Aerobic Interval Training

To loose fat you have to increase the intensity of your workout. If you are getting on the treadmill, or elliptical trainer, or whatever you use for aerobic work and you are able to read or hold a conversation while you are doing it then you are not working hard enough.
To get the best results from purely aerobic exercise you need to be doing intervals. (You will get better results with high intensity anaerobic exercise.) That means that you must exercise as intensely as possible for a short period then slow down for a period of active recovery. You can spend less time exercising and get the results that you want.
An interval workout will look something like this:

5 minute warm up
20 minute intervals
20-30 second sprint
60-90 second recovery
5 minute cool down

30 minutes of intervals will get you better results than 60 minutes of regular cardio. (60% of max heart rate, or being able to hold a conversation while exercising) When you exercise at high intensity you increase your metabolic rate. You actually burn fewer calories during your exercise session but continue to burn calories at an elevated rate after you are done exercising. There is also some evidence that high intensity exercise helps the body break down fat, a benefit that lower intensity exercise does not have.

No more boring cardio to lose weight

I no longer feel guilty about not doing my cardio. Turns out, it does little if anything for you.
When studies were done comparing two groups of people, one who changed their diet and did not exercise and a second group who changed their diet and did cardio (specific amount varied by study), there was no significant difference in weight loss after 3 or 6 months between the two groups. After a year there was a small difference, 3.6lbs over the course of a year! That was with 6 - 60 minute sessions of cardio every week for a year. Traditional Cardio does not work! Not for weight loss, not for conditioning. If you are doing no exercise, getting up and moving is still better than sitting on the couch, but if you are already exercising, getting on the treadmill or elliptical trainer for 30 minutes does not do anything for you.

The best exercises in order of effectiveness for weight loss are:
1. Strength training (high intensity types of strength training), and metabolic acceleration resistance training.
2. Intervals
3. High intensity aerobic exercise
4. Low intensity aerobic exercise (least effective- does little if anything for weight loss)

Get off the treadmill, pick up the weights and increase your intensity.

Just got back from a Strength and Conditioning conference and I'm still trying to mentally file all the new information and research. More on this later.

Check out eat this not that over at Men's Health and see what's really in the food you've been eating.


Eat This Not That