Cardio Mistakes

The controversies over cardio exercises for fat loss are endless: steady state versus intervals, fed versus fasted, long and easy versus short and intense, and so on. Obviously there is a lot of interest in cardio training and how to do it right.

Sadly, most people are still doing 2 things terribly wrong and it’s killing their results. As best as Tom Venuto, author of the best selling e-book Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle can figure, there are two major reasons why people are still mucking up their cardio programs for fat loss.

Reason #1: Not enough focus on total calorie burned

Most people aren’t burning enough darn calories. Why? Well, I guess they are too busy worrying about the "proper" type of cardio exercises (which machine or activity), the mode (steady state or intervals), the "optimal" ratio of intervals, or the "best" duration.

Some people coast along on the treadmill at 2.3 miles per hour or some similar sloth-like pace and they think that just by hitting a TIME goal, such as 45 or 60 minutes, that with "X" duration completed, they are assured to get the results they want.

On the other extreme, we have folks who have found or created some mega-intense, super-duper short cardio training protocol like the "4-minute wonder workout from Japan." Just because the cardio workout is high in intensity and it is performed in intervals, they too think they are assured to get the results they want. What’s missing in both cases is the realization that total fat loss over time is a function of total calorie burned over time (assuming you don’t blow your diet, of course).

Total calorie burned is a product of INTENSITY times DURATION, not intensity OR duration. Too much focus on one variable at the exclusion of the other can lead to a less than optimal total calorie burn and disappointing results. And remember, intensity and duration are *variables* not absolutes! ("Variable" means you can change them… even if your "guru" says you can’t!)

When you understand the relationship and interplay between INTENSITY X DURATION you will find a "SWEET SPOT" where the product of those variables produces the maximal calorie burn and maximum fat loss, based on your current health condition and your need for time efficiency.

Reason #2: Too much focus on what type of calorie burned

There is one whopper of a mistake that is still KILLING most people’s cardio programs and that is. Way too much focus on WHAT you are burning during the workout - fats or carbohydrates - also known as "substrate utilization."

This idea comes from the notorious "fat burning zone" myth which actually tells people to exercise SLOWER and LESS intensely to burn more fat.

Hold on a minute. Pop quiz. Which cardio workout burns more calories?

(A) A 30 minute leisurely stroll through the park.

(B) A 30 minute, sweat-pouring, heart-pounding, lung-burning run?

And yet we have trainers, authors and infomercial gurus STILL telling us we have to slow down if we want to burn more fat??? Bizarre. The reason people still buy it is because the "fat burning zone" myth sounds so plausible because of two little science facts:

• The higher your intensity, the more carbs you burn during the cardio workout.
• The lower your intensity, the more fat you burn during the cardio workout.

And that's the problem. You should be focusing on total calorie burned and total fat burned during the cardio exercises and all day long, not just what type or percentage of fuel you are burning during the cardio exercise. It’s not that fat oxidation doesn’t matter, but what if you have a high percentage of fat oxidation but an extremely low number of calorie burned?

If you really want to be in the "fat burn zone," you could sit on your couch all day long and that will keep you there quite nicely because "couch sitting" is a really low intensity ("fat-burning") activity. (Of course, "couch sitting" only burns 37 calories per half hour.)

Here’s the fat-burning solution!

In both cases, the solution to burning more fat is drop dead simple: Focus your attention on how you can burn more TOTAL calories during your cardio workout and all day long. If you want to burn more fat, burn more calories and you can do that by manipulating ANY of the variables : intensity, duration and also frequency. If you build your cardio training program around this concept like Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle, you will be on the right track almost every time.

BUT WAIT - THERE IS MORE TO IT

Naturally, we could argue that it’s not quite this simple and that there are hundreds of other reasons why your cardio program might not be working and I would agree, of course. But on the cardio exercise side, the ideas above should be foremost in your mind.

On the nutrition side, you have to get your act together there too. For example, many people increase their food intake at the same time as they start a cardio training program thereby putting back in every calorie burned during the workout! Then some of them have the nerve to say, "SEE, cardio doesn't work!"

Incidentally, this is the exact reason that a few studies show that adding cardio exercise or aerobic training to a diet "did not improve fat loss": It’s not because the cardio didn’t work, it was because the researchers didn't control for diet and the subjects ate more!!

It should go without saying that nutrition is the foundation on which every fat loss program is built.

Choose the combination of type, intensity, duration and frequency that suits your lifestyle and preferences the best, and WORK THE VARIABLES to get the fat loss results you want, but whichever cardio program you choose, remember that a solid fat burning nutrition program, such as Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle is necessary to help you make the most of it.