It always drives me crazy when I see people in the gym, day after day, walking or jogging on the treadmill for hours. They do the exact same routine, usually talking on the cell phone, reading a magazine or watching their favorite TV show. I see them every day for months go through the same workout and their bodies never change! Why is this? It’s simple.

When you initially start working out, it seems difficult to do these workouts. But, your body is an amazing machine and therefore, it quickly becomes efficient at doing the same workout and like anything, if you don’t push yourself or change it up, your body adjusts. Each time we repeat a particular workout, our body adapts to meet the demand, becomes more efficient and in turn, burns less fat and calories. So, the bottom line is you need to break out of your “cardio comfort zone” and challenge yourself to see faster fat loss results.

As human nature will have it, most people take the path of least resistance, which results in a less than effective cardio routine. This in turn, impacts the time it takes to see results. When people tell me they need to stay in the “fat burning zone” in order to burn calories, it makes me crazy! FORGET about the fat burning zone! As far as I’m concerned, this is an excuse not to push yourself. Your metabolism will increase only when your body is forced to change. When it comes to cardio and fat loss, INTENSITY is the secret ingredient to see changes, period!

So when people ask me why it’s better to do an intense 20 minute workout, as opposed to a slow, steady 30-45 minute workout when you burn more calories over 45 minutes, my answer is simple. Although you may burn more calories while you’re working out, once you stop that workout, your metabolism also stops burning. However, when you perform your cardio at an intense level (intervals), your body will spend the rest of the day expending energy to recover from the challenge you just put it through. This is called EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) and it means that you consume more oxygen recovering from an intense workout than you would from a slow steady cardio workout, no matter how long that workout is. 

How do you know if you’re not pushing yourself hard enough:

1) If you can hold a conversation with the person on the cardio machine next to you or the person on the other end of the cell phone!

2) If you are getting into the magazine or book you are reading to help pass the time.

3) You are enjoying your favorite TV show.

4) You have not worked up a sweat and feel you could go another 20 minutes!

These are all signs that you are not working hard enough to get the results you want. You need to focus on what you’re doing, work hard and be done! It is only 20 minutes! Surely you don’t need to find some distraction that will take away from your workout.

Here’s how it works:Start with the form of cardio you are comfortable doing and perform as follows:

3-5 minute warm up. 1 minute intense 1-2 minutes easy repeat 5-6 times Cool down



 This is just an example to show you how it works. Give it a try and I promise you will be shocked at how much more effective, not to mention efficient it is.

To change it up and keep it from getting boring, try shortening the hard intervals to 30-45 seconds while simultaneously increasing the intensity. Keep the easy part to 1-2 minutes. As you shorten the intense intervals, it is important that you increase the intensity from your level in the 1 minute interval and do additional intervals (8-10). Repeat until you’ve completed 15-20 minutes.

An Example of how I do it on a treadmill is as follows:

1 minute intervals:

Note: I keep it on a 7.5 to 10.0 incline throughout these workouts. The levels shown below are the speed.

3.0-4.0 warm up (3-5 mins) 7.5-8.0 intense (1 min) 3.5 easy (1-2 mins) 6 intervals Cool down



30-45 second intervals:

3.0-4.0 warm up (3-5 mins) 8.5-9.0 intense (30-45 secs) 3.5 easy (60-90 secs) 8-10 intervals Cool down

 

These are two examples so you are not confused. You need to do these intervals according to your individual fitness levels. The only thing I stress is you need to push yourself! By this I mean a subjective effort of 8-9 on a scale of 10. It must be intense to see results.

*Please note that if you are new to exercise, don’t attempt this without consulting your physician and even then, work yourself up slowly to being able to perform this type of exercise. This is not for everyone.

Types of Interval Training:

I also want to mention that interval training is not limited to a single cardio machine. It can be performed in a number of different ways as seen below:





1) Change machines every 3-5 minutes (i.e. start on treadmill, then move to elliptical and then stationary bike).





2) Hill sprints. Find a hill outside and after warming up, sprint up the hill. Walk down. Do this 5-10 times, depending on your fitness level.





3) My favorite type of interval training is doing different cardio intensive exercises. I get bored doing the same thing every workout. I love to change it up and here is an example of what I may do when I need a change:

Jump rope: 1-3 minutes Treadmill: 5 minutes (30 second sprints/30 second walking intervals) Push ups: 45 secs Burpees: 1 min Repeat 2-3 times

 

 So these are just a few examples, but a place to start if you are interested in kicking up your workouts. In order to see big changes, it is also important to do resistance training, as well as maintain a proper diet. Nutrition is imperative to any weight loss plan. Just remember, you can not “work off” a bad diet, no matter how hard you try.

