A lot of my friends ask me for advice about fat loss, particularly about what kind of cardio they should do. They tell me about this new program they are going to try out that emphasizes working in the so-called “fat-burning zone,” which typically means working at a fairly low or moderate intensity lever for a long period of time, such as 45-60 minutes.
If you’ve read my blog before, you know that I hate when people insist upon choosing their workouts based on this idea. Why? Because developing strong, lean muscle mass does not happen by doing long, slow cardio! You will not get the body that you want just by doing cardio 5 times a week, especially if you don’t couple that with intense weight-lifting.
If it doesn’t work, then why do so many people, including trainers and companies who manufacture cardio equipment, claim that in order to lose significant weight, you must do long, slow cardio? I don’t know why they do, but it’s not true. The good trainers know that it takes a combination of high-intensity cardio and weight-lifting to shed those pounds and make the muscles “pop” out in appearance.
Physiologically, the body does use fat as fuel for energy when doing light to moderate cardio activities. When doing high-intensity workouts, the body first goes for glycogen. However, after about 19 or 20 minutes, the body switches to fat because there is a limited amount of glycogen. Most intense workouts last between 20-30 minutes.
But my question is, have you seen any of the trainers on the show “The Biggest Loser” base their workout designs on this idea and have their clients complete weeks of long cardio? I’ve seen that only a few times in that show.
A lot of people think that the fat-burning zone helps people lose more weight, and technically that’s true. Long cardio does a good job in absolute weight loss. HOWEVER, those who do more intense workouts lose less absolute weight because they are building lean muscle (which weighs more than fat does). People who only try to work in the low intensity level are not successful in creating lean, fat-free muscle mass.
If absolute weight loss is your goal, then go for the long, less intense cardio sessions. But if your goal is fat loss, muscle development, and overall improvements in fitness, you have to go for the short, more intense cardio and weight-lifting sessions. A sample of an intense cardio session is an interval workout:
Warm up for 5 mins
Do one minute hard, one minute easy intervals for 20 mins
Cool down for 5 mins
So if you’re pressed for time, and fat loss is your goal, your cardio workouts should look like variations of the sample, not just a long, 45-60 minutes cardio sessions.
hey jlyoung
thanks for visiting and dropping your link. Keep up the great work! By the way, lost almost 30 pounds this pass summer from interval training! It is powerful and effective way to train, of course my eating habits were also in place. Anyhow, have a nice weekend.
Jlyoung, thanks for your feedback about interval training on our site. You’ve got some great info here as well. Congrats to miguelpineiro for dropping the weight using interval training. It truly is the most efficient way to get in shape and drop body fat! Keep up the good work. Jason – http://hybridfitness.wordpress.com
I am a major advocate of interval training. I am 43 and need every advantage I can get these days. It’s funny though, sometimes you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I have tried everything to lose weight over the years and NOTHING has worked like interval training. I prefer mine in the morning (you will tend to lose more on an empty stomach) and I have a bike I can program.
This type of training also breaks up the boredom of CARDIO!
[...] 6-pack), you also need to have an effective cardio routine. Check out my posts on interval training here and here to get an idea of what kind of cardio I use with my [...]