Most of you know I’m a huge fan of higher intensity training. The most important reason being that you get more bang for your buck maximizing your workouts. Considering everyone is so tied up time-wise these days it makes sense to train more efficiently.
I read Joel’s post today and laughed thinking I couldn’t have explained this better, it hit the nail on the head. The crazy part is that most people tend to keep going back to slow cardio when their workouts could be performed way more effectively.
Read and learn – and please leave your comments. I’m going to be interviewing Joel Marion soon, creator of Cheat Your Way Thin – so keep your eyes out for updates, so you don’t miss out.
5 Reasons Why Slow Boring Cardio Routines Totally Suck – Maximize Your Results in Half the Time!
1. Minimal calories burned — 45 minutes on the treadmill may burn a whopping 300 calories if you’re lucky, the equivalent of ONE TENTH of a pound of fat. Exercise ten hours a week and you might just lose a pound!
Which brings me to my next point:
2. Way too much time involved — I don’t know about you, but I don’t have hours and hours of my time to pour into working out each week. In fact, very rarely do I ever exceed three hours of exercise weekly, and you know what? That’s ALL you need.
Beyond that, slow-go cardio is:
3. BORING as heck — Sitting on an exercise bike staring at the wall in front of me for 45-60 minutes? No thanks.
But perhaps even worse is the fact that slow-go cardio provides:
4. No prolonged metabolic benefit — Did you know that with higher intensity exercise it is possible to continue to burn calories for up to 48 hours post workout? It’s true (and we’ll be discussing this “afterburn” effect in another post very soon). But you know what else is true? Long duration, low intensity cardio provides virtually NO prolonged elevation in metabolism. In fact, with slow-go cardio, metabolism returns to baseline almost IMMEDIATELY following the exercise session.
And finally, the reason that trumps all the others:
5. Minimal fat loss — Minimal calories burned during the session and virtually no additional calories burned afterward = minimal, if any fat loss results. And let’s be honest, the only reason anyone is doing cardio is for the “result”.
So if slow-go cardio isn’t a great solution, what is?
Short duration, high-intensity exercise. Less time, faster results — THAT’S what it’s all about.
And keep in mind, “high intensity” is relative to you. I don’t care if you’re already in great shape or if you’re 40 lbs overweight, you can exercise with intensity.
Joel Marion of Cheat Your Way Thin is America’s leading “anti-diet” expert, achieving dramatically high success rates with clients by teaching them how to use food—their favorite foods—to literally triple their fat loss results.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I like high intensity cardio as well…but will throw in some low intensity cardio after the doing the intense stuff. I agree on your stance that high-intensity cardio is much more time efficient.
I think both have their place, but you certainly give some strong points about why high-intensity should be a priority.
-Rusty
I prefer faster cardio too, but I don’t know what the increment to this approach can be. For example should one add time or intensity? When I feel stronger, I add on intensity.
Another question I have is about the efficiency of different types of cardio. I use the treadmill, the elliptical and the stationary bike (20 mins. each in each cardio session). Should I keep them all?
Finally on a “lazy” day should one drop intensity or duration?
Thanks