In short, remember that with each workout you perform-whether it be interval training or resistance training- it is important that you find a way to change it up and keep yourself challenged. Training in your comfort zone is useless. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

1.) Not Drinking Water During the Workout

My girlfriend is guilty of this. I notice that when we do our cardio training together, she never sips her water. The bottle just lays in its little cubby-hole on the cardio console and she gulps it down at the end. Did you hear what I said? I said she GULPS it down at the end of the cardio session. Hydration is so important, especially during strenuous physical activity, that even a 2% loss in hydration will affect performance. Dehydration, combined with strenuous exercise, creates an environment of not only physical, but mental stress. How does mental stress affect your performance? If you “feel” that you are over-exerting yourself, chances are you will not increase the level on your treadmill, crosstrainer, bike, or stepper. Chances are as performance decreases, so will your drive to increase the power outage that you may be capable of doing. Hence, steady state cardio work prevails…

The lesson here? Take sips throughout your cardio session every other minute. There are various physical signs that you are beginning to experience dehydration during exercise: 1.) you cannot keep posture and composure during cardio exercise, 2.) your cheeks and face become rosey red and flushed, 3.) you do not sweat normally.

2.) Doing the Same Cardio Machine Day After Day

I know why we all do this. We get good at what we started out doing! Just think 6 weeks ago, you thought level 5 on the elliptical trainer was impossible. Now you are continuously jumping up to level 7 with no difficulty whatsoever. That is a great accomplishment for the standard sedentary individual who has finally adapted daily exercise into their lives and has made some improvements in body composition and overall health. BUT…for the typical hardgainer, this is a carnival merry-go-round. Typically, we need to feel successful to justify the work we put into improving our bodies, increasing strength, or losing fat. I have always said that “success breeds success”. So psychologically, when we “get good” on a particular type of cardiovascular activity (i.e. running, elliptical, rowing, stepper, etc), we tend to believe that we have reached a pinnacle in our training. That’s not a bad thing. But again, for the hardgainer, this can be a vicious cycle of nothingness. This cycle is a result of the body’s specific adaptation to imposed demands (SAID) principle. The hardest exercise becomes easier the better we get at it. Therefore, the better we are at it, the more efficient we become at that particular activity. The more efficient we become at the activity, the less calories we burn. (Read that again if you do not understand) Oh yea…forget the little calorie counter that pops up on the screen. It’s based on total weight and keeps going even when you step on the sides of the treadmill.

3.) Steady State Cardio

We all heard how this one is a waste of time. Let me explain how it is a waste of time in regards to fat loss. The body uses 3 sources of energy to sustain ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) production. ATP is the body’s end-all, be-all source of energy. In order for the body to live, it must continuously produce ATP. Well, it does this in 3 ways. Our immediate source of energy production comes from creatine phosphate (CP), where a creatine molecule is donated to ADP (adenosine di-phosphate) to create ATP. This action is anaerobic and requires only creatine which the body supplies or is obtained from meats. This immediate source of energy lasts only around 5 seconds and is primarily used for power. The second source of energy is glycolosis—the breaking down of sugars to produce ATP. This process is also anaerobic and lasts usually 3 to 5 minutes. Glycolysis refers to the body using glycogen (stored sugar) in blood and muscles to continuously make ATP. This process is the one we usually exercise in. The third and often never tapped into is oxidative phosphorilization. This process is aerobic and calls upon oxygen to aid in mobilizing fat cells to be used as energy. This process allows the body to last longer in endurance type bouts or high intense bouts of exercise. So…how does this correlate with steady state exercise? Easy. When we perform 30 minutes of walking, we never step out of glycolosis as our primary source of ATP production (energy). We are simply burning off the sugars of foods we have eaten in the last 24-48 hours. We never try to sprint on the treadmill, pick the higher level on the ellipticals, or take a spinning class…we basically do what we have been taught or what comes easiest. This has been my argument in regards to watching TV while doing cardio. If your goal is fat loss, you can try the steady state stuff for a while, but when your cardiovascular system improves and your diet is better, then you need to work harder to expedite oxidative phosphorilization. This fat mobilizing process is also known as EPOC (Excessive Post- Exercise Oxygen Consumption). In simple terms it means that the body continues to mobilize fat as fuel for up to 1 hour after an intense bout of cardio (180+ bpm).

4.) Scared to Do Cardio Before Weights

This is an old bodybuilder’s myth that started way back when. Why do we think cardio (the right kind—not steady state) will cause muscle loss? It is okay to perform your cardio BEFORE your strength training—even if your goal is hypertrophy or strength. Why? Because if you follow the proper food intake and understand the amount of calories you need to sustain lean body mass, than intense bouts of cardio (defined as above 180+ bpm, short duration (12-15minutes)) will actually promote muscle gain. The real fear should come from figuring out the total amount of calories you ingested for a 24 hour period. This is what I used to tell my clients…ever see a sprinter? Ever see how muscular they are?

Doing your cardio first and then performing strength training can lead to the EPOC phenomenon that I mentioned above. Of course, this is dependent on your intensity, rep schemes, rest periods, and fitness level.

5.) Old Sneakers

There is no doubt in my mind that 70% of foot and knee problems come from poor or old sneakers. How many times have you seen gym-goers running on the treadmill with old, beat-up sneakers with grass stains, and cracks all over the “p-leather”? I mean, those sneakers are used for Saturday morning lawn mowing and then taken to the gym to perform your 30 minutes cardio routine? C’mon….

