" CARDIO" IS GARBAGE
5 Reasons Why Your Current Cardio Training Should
Be Tossed Out in 2009.
Part 6 of 6
First, here's a quick review of the first 4 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.
4. It's not nearly intense enough.
THERE'S ALSO A SPECIAL MESSAGE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE, JUST FOR YOU!
REASON #5: YOU'RE WASTING YOUR VERY PRECIOUS TIME!
"Well, first I have to drive to the gym and I know there's going to be traffic. I have to do my 45 minutes of cardio. I know I have to get my weights in too, so I'll do abs first and then I'll do some arms today. That Trainer is always telling me that I need to stretch more, so I'll do that after my weights. I guess I'll just shower there and go right to my meeting from the gym. That means that I have to pack a bag and pick out my clothes for work tonight. Man, when am I going to prepare for my meeting? Ahhhh, I can't go in the morning now. I'll just go after work instead. Dammit, I forgot, I have that dinner with Mom tomorrow night. You know what? I'll just skip the workout tomorrow and go on Monday instead."
Does this "conversation-with-yourself" sound familiar? There are certainly different versions of this, but have you found that you sometimes think yourself out of good exercise intentions with thoughts of tomorrow's busy schedule? You've mentally calculated the time demand of all that you have to get done at the gym, and then just said, "Screw it, if it's gonna take me 2 hours, I just can't fit it in!"
I'm not here to talk you out of your "busy-ness." I am not one of those Trainers that will tell you that exercise rules all, and you should make time for 2+ hours of exercise every day, regardless of how it affects the rest of your life! I'm writing this to say "I hear you." I agree with you. You ARE very busy. I know the enormous amounts of tasks and responsibilities that we all take on these days. With juggling our families, careers, activities, and social lives, there is very little discretionary time in our day anymore. This free time is precious; DON'T WASTE IT BY STAYING AT THE GYM FOR HOURS!
By now, you know that I like to back up all of these crazy exercise ideas with real, proven-in-the-lab research. Among the pages of studies on the benefits of interval training, here are two that speak volumes about the need to eliminate that time-wasting, slow "cardio" that is so popular. In 1999, a study published by Kraemer et al from Penn State University took a group of 12 obese men and created a study that looked at both diet and aerobic exercise. Group one had 6 men that dieted AND performed up to 50 minutes of aerobic workouts 3 days per week. The second group did not exercise, but was asked to stay on the exact same caloric restriction diet that Group 1 was on. After 12 weeks, the "diet and exercise group" lost only 1 more pound of fat than the "diet only" group, a mostly insignificant number. If this "3 days of cardio" had such a small effect on fat loss when compared to a diet alone, then why bother? Seems pretty useless to me...
Now couple this with the study published in the Journal of Physiology in 2007 by Martin Gibala, which looked at 2 different types of training. One of his groups performed 6 total workouts of aerobic exercise for anywhere from 90 minutes to 120 minutes, depending on the day, over a 2 week period. The other group was given six 20 minute interval programs to perform involving bike sprints and timed rest periods, completed over the same 2 week period. The conclusion provided some mind-blowing results. The improvement in oxygen utilization for both groups was almost exactly the SAME! This means that the nearly 12 hours of aerobic exercise brought about the same results in this study as the 2 hours of anaerobic exercise... no joke!
Now, to be fair, this study did not look at fat loss. But if you tell me that I can accomplish the same results in 2 hours that I would normally have to work for 12 to accomplish, I'm all over it! And the point of this article is that you should be too. You simply don't need to spend a ton of time in the gym. Long hours in the gym signals to me inefficiency, huge wastes of time, and poor program design. If fat loss and toning is your overall goal, you can fully accomplish this in much less time, by combining interval conditioning, full-body strength training, and timed-recovery periods all into one 40-minute-or-less workout. In my experience, any workout scheduled to be longer than 40 minutes will give you a built-in reason to skip it on your busy days, and that is exactly what we are trying to avoid.
Plus, physiologically, your body "loses interest" in workouts that approach an hour or longer. With this length of time, the effective manner in which your activity is fueled begins to struggle, your effort and energy is reduced, and you end up getting nothing out of the last part anyway. There are numerous reasons to make the switch over to interval training from your current "cardio." The most important of these, however, is so that your exercise program does not dominate your free time. If you know you can get in and out of the gym in 1 hour, including your shower... now you have a program that has some staying power. You are less likely to skip workouts, and more likely to stick with it long term. That, my friend, is the sure fire way to succeed!
Yours in Strength,
Jesse
PS. 1 Hour, Including your Shower... you think that's a cool concept? I do, so I made it the keystone idea behind my brand new fat-loss product that I will be introducing in the coming weeks...
MISSION: FAT BURN
For being a loyal reader and staying with me throughout this whole series, you are one of the select few that will receive a first look at the book... free of charge, TOTALLY ON ME! I'm guessing that over the past 6 weeks, at some point you said to yourself:
"OK, I get it. I need to change my workouts!
GIVE ME SOME PROGRAMS SO I CAN!"
This new ebook will provide them for you, and so much more! Keep an eye on your Inbox for more details soon!
PPS. And don't forget to check out www.worldwidesportsperformance.com while you are waiting!
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