By Craig Ballantyne
Cardio is over-rated for fat loss, over-done for fat burning, and leads to over-use injuries. That's one of the dark sides of cardio exercise workout routines. I was recently asked...
Q: Craig, could you explain to me why long slow cardio doesn't really work for fat loss and how your system of training has helped thousands of people shed fat and gain lean muscle?
CB: First, let me clarify my opinion of "cardio" and "aerobics". I know slow cardio can work for fat loss, but those who get the most benefit are often young, heavily muscled males with time on their hands and genetics on their sides.
They can workout 6 or 8 hours per week and have lots of muscle so even if they lose a bit, it won't matter.
But for people that only have 2-3 hours total exercise per week and want a buff body, rather than a skinny, weak physique, I have found that slow, traditional cardio is not the way to go.
Slow cardio is just not efficient for overweight women (i.e. those that use it most!), and slow cardio works less the longer you use it. You'll hit a plateau pretty fast with a cardio-only approach.
Those are my observations.
And realize when I talk about fat loss, I'm talking about getting the most results in the least amount of training time - because that is the population I deal with. I don't train fitness models that have 8-10 hours per week to train. Things might be different there, especially as you get closer to competition.
But for real life, slow cardio is one of the last places I would turn for fat loss help.
And because there are millions of men and women out there with little time to train but a real need to lose fat.
Because there are so many of these people out there that have relied on slow cardio in the past, when they switch to the strength and interval training approach, it's an almost overnight success story. Hence the high volume of great feedback we from men AND women that use strength and interval training.
So forget about cardio. Instead, do a bodyweight exercise warm-up, followed by strength training supersets for 20 minutes, and finish with 15-20 minutes of interval training. That's all you need.
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Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training for Fat Loss have helped thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. Turbulence Training for Fat Loss workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. Craig's bodyweight workouts for fat loss help you lose fat without any equipment at all.
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