"The Final Nail in the Cardio Coffin"

labgirl3

This link was posted in a thread here somewhere, but I thought it deserved a topic of it's own! I have to admit to thinking that adding more cardio to my day would help reduce body fat. After reading this, I'm sticking with my usual Crossfit and C25K running plan a couple of days a week. That works out to about 30 minutes of steady state cardio 2 days a week, and another 3-4 days of lifting heavy stuff and metabolic conditioning (kettlebells, box jumps, short runs, weights, etc).

Rachel Cosgrove is a fitness competitor who decided to train for, and complete, an Ironman Triathalon. A few quotes:

In seven months of training, I calculated that I worked out for 374 hours — that's an average of over thirteen hours a week! If I burned just ten calories a minute, it adds up to 224,400 calories. Doing the math (at 3,500 calories per pound), 224,400 calories should equal sixty four pounds lost!

Needless to say, I did not lose 64 pounds. Over those seven months, training an average thirteen to fourteen hours a week, I lost all of five pounds. That... was... it.

<snip>

After completing my Ironman, I made fat loss my primary goal for eight weeks. I eliminated all steady-state endurance exercise. No running, biking, swimming, or anything else in the steady-state.

My workouts consisted of high intensity for short bursts, whether it was with weights or doing a metabolic interval session. I lifted weights three days a week, and I performed interval-training workouts on the other days.

I made sure the interval workouts weren't on a treadmill or a bike. I only used bodyweight-exercise circuits, along with kettlebell circuits, as my cardio workouts.

These metabolic cardio workouts would crank my heart rate up for two minutes, I'd recover, and then repeat. Doing these interval circuits, along with strength training, took up a total of five to six hours a week, nothing like the twenty to thirty hours of Ironman training!

What happened? Like magic, my abs came back!

I dropped fifteen pounds of fat in an eight-week period and my body returned to being strong, defined, and lean. I no longer looked like a flabby endurance athlete, and I did it in a quarter of the time, compared to the aerobic training.

Crazy, huh? This has helped me focus my goals somewhat as well. I'm not interested in running distances longer than 5K, but I think after I finish C25K, I'd like to work on getting faster - using speedwork and intervals to do so.

Full article here:
http://members.rachelcosgrove.com/public/505print.cfm

sarah44254

I also am interested in getting my time faster! I am a true beginner to weight lifting, and I very much want to get into it. I read nothing but good things about it.

LoveLiveLift

bump! Thanks for this.

dengarrett

bump

rileysowner

The more I read, the more I am convinced on the science that long duration steady state cardio is largely a waste of time for fat loss, especially if you have less than 20 pounds to lose. I wish I knew that back when I started all this last year. I would probably be at my goals already in terms of fat loss. I changed over to HIIT and MRT about 3 weeks back, even though the weight is not falling off, the fat is disappearing and my measurements a changing in noticeable way every week. The best part is that no longer are workouts an hour six days a week. They are 20-30 minutes 3-4 times a week.

Some more articles:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;cd=4&amp;ved=0CCwQFjAD&amp;url=http://www.lose9in11days.com/eBooks/The%20Dark%20Side%20of%20Cardio.pdf&amp;rct=j&amp;q=the dark side of cardio&amp;ei=IlaiTcSeOPKx0QGf2PybBQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNERednhMh_hHml12Ww7dSygDZV7-w&amp;sig2=ouXSnzo5bPu5jQErYActFg&amp;cad=rja

ahttp://turbulencetraining.blogspot.com/2007/10/dark-side-of-cardio.html

http://turbulencetraining.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-cardio-is-waste-of-time-for-weight.html

Clew

I've gotten quicker muscle response from kettlebells and boxing than anything else. Just thought I'd mention.

callipygianchronicle

Thank you for this article. It’s funny, but up until a few days ago I was feeling a bit inadequate because the majority of my exercise comes from strength and resistance training. While my cardio averages around 3 hours a week. But the more I read about the benefits of strength training for weight-loss and for maintaining at goal weight, the more confident I am becoming in continuing to do what I am doing. My progress in pounds may be a bit slower, but I think I will be happier with the finished body.

WifeMomDVM

I buy it completely. Her husband has some input in my favorite book "The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women" by Lou Schuler.

Women if you want to get sexy - lift heavy weights! Get going!

dublvision2

bump

daybyday

*bump*

LovelySnugs

i just bookmarked the original blog post. thanks for sharing!

Mahlissa

Yes, I read this article a last month. I agree in interval training and I do speedwork every Tuesday at the track and see a big difference and I do strength training, too. A great book that I am reading is "THRIVE Fitness" it's a vegan based program but the author, Brendan Brazier, is a Professional Ironman Triathalete and talks about how to get over this hurdle of weight gain and how to eat and train proficiently.

You don't have to give up running, just run effectively. I know I will never give up my running, ever.

Good luck,.

neyes67

Bump

CaroseH

bump

nuimproved

bump!

austepants

Thank you for this I have been relying on cardio as my workout to lose weight I was originally doing Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and saw great results and since stopping that I felt that my mid-section was getting a bit flabby again I was also thinking of switching to doing HIIT and this article made that choice easy. I guess I will be starting the shred again!! Thanks for the great info. :happy:

Monica_in_MO

Bump!

suzooz

interesting -- bumping for later.

