Want to really change your body and save your time? Rethink your entire workout! Gone are the days of the "fat burning zone" and maintaining it for 50-60 minutes. And gone are the days of doing a set of strength exercises and then resting for several minutes and doing another set. STOP WASTING YOUR TIME!
During a steady-state aerobic workout (meaning you move at the same pace for period of time), your body will burn a higher percentage of calories from fat. This is where the "myth" comes into play. There are several problems with this picture.
First- you are burning a higher percentage of a smaller amount of calories. Then your body will adapt quickly and you will burn fewer total calories.
Secondly- the body actually becomes a more efficient "fat storing" machine. Think of it as a fuel efficient car. As your body becomes more efficient, you will burn less fat. This is not the situation we are looking for. Imagine the body of a marathon runner (endurance athlete) and then a sprinter (track and field athlete). The sprinter is very lean with sculpted muscles and very little body fat.
When doing strength training, focusing on the old body building format is also very inefficient. You are working one muscle group at a time and resting in between. It is a time waste and not effective for burning fat and calories.
I have found that using a total body resistance training program with shorter rest periods along with two or three cardio interval training sessions a week is most effective to lose body fat.
Ally’s story! For years I ran, at least five times a week for at least 50 minutes. For those of you who know me, I do not have a runner’s body. I am very short, with short legs and very muscular. So running did not come easy but I grew to love it and believed it was the best way for me to burn fat. I also believed if I did not have at least 50 minutes to exercise, it was a waste of my time.
After years of this type of training, I developed plantar fasciitis. Plantar fasciitis is the thickening and inflation of the tissue on the bottom of the foot. It is extremely painful. I had to completely quit running. I was wondering what I was going to do and was very concerned that I would gain weight. I did research and found some circuit training weight workouts I could do at home. At that time, I could do NO cardio at all because I did not have a bike and I could not walk or run at all. I could not even walk my dog (he was very sad).
The research stated that the total body workouts would put more load on the muscles that the traditional upper body, lower body split because you work the entire body three days per week. This type of training was also showing signs of burning more fat and elevating resting metabolism for days after the workout.
After one month of working out with weights three times a week, doing total body workouts for about 45 minutes each time, I actually dropped a pant size. I was spending 3 hours less per week exercising and getting much better results-- I was so excited! I began doing research and learned that metabolic resistance training and/or cardio interval training increases your metabolism for 24 to 72 hours after the actual workout.
If your goal is to look good, be fit, and not spend your life exercising, be sure to do total body resistance workouts at least three days a week and get a couple of interval training cardio sessions in. Free up your time and slim up your body!!!
Tips to make the most of you cardio session and burn more FAT - and spend less time doing it!
- Keep it short but intense. If you can maintain the pace for more than 30 minutes, you are not working intensely enough. In the past we all believed longer was better when it came to burning fat. New research debunks that (thank goodness!)
- Show up, train hard and get on with your day! If you are reading a book while doing cardio, you probably aren’t working hard enough. After a warm up, perform cardio at a pace you can maintain for only 1 to 2 minutes, and then recover at an easier pace for the same amount of time. Repeat this for a total of 20 to 30 minutes before cooling down.
- Mix it up. Cardio usually has us moving forward – try some side shuffles, skaters or side lunges to get into a different plan.
- Choose multiple modes. Running or biking only can lead to overuse injuries. By changing up the modes, you keep it fun and minimize the risk of injury.\
- Think long term and big picture – it isn’t the number of calories burned during the session, but the AFTER BURN – the EPOC – that makes the difference. Short intense cardio sessions increase the calories burned for 24 to 48 hours after the session.
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