As a personal trainer, I tend to approach new fitness trends, gimmicks, and equipment with a skeptical eye. I don’t believe there is best way to workout or a best piece of equipment. This is an ever changing industry and if you aren’t willing to change with it, you will be left in the dust. I do focus on what things give you the best results today. What was considered the best way to do things yesterday has most likely changed. One example of this is low intensity, long duration cardio.
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| Image Credit : http://www.bodybuilding.com/ |
Back in the 80’s there was all this hubub about the “fat-loss zone” and how you have to be in a low-intensity, steady aerobic state to burn the most fat. This is in fact true if you look at it percentage wise, however, it is not true if you are looking at the bigger picture. For instance, while in the slow, steady aerobic state, you may be burning 50% of fat, but you aren’t burning that many total calories. However, let’s say you did an interval training workout or a weight workout where you were working at a higher intensity, you may be burning only 35% fat, but you are burning way more total calories and therefore you will be burning more fat overall.Furthermore, with long,
low intensity cardio, you may actually be impeding your fat-loss goals by making your body more “efficient” at burning fat. While this may sound like a good thing- it is NOT. My favorite fitness writer, Alwyn Cosgrove, put it best when he used the car analogy: just like a car is “fuel efficient” by needing less gas to run, the same thing happens when your body becomes more efficient at burning fat; it burns less of it. This is exactly the opposite of what you want and is due to your body’s ability to adapt. For instance, if you jog for 30 minutes a day for several weeks, your body is going to become more efficient and you will need to either increase your speed or duration in order to burn the same number of calories.
Am I saying that
low intensity cardio is bad? No, I am not. I enjoy a long leisurely run every once in awhile as a way to get outside , get fresh air and relieve some stress. Also, if you are at the gym and want to stay on the elliptical while watching a game, it sure beats lying on the couch! Rather, what I am saying is that for those people who are in relatively good health and want to loose fat, this is not the most effective nor efficient way of doing things.
If you have reached a plateau in your workout routine and are no longer getting the results you desire, you may want to rethink what and how you are doing things.
Try doing a
more intense circuit workout or add intervals to
your cardio routine. Instead of jogging on the treadmill at the same pace for 30 minutes , shake it up a bit and run faster for one minute, then walk one minute for 20 minutes. Also, try alternating 1 minute of bodyweight exercises (a bodywieght squat, lunges, kneeling pushups) with one minute of more intense cardio such as high knee running or jumping jacks. Make sure to change things up every 6-8 weeks in order to keep you body from adapting to your routine. This will not only help you to increase your metabolic rate and decrease boredom, it will decrease muscle loss and increase your fat loss.