In the last 4 years, every client that I met that had old sneakers evidenced by the condition, wear of soles, and or “lack of bounce”, I had them purchase new ones. I would not start their training program until they came to me with new sneakers. Period. An you know what happened? Knee pain disappeared…foot pain disappeared…and clients didn’t cut cardio out of their workouts. They felt better running or doing inclines. You know that pain you feel on the elliptical in your foot? It disappeared with a brand new pair of Addidas. How does sneaker condition affect lower body function? If your soles are worn, or your have pronated or supinated ankles, chances are your foot strike is not optimal on hard surfaces or a treadmill. What this does is create dysfunction at the ankle joint (usually due to dynamic instability) and weak/tight peroneals and tibialis (ankle muscles). This kinetic chain dysfunction travels up to the next joint, which is the knee and then the hip and causes undo stress on the lower back and entire spinal column. This is another reason why people skip out on cardio or like the steady state easy stuff—because their feet can’t handle it! Besides, a new pair of sneakers gives people the sense of starting something new and committing to a fitness program.

Myths Exposed and Little Known Secrets Revealed

 What do you think of when I mention cardio? An hour-long jog? A long, steady session on the exercise bike? Sweatin’ to the oldies? If it’s any of those things, you’re doing cardio, but you’re not doing smart cardio. There are lots of things you can do to burn calories, but if you’re reading this article, you know that you want the calories you burn to come from fat, not lean mass. Traditional long, slow distance cardio burns muscle and fat pretty indiscriminately. In fact, if you do enough, you may find that your body burns muscle preferentially to ease the demands of doing so much aerobic work. That’s exactly the opposite of what you want.

So how do you do cardio without sacrificing precious muscle? The answer is interval work. Definitely get yourself cleared by a doctor before jumping into intervals, because the whole idea is to rapidly and repeatedly raise your heart rate, alternating the high heart rate work with brief recovery periods. The optimal way to do interval work is probably to do walk back sprints. Sprint all-out for 15 seconds, then turn around and walk back to where you started. It should take about 45 seconds to walk back. Once you’re back where you started, sprint for 15 seconds again. Do seven sprints your first week, and add one sprint per week until you’re up to 20 sprints per session. If you’re not up for sprints, you can approximate them on an exercycle or an elliptical machine. Simply go all-out for 15 seconds, then pedal or walk at a recovery pace for 45. The same build-up pattern applies.

In order to grasp this concept, you must first learn what your body burns for energy during strenuous exercise.  I call this energy body burn, “The Hierarchy Scale Of Energy.”  The human body accesses certain nutrients for energy and does so in a precise manner every time.  This access order NEVER changes.  Let me repeat, NEVER changes.  This scale will alter the way you train forever!  Here it is.

 

   1. MUSCLE GLYCOGEN

(Sugar processed from carbohydrates and stored in muscle for contraction)

   2. LIVER GLYCOGEN

(Storage organ for excess glycogen; primary fuel source for brain function)

   3. BBA (BLOOD BORNE AMINO ACIDS)

(Branched Chain Amino Acids formed from protein)



4. FAT (Speaks for itself)

 

 ¨Notice where FAT is on the scale.  It is last!!!  It’s the one thing we hate the most about our body and it’s the one thing your body hates to give up.  The irony! 

 ¨It takes between 20-30 minutes to reach level #4, depending on the time of day you train and when you last ingested carbohydrates.

 

   Case#1: Come into the gym and jump on the cardio machine (pick your favorite).  Remember it will take 20-30 minutes to burn the muscle glycogen, liver glycogen and BBA before you reach fat.  In reality, the first 25 minutes of cardio is totally USELESS!! That is of course unless you actually enjoy doing cardio, simply for the love of doing cardio.  If you do, then I will affectionately call you NUTS!  Most people do it for fat loss, so why not make it the most effective?  To access fat, you now have to add an additional 20 minutes of cardio to get any results.  The entire cardio session alone will be around 45 minutes. Now you go to weight training.  But wait, where is your muscle glycogen (fuel for muscle contraction?) Right, it’s gone!  The result; weaker workout, less muscle development, increased fatigue, over training, burnout, longer recovery and a slower metabolism.  In short, NO PROGRESS!  You get discouraged and quit training because your body is not changing.

 

   Case #2: Come into the gym and you jump on the cardio machine for 5-minutes to warm-up. Now you hit the weights.  Where is your muscle glycogen?  Right, ready to go for power and intensity resistance training.  Train for 30 minutes with weights and use up #1-3 on the Hierarchy Scale.  Result; increased strength, more lean muscle, less fatigue, no burnout, more intensity. Now begin cardio training.  What is the only available energy source left to burn for the cardio session since #1-3 are gone?  You got it, #4!!  Now you access fat stores immediately and only have to do 15-20 minutes of cardio to get the same benefits as 45 minutes in Case #1.  That means more fat loss! In short, PHENOMENAL PROGRESS!  You get psyched and train harder.

Which would you choose to do? I know my answer!