Lady walks into a gym.

It’s January.

I feel like it is always January when these things happen…

She starts an exercise program that consists of walk/jogging 3 miles per day.

At 1^st all is well, she is losing pounds on a consistent basis.

30lbs to be precise.

Eventually the weight stops coming off.

This leads to her deciding to go 4 miles per day.

This works and she begins to lose more pounds.

Eventually she sees her weight loss stop again……

She decides to go 5 miles per day and so on and so forth.

However, even though she is going further and further she can’t keep up her weight loss.

There is just not enough time to go any longer, while maintaining a normal life.  We have to eat, sleep, and go to work some time as well.  This isn’t exactly the Biggest Loser boot camp or anything like that ya know.

For sustainable long-term fat loss we need to be more efficient.

Not only will more efficient workouts save us time: research has shown time, and time, and time, and time, and time again that when it comes to losing body fat, it is the intensity that matters and not the duration.

Shorter and more intense cardiovascular sessions have been proven to burn more fat while simultaneously preserving muscle mass.  Shorter workouts also have a favorable effect on our production of hormones that signal our body to burn fat.

When cardio exceeds 30 minutes, not only do we destroy our muscle tissue (metabolism), but we also start to secrete Cortisol.

Cortisol is a hormone that signals your body to store fat when you eat.

Simply put, if you want to burn more fat and do so in a fraction of the time then you should be doing high intensity interval training.

It doesn’t have to be super complicated.

Here is the plan.

Option A

You can go down the ladder and back up the ladder.  Choose 2 exercises.  Preferably a lower body and an upperbody exercise.

We will use Jump Squats and TRX Rows as an example.

You will perform 10 sets alternating between the two exercises. So in this example it would be:

Jump Squat 10 reps. TRX Row 1 rep. Jump Squat 9. TRX Row 2. Jump Squat 8. TRX Row 3. Etc. etc. until your reach Jump Squat 1. TRX row 10.

Complete as quickly as possible.

Each week try to complete the circuit a little faster.

If it takes longer than 30 minutes to complete the circuit, then stop at the 30 minute mark.  You have done enough for the day.

Option B

Perform the above routine and add a 3^rd exercise into the mix as a constant.  For this scenario we will add 1 flight of stairs.

Jump Squat 10

TRX Row 1

1 flight of stairs

Jump Squat 9

TRX Row 2

1 flight of Stairs

Jump Squat 8

TRX Row 3

1 flight of stairs.

Repeat this until you reach 1 Jump Squat and 10 TRX rows while keeping the single flight stairs in the middle constant.

Complete as quickly as possible.

Option C

The Countdown.

Choose 2 exercises, preferably upper and lower, and perform a countdown from 10 alternating between the exercises.

In our example it would look like this.

Jump Squat 10

TRX Row 10

Jump Squat 9

TRX Row 9

Jump Squat 8

TRX Row 8

Continue until you reach 1 and 1 respectively.  Complete as fast as possible, then drop to the floor in a puddle of sweat.

If you want to throw up (Biggest Loser work out 1 style), then go back up the ladder all the way to 10 immediately after going 10 to 1.

Sure, tons of steady state endurance training can lead to dramatic weight loss a la the Biggest Loser.  The problem is that our body becomes more efficient at steady-state cardio and thus burn less calories when performing the same exercises.  This means that we plateu and/or begin to regain the unwanted weight.

Additionally, steady-state cardio is accompanied with a loss in muscle, which slows down our metabolism and leads to eventual failure (and regaining those lost lbs).

The interval training listed above avoids these pitfalls because of the nearly unlimited amount of variety one can employ; which never allows our body to become efficient and to continue burning additional calories.

At the end of the day, when it comes to cardio and losing body fat it is not always about working harder or longer.

If you want more proof then simply take a look at the number of biggest losers who regain the weight when they leave the show and the cameras are off…..

So the moral of the story is…

Get in.

Work HARD.

Get your heart rate super elevated.

Get out.

 

Nutrition is up next,

Move Better. Look Better. Feel Better
Nathan “Nate” Stowe BS, NASM-CPT, NCSF-CPT, CES, PES, FNS
Owner/Lead Trainer/Wears all the hats
Stowe Training Systems