Go into any commercial gym and you’ll see a lot of people hammering away on the cardio equipment. The only benefit of steady state cardio is that it burns calories while you do it, therefore the public thinks it is a smart way to lose weight. It doesn’t cause any real beneficial lasting adaption and it also takes up more time than necessary. Lifting weights will cause lasting adaptions to the body and high intensity can cause rapid fat loss and takes only a fraction of the time traditional cardio does.
Solution: High intensity interval training. HIIT training is simply repeated bouts of high intensity and short duration exercise intervals combined with rest periods of low intensity movement.
1.) Time: A typical cardio session usually takes 1 hour. A typical ”high intensity interval training” session may last 20 mins and also provides a post exercise increase in metabolism, know as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. Meaning you burn more calories in the hours after exercise even when you are sitting on the couch.
2.) Pleasure: Plodding along on a treadmill for an hour or out in the open air doing short sprints as fast you can, preferably with somebody else. Which is more appealing? Sprinting no doubt, although warned sprinting is much harder. Your training should be tough and exciting, not easy and boring.
Examples of HIIT training are conventional sprinting or hill sprints, however this can be done on a stationary bike or row machine indoors if you live in a harsh climate.
Training format
- Perform 6-10 rounds
- Follow a work to rest ratio of 1:3, meaning if the sprint takes 30 seconds then you rest for 90 seconds.
- Keep the sprints between 30-60 seconds, this will cause some significant lactate build up accompanied by that burning and cramping feeling in the muscle.
- Stay moving slowly during the recovery period.
- Simple but painful as hell.
If you are lifting weights and eating smart then your need for cardio can be at a minimal.
Source: manofdanger.com