during a post-lunch staff meeting at work?  Or maybe while you are on the phone at home at night?   Possibly while you are sitting at your desk grading papers?  These scenarios are totally possible, if you structure your workouts the right way!

With this 3rd part to this series, we are now beginning to see that, if you truly want to reach your goals, it is critical that you begin to change your workouts.  Next week's installment will further back this up, as we go over the third reason you should throw out those old, stuffy ideas regarding "cardio"...

Reason #2:  "Your 'cardio' does nothing to add muscle to your frame."

Yours in Strength,

Jesse

PS.  The latest in fat burning programs is already available online!!  Take a minute to check out  www.worldwidesportsperformance.com!

Part II - "Cardio" is Garbage

" CARDIO" IS GARBAGE
5 Reasons Why Your Current Cardio Training Should
Be Tossed Out in 2009.
Part 2 of 6
 
REASON #1:  IT DOESN'T MAXIMIZE FAT BURNING
 
"OK, so today we are going to do 30 minutes of cardio, then we'll do our weights.  For cardio, this week we're really going to push you and you're going to work within your 'fat-burning zone' at 70% of your max heart rate.  Then we're going to hit 3 sets of 10 of three exercises for your bi's today, to really get your arms looking good.  OK, what channel do you want to watch?"

This conversation can be heard in commercial gyms across the country, and it signifies one of the things that is hugely wrong with many trainers and the fitness industry these days.  While there certainly are many forward thinkers in the industry, the bulk of the Personal Trainers out there get complacent and end up doing what they've done for years. These tired programs may or may not be providing results for their clients, may or may not be in line with the latest research or the actual science behind real training, and is probably just a re-tread of something they were told to do years ago that they are still implementing.  That, my friends, is how clients get frustrated and ultimately fail.

So let's look at this typical idea of "cardio."   When most people are doing their "cardio," it probably means that they are locked onto a machine (treadmill, elliptical trainer, stationary bike, etc) for a minimum of 20 minutes, performing a session at or around a low-to-moderate intensity (don't be offended here folks, to do something for 20 or more minutes straight, it HAS to be low-to-moderate intensity, by definition!).  As is known by most, this is termed an aerobic workout.  That is, one that is performed with ample available oxygen, to be circulated in our bodies by the blood vessels to supply nutrients to our muscles, begin to repair the muscles that are working, and to flush away metabolic by-products that our bodies do not use.   Traditional research states that it takes about 20-30 minutes or so of an elevated heart rate (usually prescribed around 55-75% of an age-predicted maximum heart rate), to get into the phase of aerobic exercise where we use fat as fuel.  This is accurate.  It should also be noted that with aerobic exercise, we burn calories ONLY during the actual activity time.  Remember this one, we will come back to it next week!

So this is a good thing, right?  You're reading this saying, "That's it!  I want to use my fat as fuel.  Get me into that fat-burning zone, I want to get rid of my fat!!!  Not so fast...

Science supports a number of findings with aerobic exercise that have not been properly published and promoted, and have led to HUGE amounts of frustration and physical "plateauing" with people that regularly exercise:

    1. Let's start with the "Fat Burning Zone."  Not sure where the popularity of this came from, but this is a huge misnomer when you really look at the science practically.  It is true that the body burns a higher percentage of fat during these low-intensity (55-75% of max HR) aerobic routines.  Actually, the body burns about 50-55% of calories from fat during lower intensity activities, versus 30-35% from fat with higher intensity activities.  However, this statement does not take into account the total amount of calories burned in the workout.  With a higher intensity workout, MANY more total calories will be burned, hence a greater amount of total fat calories.   A study published in 1994 by Tremblay, Simoneau, and Bouchard looked at the "Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism."  The study looked at a group of people doing 15 weeks of high intensity interval training versus another group of people doing 20 weeks of lower intensity aerobic training.  The results showed that the interval, high intensity group showed 3 times greater fat loss than the lower intensity group.
    2. Now, let's talk efficiency.  With regular and repetitive "cardio" workouts, the body absolutely becomes more energy efficient.  This means that it adapts very quickly, and the energy it takes to run the same amount of distance or time (assuming the same speed) is less. This is a great thing, right?!?  NO!... at least not when it comes to fat loss.  The training effect means that you will now burn less fat in the same aerobic session to complete the same workout (if you purchase one of those brand new "energy efficient" central air conditioning systems for your home, you'll be SAVING energy, right?).  When that training effect sets in, most people's answer is to go longer.   This brings about free time as an issue.  Who has MORE time to spend on exercise in a day?  Most people are squeezing workouts into their schedules as it is!  Plus, our bodies are phenomenal at adapting, so you're just going to run into the same issue again down the road.   You could increase the speed or intensity for the same amount of time, which is the better option.   What you will find, then, is going to begin to approach the ultimate conclusion of this report... increasing the intensity of your workouts, to anaerobic levels, is the way to go.  We'll get to the good details of these workouts soon. 
   3. Now for the good physiology stuff... here's where the real breakthrough science comes in!   Many experts are now starting to believe, based on both research and sound training experience, that regular long distance aerobic training contributes to fat storage... yes, I said STORAGE!  Didn't see that one coming, huh?  It has to do, again, with our body's ability to adapt to exercise, and in how it does this.  In looking at an example at the exercise response logically,  we can look to weight training.  The body does not actually get bigger or stronger during strength training.  The act of strength training causes what's called microtears in your muscle fibers.  The body then responds by repairing these tears, and the progressive result is a bigger, stronger muscle.  When applying this same logic to aerobic training, when employing these workouts, we are actually encouraging the use of fat without building metabolically active muscle.  The belief, then, is that the body's response is to slow down your metabolism and allow the body to store fat.  Remember, the body always adapts.

