Stop the Cardio – Interval Training Is Best For Fast Weight Loss
Once upon a time in the ’80s, fitness experts told people that they should walk, go jogging, or go to the gym and or buy an exercise bike, treadmill or elliptical to jump on for 45 minutes to an hour a day. What’s incredible is that much of this attitude still exists today. People are still falling prey to the myth that long bouts of cardio, 6 or 7 days a week is the best fast weight loss method. The fact of the matter is that many of those people who succumbed to the aerobics and cardio craze of the ’80s are suffering from arthritis and tendonitis, the catalyst of which was overuse injuries from the repetitive motion of those activities.
Despite the plethora of overuse injuries, you can go to any large gym that you see advertized on your television and see people jogging, biking, and pumping that elliptical for what seems like hours. You can head to your local park or suburban community to see people jogging or walking at a steady pace for miles and miles. Ever since the neighbor lady across the joined the street fro me joined the running craze and roped her husband into it, I have watched that poor guy running and walking with a pronounced limp which he didn’t have before which he obviously got from, yes you guessed it, from running! What’s really a shame is the couple across the street doesn’t look any better than they did two years ago when they started.
In addition to the overuse injuries. People who rely on steady-state cardio for conditioning actually suffer from muscle loss from lowered testosterone levels because of the prolonged cardio. Testosterone is the catalyst for muscle growth and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. Just think of it. By doing steady state cardio, they are actually limiting their potential to burn fat.
There are an unlimited amount of ways to do interval training. You could a 65 – 70% effort with very short rest periods. On the high intensity end, you could go all out for 30- 60 seconds and then rest for a couple minutes. Where you start depends on your fitness level. As you progress you should increase your exercise intensity and decrease your rest interval making sure that you give yourself enough time for your heart rate to decrease. As you get in shape, your recovery time will naturally become shorter. You might start with a 20 second exercise period with a one minute recovery period with a goal of eventually getting to a 20 second, high intensity exercise period with only a 10 second recovery period, within 6 months. When you get to this point, where your exercise period is double your recovery period, you are performing a “Tabata Interval”. According to the literature, with the 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off configuration, if you are going all out in the workout interval, you only need to perform the Tabata Interval for 4 minutes or 8 cycles to be effectively burning fat.
By employing Interval Training instead of traditional cardio you should expect to experience:
1. Increased fat loss. You will burning fat for up to 36 hours between workouts.
2. Less injuries. You will not experience as many overused muscle and joint injuries.
3. Save time. Your workouts will be shorter and more efficient. You will only have to work out 3 or 4 days per week.
4. Maintain interest. You will not become bored because a plethora of exercises can be used for intervals; jumping jacks, squats, burpees, sprints, the limit is your imagination.
5. Increased muscle mass. Your muscle mass will increase because of the increase in growth hormone produced from intense interval training.
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Clint Grimes, is a retired US Navy commander. He is certified by the California Interscholastic Federation and is currently the strength and conditioning coach for the boys soccer teams at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, CA.
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