It was my night to do strength / yoga training (which I hate), and I was debating on whether to just do free run, or Zumba. I guess this makes me like these exercises a bit better!

WinKitty

BUMP.

hroush

I just found the website below last night and I seriously believe (as do many others if you check out the testimonials), that you really only need to strength train 3x a week for an hour each to see great results. They have a great work out plan and I am going to start it tomorrow.

www.stronglifts.com

I am currently doing a spin class twice a week, but I feel that has taken me as far as it can, and may actually be starting to be a detriment.

chrisdavey

Interesting article. I kind of agree and kind of don't. I definitely enjoy the resistance training but I definitely lost the majority of my weight through calorie deficit dieting (500ish) as well as running and boxing. No resistance training really. However, this was for weight loss not pure fat loss. At the end of it, I was a lot lighter but DEFINITELY a lot weaker. Had I taken my time a bit and done resistance training while dieting, I believe it wouldn't have taken me so long to get back to how strong I was (at a lower body weight though).

Overall, I would mix it up. Do some steady state cardio if you like it, do some HIIT (cause it kicks *kitten*!) and lift heavy weights (to get those endorphins cranking :P) and a good diet that will fuel workouts and help your body recover and you will be on the way to the new you

MissTomGettingThin

ooh.
Erm...
I spend about 6 hours a week on a bike or a treadmill or an eliptical. :O|
I spend about 40 minutes MAX a week with free weights.
I usually throw in a few minutes to remind my muscles I still need them.
I look good, I feel good but... I do have that flabby bit (bits) LOTS)) LOL

I'm not sure how to fix this. I think I'm still asleep so forgive me.

I'm assuming I need to do some HIIT if I want to still use the cardio machines effectively?
I've been using a training MP3 on a stationary bike which has me sprinting for short bursts so assume this is good!

I'll add more strength training and make it a proper routine as opposed to something I add on in the middle.

Thanks for this.

Any further advice appreciated.

Thanks
Amanda

MoonMyst3

Bump

chrisdavey

ooh.
Erm...
I spend about 6 hours a week on a bike or a treadmill or an eliptical. :O|
I spend about 40 minutes MAX a week with free weights.
I usually throw in a few minutes to remind my muscles I still need them.
I look good, I feel good but... I do have that flabby bit (bits) LOTS)) LOL

I'm not sure how to fix this. I think I'm still asleep so forgive me.

I'm assuming I need to do some HIIT if I want to still use the cardio machines effectively?
I've been using a training MP3 on a stationary bike which has me sprinting for short bursts so assume this is good!

I'll add more strength training and make it a proper routine as opposed to something I add on in the middle.

Thanks for this.

Any further advice appreciated.

Thanks
Amanda

weight loss can be from calorie deficit through diet or diet and exercise.

Body recomposition (fat loss with minimum muscle loss) has a few more things required. A calorific deficit through diet and exercise with a focus on progressively increasing resistance training, moderate to high protein (I personally aim for minimum 1g/lb bw). Cardio exercise is not necessary for body recomp if the nutritional intake is low however there are many other obvious benefits. I personally love my mma training so that is my cardio. On top of that, it means I get to eat heaps more and not put on weight :P

I would be looking at a beginners lifting program like starting strength or stronglifts. Do that 3 times a week. Find some cardio that you like to do on other days.

CherylYMerritt

bump very interesting, Thanks for the info!

smilebhappy

bump to read later

MissTomGettingThin

Thanks Chris!! :O)
I'll look on here and online for lifting programms.
Regards

paullie_t

Pretty significant information that I need to look at more closely.

Thanks for posting!

rileysowner

ooh.
Erm...
I spend about 6 hours a week on a bike or a treadmill or an eliptical. :O|
I spend about 40 minutes MAX a week with free weights.
I usually throw in a few minutes to remind my muscles I still need them.
I look good, I feel good but... I do have that flabby bit (bits) LOTS)) LOL

I'm not sure how to fix this. I think I'm still asleep so forgive me.

I'm assuming I need to do some HIIT if I want to still use the cardio machines effectively?
I've been using a training MP3 on a stationary bike which has me sprinting for short bursts so assume this is good!

I'll add more strength training and make it a proper routine as opposed to something I add on in the middle.

Thanks for this.

Any further advice appreciated.

Thanks
Amanda

The cardio in mind is the long duration, steady state type. Think those who try to get their heart rate in a certain zone and keep it there for 45 minutes to an hour every day.

What you want to do is Interval Training (like you are with the MP3), HIIT which is similar but you jack up the intensity a lot, Metabolic Resistance Training, Tabata training and the like. All of them will do more for fat loss than all that Cardio.

pyro13g

It doesn't matter how hard you work. Whether your heart rate is 55% or 85% of max you will burn the same amount of fat as fuel in the same amount of time.

rileysowner

I'm not sure what you mean by that, but working at a higher intensity will burn more calories than a lower intensity pure and simple. Generally a higher intensity will mean a higher heart rate, although I will allow there may be exceptions to that. Basically for fat loss cardio is the least effective option.