Compound this issue, with the research that shows aerobic exercise has been shown to stimulate the release of a hormone called cortisol from the adrenal glands.  The body's response to this release is to conserve glucose, encourage the use of fat, and inhibit muscular uptake of amino acids.  This, again, initially sounds like a good thing.  But, in accomplishing this, you also become more efficient at using fat.  And we already discussed just how detrimental efficiency is to overall fat loss!

So, you see where I am going with all of this.  THESE items are the latest in training knowledge and research, and are the foundation for a new movement of successful, long-term fat loss programming.  If someone, whether face-to-face or online, suggests that you need to do "30 minutes of cardio 3 times per week" to lose weight... RUN AWAY FAST!

Remember, I began last week's article with asking you to rethink your ways in 2009.  The take-home from this week's report is this:

In your exercise sessions, begin to reconsider 2 items:

   1. The type of activities you perform (i.e. traditional "cardio" versus variations of interval workouts).  While we have not yet discussed the actual workouts you should be doing, you should now have the idea that it does not involve doing anything at one pace for a minimum of 20 minutes straight!
   2. The intensity at which you perform these activities.  If you can maintain your activities for 20 minutes straight, it's not intense enough!  If you can concentrate on watching a sitcom on TV while exercising, it's not intense enough!  If you can talk to your trainer in front of you, it's not intense enough!

In Part III next week, we'll take a look at the second reason your current "cardio" program is garbage, and should be thrown out...

Reason #2:  "You're only burning calories while you work out."

Yours in Strength,

Jesse

PS.  The latest in fat burning programs is already available online!!  Take a minute to check out  www.worldwidesportsperformance.com!

"Cardio" is Garbage

" CARDIO" IS GARBAGE
5 Reasons Why Your Current Cardio Training Should
Be Tossed Out in 2009.
Part 1 of 6
 
Today, pens are being put to paper all over the country, locking in "2009 Resolutions."  I'm not going there...  well, not really.  No "10 Tips on Sticking to Your Resolutions" here, and this bolt is not about "Using the New Year to Start Exercising," or some other overdone topic on January 1st.  With this new year, I have simply chosen to ask you to rethink your ways, to open your mind, and to admit that there's a very good chance that the "cardio" you are doing right now is absolutely, and unequivocally, WRONG!  It's not your fault; you are simply doing what has been promoted in magazines and exercise corners all over the country for years. Please don't be insulted.  This is just a necessary first step in getting you on the right track and taking your exercise results to levels you didn't imagine.  This is the first of a 6 part series, so stick with me on this one, and we'll get you to where you want to be in 2009... NO DOUBT!!

To start, I have to acknowledge the fact that improving the function and efficiency of your cardiovascular system has a HUGE effect on your health, life expectancy, and overall well-being.  This is a known fact with much research behind it, and I support this notion 100%.  It is, however,  a discussion for another day.  In recognizing this, I know there is certainly a portion of the population that works out solely for these "healthy" reasons, and you may very well be one of those people.   But my good amount of time in the fitness industry suggests that, from the normal working Mom right up to the ultra high level athletes that need to train for big time strength, speed, and athleticism for their sport, most people exercise for one sole reason: to look better, both for themselves and for the opposite sex.  Yes... it is a brand new year, so let's be very honest with each other:  People work out so they can look good!

I have trained hundreds of people over the years, and most of the goal-setting conversations begin and end with "I want to lose weight and tone up."  Translation: "I want to look better!"  That's it.  It's not vain, it's not superficial, and it's certainly not wrong.  When people look good (more importantly, believe within themselves that they look good), it extends positively into every other part of their lives.  They look in the mirror and embrace every day with confidence, self esteem, energy, and great feelings about themselves... these are all great things and will undoubtedly lead to an overall better quality of life.  Don't get me wrong, I am not saying everyone wants to, or has to, look like Jennifer Garner and Brad Pitt.   Everyone has their individual views on how they see themselves, how they would like to see themselves,  and how they would like to be seen by others.  But, I am sure of one thing: overall appearance is truly most people's main motivation when committing to exercise.  And in order to really get to the bottom of what I feel is sound programming, we have to understand this premise.

OK, is anyone upset with me right now?  Maybe you're saying, "I completely disagree, he doesn't know what the hell he is talking about!"  No problem, just stick with me and check in next week for Part 2 of this report.  I am confident that the informative content will win you over, even if you may not completely agree with the reasoning I layed out here in this introduction.  But the information we'll discuss truly is the biggest revolution going on with high level fitness these days, as the top Trainers all over the country are changing their ways.  I want you to understand just how big of an impact that implementing these new workouts in the coming year can have on you reaching your fitness goals, and in getting you the body and look that you desire.

In Part 2 next week, we'll look at most people's definition of "Cardio," and the #1 reason that I think this traditional definition is Garbage.

Reason #1:  It doesn't maximize fat burning.

 

Yours in Strength,

Jesse

PS.  The latest in fat burning programs is already available online!!  Take a minute to check out  www.worldwidesportsperformance.com!

PPS.  I didn't forget... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!