Cardio cofusion to prevent efficiency

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LoraMora
LoraMora Posts: 41 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
If you have two cardio workouts and switch between them every other day, is this enough variety to prevent your body from becoming so efficient it doesn't maximize calorie burn?

I have an opportunity to alternate these excercises for 2 to 3 weeks, 5 days per week, on a vacation.

For example:

Day 1: Trail jogging one day (6 miles, small hills, up and down the whole way) - strenouous - 1.1 hours approx

Day 2: Leisurely slow jogging (3 miles) plus mountain hiking (up) 2 miles, (down) 2 miles, 3 mile slow walk back.... long workout, but slow and steady - 6 hours approx.

Day 3: Same as day 1

Day 4: Same as day 2

Day 5: Same as day 1

Day 6 and 7: Rest

I am fit and regularly maintain 1 hour of vigorous cardio several times a week. However, I haven't been able to lose the 15 pounds I'd like to in the last 3 years of fairly steady working out.

I've always dreamed of having a boot camp stye vacation, and here's my chance. I want to get a good start at digging into those last 15 pounds.

Once I return home, I can return to a normal workout schedule that does a good job of maintaining my weight (Cardio plus Body Pump)

Is 2 or 3 weeks enough time for the body to become over-efficient at burning calories?

Replies

  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    "Cardio confusion" is just marketing gibberish. A planned program that varies your training stimulus is important for continued fitness improvement, but that is not not what you are talking about.

    The whole idea that being "more efficient burns fewer calories" has a nanogram of truth behind it, but has absolutely no relevance to the average exerciser and certainly has no relevance for weight loss.

    None. Zero. Zip. Nada

    It fact just the opposite. Randomly changing activities to cause "confusion" will most likely result in a lower calorie burn because you will not develop the physical ability or focus to push yourself harder.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    "Cardio confusion" is just marketing gibberish.

    Add "muscle confusion" to that statement as well.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    Agreed. As far as the plateau, the most common reasons for that are under-estimating calorie intake (measuring everything helps with that) and not being active enough (throughout the day).
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    it depends on your goals.

    If you want to never get good at doing the thing you're doing- keep changing it up.

    but in order to get substantially better at doing the thing you're doing- you need to do it more often. so more running makes you better at running. Progressively making it harder- (lifting/running/swimming/cycling) by going faster or longer is the option to continue to challenge your body.

    Mostly anything that says muscle confusion or cardio confusion is gibberish- the most successful programs rely on repetitive cyclical work.
  • LoraMora
    LoraMora Posts: 41 Member
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    Thanks everyone!

    Awesome information. Very helpful.

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