Weight Loss Cardio Workout

No doubt most people in our lifetime, exercise for fat loss by running, doing a bike, or stair master for 30 minutes plus a day at least 5 times a week. I know that at some point I have tried to exercise the 30 minutes a day. But I hope that after reading this post you will change your thinking and look to change how to approach your weight loss cardio workout.

To prove the weight loss cardio workout point I will bullet point several keys ideas as to why it is important to use high intensity training for fat loss.

As Alwyn Cosgrove (One of the most respected trainers in the USA) puts it: look at a world class sprinter vs. a world class marathon runner. Who seems to be more ripped? It is the sprinter. But do you think these sprinters go out and run mile after mile. The answer to that is no. The sprinter will go out and do what we call interval training or tempo training for their aerobic work. This means that they will do a run at about 75-80% max speed for about 100-300 yards then rest for about 1 minute plus then repeat it again for many reps. This allows the sprinter to maintain his or her speed, while getting that much needed aerobic work.

EPOC-excess post oxygen consumption. To keep is simple this means the extra calories that you burn after you exercise to bring your body back to homeostasis. The higher the intensity of exercise the more Kcals you will burn in your weight loss cardio workout after you are done exercising. Just look at these extra calories as bonus calories. High intensity training can increase resting metabolism for up to 24 hours following exercise.

Pounding your body-As you approach your weight loss cardio workout some people insist on running mile after mile. This is fine if you are training for a long distance running event. But why is it bad to run mile after mile?

The body is exposed to up to seven times its body weight on every step while running.(1) Exposing the body to repeated poundings when it is not able can eventually cause overuse injuries. Have you ever started a running program and started to get little nagging injuries that required you to stop your program?

Exposing a 180 pound person who is only adapted to handle 150 pounds to repeated trauma causes a huge weight bearing deficit for each step taken. If each step during a run causes seven times the bodies weight in pounding, that is 210 pounds more, in this example, than the body is used to on each step. That is the equivalent of almost one grown person riding on that athletes back during a 20 minute run. Over time how do you think this person will fair?

In your weight loss cardio workout you need to also consider that “Researchers have also found that high intensity exercise facilitates fat loss as well as preserving fat-free mass at a greater rate than low intensity exercise(Grediagin et al., 1995; Keim et al.; Racette, Schoeller, Kushner, Neil, & Herling-Iaffaldano,995; Tremblay, Simoneau, & Bouchard, 1994). ”

One study by Tremblay in 1994 found that even though the low intensity long duration exercise burned more calories than the interval training, it was found that interval training actually resulted in greater skinfold reductions. That means more fat loss. This is another reason why you need not focus as much on weight and keep an eye on fat loss. The interval group trained at 70% of power output for their 90 second cycling. Short duration intervals lasted about 15-30 seconds up to 60-90 seconds.

Tremblay et al. (1994) found no decrease in weight for either the endurance training
group (pre: 60.6 ± 13.4 kg; post: 60.1 ± 12.1 kg) or the interval training group (pre: 63.9 ± 11.0 kg; post: 63.8 ± 11.5 kg). The lack of a change in weight could be because none of the subjects were obese, therefore none had a large amount of weight to lose. The lack of weight loss could also be due to the fact that the subjects’ diets were not controlled to prevent them from increasing their energy intake. Tremblay et al., however, found a significant difference in energy expenditure due to exercise between the two programs. The energy expenditure per session of the endurance training program was 120.4 ± 31.0 MJ whereas the energy expenditure per session 28 of the interval training program was 57.9 ± 14.4 MJ (p < 0.01). Even though energy expenditure was greater for the endurance training group, Tremblay et al. found that the interval training program resulted in a greater change in the mean sum of six skinfolds. The interval training group had a significant decrease in skinfold sums (94.2 ± 37.7 mm to 80.3 ± 36.0 mm; p < 0.01) whereas the endurance training group did not (79.2 ± 35.1 mm to 74.7 ± 34.2 mm; NS). Despite the significant decrease in skinfold sums for the interval training group, there was no between group difference in the degree of change for each group. However, once corrected for energy expenditure, the change in skinfold sum of the endurance training group was ~0.04 mm/MJ whereas the change for the interval training group was ~0.25 mm/MJ (p<0.01). The fact that the high intensity interval training group had a significantly greater change in the sum of six skinfolds indicated that higher intensity exercise may play a larger role in fat loss than exercise at a lower intensity and a longer duration. As mentioned earlier, none of the subjects used in the study by Tremblay et al. (1994) were overweight, essentially negating the fact that no weight loss occurred.

Remember the goal is to lose fat. Like the study above mentioned these people lost more fat, even though they didn’t lose weight. That means they might have put on some muscle during the program too. But I cannot confirm that now.

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