One of the ongoing debates in the fitness world today is which burns more calories: cardio or weight training?
You will find those on both sides of the argument offering data to support their position. As much as I would like to say that you can dispense with one or the other the truth of the matter is that you need both of them. I know, that is not what you wanted to hear but let’s be honest deep down inside you knew this was the case.
Trust me there is nothing that I would love more than to never have to due another minute of cardio training for the rest of my life. I despise treadmills, ellipticals and the like. However, I faithfully do them everyday that I go to the health club.
I know that there are other people who probably fell the same way about weight lifting. Much of it has to do with (in my humble opinion) the type of muscle fibers our bodies are composed of. My theory is that the more fast twitch muscle fiber you have the more you enjoy weight lifting. The more slow twitch muscle fiber you have the more you enjoy cardio. In other words, it boils down to personal preference since one form of exercise is easier for us since our bodies are better equipped to handle one or the other.
But the truth of the matter is that we need both. Cardio is essential for burning calories. I have tried to burn calories thru weight training programs but ultimately I fail to keep up the pace of the workout. If I workout at a pace that keeps my heart rate where I want it I do not have enough rest in between sets and my weight lifting performance and progress falters. If I give myself the rest in between sets that I require then my heart rate is too low to burn calories as I should.
Therefore, cardio becomes a necessity for me in order to burn the calories that I need to throughout the day.
Conversely, weight training is essential as well since the more muscle that you have the more calories that your body will burn in order to maintain this muscle. It takes more energy for you body to maintain muscle than it does to maintain the same weight in fat. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism will be as well. This will benefit you in your overall weight loss and fitness program.
When you combine the two forms of exercise you have a powerful duo that provides you will a tremendous level of fitness and keeps your body weight exactly where you want. So do yourself a favor and spend time each week performing both cardio and weight training. You will be better off for it.
So you want to burn fat? Join the club. With obesity levels in the U.S. pushing nearly 1 in 3 people it is on the mind of just about everyone. If you want to get serious about your fitness and burning off the unwanted fat then you need to look into what is called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
HIIT is short periods (intervals) of intense exercise followed by a resting period where less intense exercise is performed. The question you may be asking is why is High Intensity Interval Training supposed to be so effective? What makes it better than steady state cardio workouts?
You are probably familiar with steady state cardio. That means hopping on the treadmill and jogging for about 30 minutes or so. You try to get your heart rate into the fat burning zone and hopefully the fat will melt away. When you get your heart rate into the fat burning zone (about 65 - 75% of your max heart rate) you will be burning fat at a good clip. You will be getting most of your energy from your fat. This is good. You definitely will burn fat and lose weight by doing steady state cardio. However, there is also a downside.
Outside of being boring, you will only burn calories while doing the exercise itself and maybe for another hour or so after that. Maybe that doesn’t sound so bad but you will see in a moment that it is definitely not preferrable.
Your body will also adapt to your workouts at some point making them much less effective (that means you won’t burn much fat). The other problem is that if you perform steady state cardio for too long you lose muscle mass. Think about it; have you ever seen a muscular marathon runner? There is a reason for that. After about 35-40 minutes of steady state cardio you begin to release a hormone called cortisol. Unfortunately, cortisol will break down the protein in your body for energy instead of fat. Less protein means less muscle. Not enough protein means muscle loss.
So what does HIIT offer that steady state cardio doesn’t? Research has shown that interval training will increase your ability to burn calories at an elevated rate for up to 48 hours after you workout. This is a result of Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). You can click the link to learn more about why it works that way rather than go into a big discussion about it here.
One of the other positive side effects of High Intensity Interval Training is that it causes your body to release testosterone and human growth hormone. Both of these are essential in building muscle and helping you to lose fat. HIIT by its very nature cannot be done for long periods of time therefore cortisol never gets released. A typical HIIT workout will only last about 20 - 25 minutes.
The other positive part about HIIT is that you body never quite adapts to it. You can vary the interval times of intesity and rest and keep your body off balance.
So if you are at a fat loss plateau or need to ramp up your fat loss efforts then take a look at High Intensity Interval Training.
Often we allow ourselves to get boxed in when it comes to maintaining our fitness level. We compartmentalize our fitness. If we want to burn calories and lose weight we do cardio. We hop on a treadmill or a bike or an elliptical machine or if we are really daring we don our running shoes and head outside.
If we want to increase strength or better our muscular tone we do resistance training or strength training or weight lifting. But for whatever reason we rarely think about trying to accomplish both with the same exercise routine. It is one of my goals to challenge your thinking in this regard. You see we can burn calories, lose weight, build muscle tone and build strength quite often through the same set of exercises.
Today I want to discuss an exercise that fits into this category. It will both give you a great cardio workout and help build muscle tone all at the same time. Now I don’t recommend doing this exercise non-stop for 30 minutes for a couple of reasons. First, you won’t be able to perform it for that long and second, any exercise performed for 30 minutes straight is boring. That is one of the reasons I despise running. It is boring. And the ultimate upshot is if I consider it boring then there is a good chance that I just might decide to skip it today. This is not good for developing your fitness level.
The exercise I want to introduce to you today is Burpees. Burpees are a multi-function exercise. They are a body weight exercise that includes a squat, a push-up and an explosive jump. These parts combine to create a lethal fat burning exercise. (It is lethal to your fat, not you.)
Let me describe how to perform a burpee. You will start out in a standing position with your feet about shoulder width apart. The first part of the move is that you will squat down. Then you will quickly place your hands on the floor in front of you and will simultaneously quick your feet back so that you are in a push-up position. You will then kick your feet back to where they started from (removing your hands from the floor) and from the squatting position explode and jump as high as you can. Then repeat and repeat and repeat.
The idea is that the exercise be done in a flowing motion without breaks in between each part. If you are having trouble with understanding my explanation then I have found a video from YouTube for you to watch. The video is from the wonderful people at Crossfit . They even throw a little ring exercise variation in for you at the end.
Burpees are intensive exercises. Try to work your way up to where you can perform 20 - 25 without stopping and work them into your overall exercise routine. You can add 3 or 4 sets to your fat burning workout and I believe you will be pleased with the result.
So get to exercising and let me know what you think of burpees if you have never done them before. See you soon!
