One of the biggest lessons I've learned over the last year is that moderate cardio is like eating a sucker after brushing your teeth. Sure, your teeth might be better off than if you hadn't brushed at all, but the sucker pretty much ruins the work you did brushing. Same as moderate cardio, sure it's better to get moving and burn some calories, but you might just be ruining your metabolism in the process. Don't believe me...do a Google search for HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), and do some research for yourself.
When the fitness revolution started...way back when...everyone was doing aerobics, stair steppers, running on a treadmill, etc...for hours and hours a week. I, like most people, thought that the more calories your burned while doing cardio, the better off you were, and of course, the longer you were on one of those machines, the more calories you burned. More had to be better right?? Well, apparently this school of thought is on it's way out. Here is an interesting article by Alwyn Cosgrove regarding moderate vs. interval cardio Energy System Training . Bill Phillips seemed to be ahead of his times when he suggested a 20 minute high intensity interval cardio in his Body for Life book. Yes, you heard right, 20 minutes...and no that is not every day. That is 3x a week only! Most people who are new to Body for Life do not believe (or at least have doubts), that this amount of cardio will be enough to bring about weight loss...or more specifically, FAT loss, which really is the ultimate goal. Side note: scale weight is a bunch of hooey. More on that later.
So, spread the word, work your hiney off for 20 minutes 3x a week. Start with a 2 minute warm up on whatever machine you prefer...or just outside walking. Then do a "sprint" for 30-60 seconds, followed by "active rest" for 60-90 seconds, which means you don't come to a complete stop. Rinse and repeat for 20 minutes, followed by a cool-down period. There are a LOT of ways to do HIIT, but as long as you are at some point thinking you are going to pass out (what we in the BFL world call "hitting your 10s"), followed by active rest...etc, you will burn far more fat, and do a greater service to your metabolism, then staying at the same pace for 45 minutes.
JUST SAY NO TO SLOW-GO CARDIO!!
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3 comments:
Good girl! I'm so proud of you. Wait, you're not adding my blog as a link you visit...??? So offended :-). Love you lots and loved your posts so far!
Well, I've read all of the articles about HIIT and I've done it in the past. I don't doubt that it is effective from a time vs. results standpoint. But I'm a runner and I actually *like* doing moderate cardio...lots and lots and lots of it.
In my opinion, the best exercise is the one you'll do, so if you enjoy doing moderate cardio, I wouldn't call it a "waste of time"...it's certainly better than doing nothing. It also requires a decent amount of fitness to do it correctly. The population that I work with is very unfit and maintaining the necessary level of intensity would *kill* them. They would never come back!
That being said, I work with people who hate doing exercise and force themselves to do it because they know it's good for them. For those people, HIIT is great because it gives them the biggest "bang for the buck"
Thanks for stopping by my blog...and I'm not offended that you didn't add the link to the blogs you visit. :-)
Fit Club Scott
Thanks for stopping by! Your blog has been bookmarked on my computer for a while, I'm still getting the rest of my page set up, so you'll be up there soon :)
As far as HIIT vs moderate cardio. In regards to moderate cardio I think it is great if you love to run/swim/play sports, and have time to do it for hours and hours a week. But for the rest of us (me included) this just isn't feasible. So for those who are truly trying to lose fat by doing cardio, I still think moderate cardio is a waste of time. Even a 12 minute HIIT can create EPOC, and boost your metabolism for hours after. I have a hard time believing that there is anyone so out of shape that they cannot do HIIT (unless they have medical conditions) because you do not have to sustain that intensity for the duration of the HIIT, only for short bursts (as you know). And the intensity is based on how the person feels, not any set point. We could probably argue this point into the ground, but I'll stick with my HIIT and encourage others to at least give it a try. Most of the people I talk to in my real life are mothers who are looking to shed those post-baby pounds, so HIIT is ideal for them..like you said "bang for the buck"
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