The Truth About Cardio

If your main fat loss tool is long cardio…

Jogging, long bike rides, an hour a day on the treadmill, or basically any cardio that takes you more than 16 minutes to complete…

Then you have fallen for the “cardio myth”… and are probably having a hard time keeping the weight off.

It’s About Energy Production

You have two primary energy systems that support physical activity:

1. Aerobic:  Produces energy slowly… used for long duration cardio
2. Anaerobic:  Produces energy quickly… used for sprinting and short term energy bursts

Intense activities use both systems because they usually exceed your anaerobic threshold.  But this does NOT work in reverse…

As moderate activity almost NEVER requires support from the anaerobic energy system.

Burning Fat AFTER Exercise

Intense activity creates a process called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).

What this means is that after you have stopped exercising (even after just 5 minutes of intense exercise), your body’s metabolism can remain elevated for up to a few DAYS!

This simply does not happen with regular cardio – you only burn what you burn while exercising.

More importantly, intense exercise actually builds lean, sexy muscles… while long form cardio can reduce muscle mass.

Would You Rather Look Like This or This?

Marathon Runner: Long Cardio	Pole Vaulter: Short Bursts of Energy
Marathon Runner: Long Cardio	Sprinter: Short Bursts

And it Gets Worse

Done too often, long form cardio can cause cellular damage and too much wear and tear on your joints. This wear and tear can cause inflammation, which as I told you in my report…

Can compete with your leptin receptors and actually prevent you from burning fat.

I am not saying to never do long form cardio, I am saying to limit this to once or twice a week.  And I do recommend long walks almost every day, as this is actually restorative… and you will burn close to the same amount of calories as long cardio anyway!

How to Exercise With Intensity

Intensity is relative. Some people can sprint for 60 seconds with relative ease, while others become heavily winded after just walking up a steep hill.

The goal then is to do something like sprinting, biking, swimming, elipticycle for a period of 45 seconds that feels intense for you, which means…

Gasping for air at the end [this means you would not be able to have a conversation].

Then you walk slowly for as long as it takes to be able to comfortably speak again.

This could be 1 minute, 2 minutes… or even 3 minutes.

Then exercise again… do this for 16 minutes tops and you are done.

Just do this 3 times a week and I assure you that you will burn far more fat than doing normal long cardio for 45 minutes, 5 times a week!

Quick Note

If you’re out of shape, don’t overdo it! You can still benefit without the risk of hurting yourself. As I said, intensity is relative.

Start out with a level of intensity that is challenging for you.