Since this is the last Monday of the month, these will be my final two research articles to help you finally abandon steady state cardio.
As you'll remember we've already discussed the negatives of steady state cardio:
the amount of time it takes each week to get in all those hours
the wear and tear toll it takes on your knees, hips and back
the fact that it does not burn body fat efficiently and effectively for the time you spend
If that wasn't enough for the month, guess what else I found to help you that will help you get in shape quickly and effectively?
So what else works better than steady state cardio? Well for one weight lifting circuits. Weight lifting circuits have been found to burn more fat and overall calories effectively.
A study was done on the "Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate".
Now for sure 800 calories is a ridiculously low amount of calories to consume (I would not suggest you try this). But again it was for the purpose of research. Surely no plan, no matter how well thought out, could produce any results on such a low amount of intake calories right?
Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate
Wrong!!
Aerobic group: 4 hours per week
Resistance training group: 2-4 sets of 8-15 reps. 10 exercises, three times per week.
VO2 max increased equally in both groups (think better utilization of oxygen)
The resistance training group lost significantly more fat and did not lose any lean body mass (LBM), even at only 800 calories per day.
The resistance training group actually increased metabolism compared to the aerobic group which decreased metabolism.
Plain and simple. Even consuming only 800 calories, lifting weights can actually increase your metabolism (think burn more calories just sitting at your desk). Why is that important? Because the more muscle you have and maintain, the easier it is to lose weight and keep it off. Starvation diets deplete your body and cause your metabolism to slow down -- making it harder to lose weight.
One more for the road.
Contribution of anaerobic energy expenditure to whole body thermogenesis
A weight training circuit burned 71% more calories than originally thought using aerobic measures
8 minutes of weight training burned somewhere between 159 and 231 calories (used a 15 repetition scheme)
To put it plainly, you can burn a heck of a lot more calories doing a weight lifting circuit than doing steady state cardio.
So at this point, to be quite blunt and to the point, with so many options to doing steady state cardio, there are really only 4 reasons I can think of as to why you should be doing steady state:
1.) Your treating physician has advised you to do steady state cardio
2.) You have recently started exercising (less than 6 months on a consistent exercise routine)
3.) You have a body fat composition that is below 10%
4.) You have lots of free time and nothing better to do
So there you have it. A month's worth of research on the reasons why steady state cardio doesn't work, as well as some options to try.
Make this year, your year. No more excuses, only results.
Get on Track and Stay on Track!