Cardio 101 – How to Use Cardio for Faster Fat Loss
Hey there, it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged last and I meeeeeesed you my homie!
As you know, I’m a guy that tends to go all out in everything he does and these past 4 months have been a Tale of Two Extremes:
In November and December I went traveling/backpacking for 2 months. The entire trip was spent relaxing, partying and exploring the plethora of sights in Hong Kong, Taipei, Phillipines and Thailand.
The picture on the left is your boy (me) having a blast on Maya Beach where they shot Leonardio Dicaprio’s movie “The Beach”. This place was like something out of a movie (no pun intended) and it had this Ninja all choked up because it was so beautiful.
And that was just one part of my trip.
I’ve seen so much in Asia and journaled about most of it that I’ve got an EPIC blog post waiting to be posted with all the debaucherous video’s, pictures and details.
That’s gonna come a bit later.
On the other side of the extreme: The most recent months of January and February have been spent in a 12 hour a day total grind mode: John Romaniello (my co-author) and I launched our Intermittent Fasting program Fat Loss Forever to thousands of people across the world.
This program has been a passion project for the last year and a half because I’ve always wanted to bring the Intermittent Fasting method into the mainstream as a viable tool for to lose weight. To see it come to fruition and have thousands of people rave about the program is surreal and I’m GREATLY appreciative.
Yet, since the launch of the FLF program instead of answering questions about IF, the #1 question I seem to always receive is what type of cardio should one do with program. This comes somewhat surprising to me since the current trend in the fitness industry has all but tried to vilify cardio much like they have tried to make carbs the enemy in the past.
So I decided to do a little blog post on it…that eventually turned into an ENTIRE GUIDE on how to do cardio for fat loss. Oops.
Let’s get one thing out of the way first: I’m a big proponent of doing extra cardio to reach your fitness goals.
Let’s get another thing out of the way: There is nothing inherently wrong about doing cardio.
Cardio is not dead.
Cardio does not make you fat.
Cardio, when done properly can help facilitate faster fat loss.
In my own personal experience the ones that are making cardio the enemy and saying such things like “Cardio makes you fat” have never really experienced what it’s like to be fat for a long period of time. The first 20 years of my life were spent overweight with serious body issues. During my transformation I’ve used cardio extensively to get in and stay in lean shape year round.
It’s been used a viable tool for fat loss by millions of people and it’s still going strong.
Cardio isn’t dead. It’s just misunderstood.
Contrary to popular belief skipping will not make you fat
For a quick moment think to yourself: When is the last time you saw someone get fat because they did a couple of extra rounds of cardio? In my experience: NONE.
The problem is not doing cardio itself but rather HOW people do cardio in the first place. Before getting into that…
Cardio DEFINED
Does Cardio Make You Fatter?
One of the big underlying myths about cardio is the fact that cardio could increase your cortisol levels thus leaving you in a shitty fat burning environment. But doesn’t weight training do the same?
I could get into the debunking the many myths of cardio in relation to fat loss but Mark Young does a great job of it on his blog right ==> Is Cardio Bad For You?
There is nothing wrong with cardio and it will not make you fatter. Anyone that tells you differently is fear mongering at best.
Benefits of Doing Cardio
There is a hefty list of health benefits associated with doing cardio exercise. Here are some top reasons to include cardio in your workout routine:
- It strengthens the heart
- It strengthens the lungs and increases lung capacity
- It helps reduce stress
- It increases energy
- It promotes restful sleep
- Most importantly: Cardio CAN help boost the metabolism, burns calories, and helps you lose weight when done in addition to your training program.
Cardio is also a perfect method for people whose diets aren’t necessarily “perfect”. For the imperfect dieter, cardio is a great way to burn those extra calories and offset the imperfections of their nutrition plan.
And finally, a small group of people just love being in the gym and don’t mind working extra hard to reach their goals even on their off days. I’m one of these people.
As with all things fitness there are your pro’s as well as cons. As good as cardio is for your heart and body it can be taken too far and done in the wrong context.
Problems With Doing Cardio
- Overuse injuries and overtraining – If you don’t give your body proper rest and recovery it could burn out as a result. You could also incur overuse injuries from repeatedly doing thousands of repetitions like people do when they hit the treadmill for an hour.
- Boredom – When I do things I like to keep it to two principles: 1. Is it fun? and 2. Is it effective? Traditional cardio is BORING. There is nothing fun about running on a treadmill for an hour every single day. There is nothing fun about living a treadmill lifestyle but that’s another blog post for another day.
The BIGGEST problem with Cardio lies in the fact that people use it as the one and only method to change their bodies when cardio should be used to supplement a solid weight training program.
Remember that Cardio is an addition to your workout. NOT the main workout itself.
That’s what weights are for.
Ronald Mcdonald says, “Get your weight up, not your hate up”
To quote Sir Romaniello, “Cardio” is a lot like ketchup. It makes everything better.” When added onto an existing training program cardio can enhance the fat burning benefits and get you into shape much much faster.
To take this point even further you can do various forms of “cardio” that are non-intrusive on your current fat loss program yet burn a ton of calories and give a boost to your metabolism. You just gotta know the how to do them and that’s EXACTLY what this blog post is for.
Cardio when done correctly, in addition to your workouts, will help you get to your fat loss goals faster. PERIOD.
Are you ready to get your cardio on?
Alright. Let’s do this.
The 3 Different Types of Cardio and How To Implement Them
Traditional Steady State Cardio
Steady state cardio is when you hit the treadmill for half an hour and walk or jog at a steady pace. It is the least effective form of fat loss but it does have its benefits as well.
Pros
- It helps your burn calories albeit not as efficiently as the methods you’ll see below.
- When done in a specific way it can be non intrusive on your weight training workout and can help speed recovery.
Cons
- It doesn’t burn calories in an efficient manner.
- It only focuses on one aspect fat loss (calorie burning) while having no effect on the metabolism.
- It can lead to overuse injuries especially when jogging for long periods of time.
Sample Workout
Put on your shorts, inject your earphones into your ear, put the treadmill on a high incline and start walking.
The Best Way To Implement Steady State Cardio
It is best done on active recovery days or after your workouts. Although I would not recommend jogging at long periods of time on the treadmill. You can get the same effect by walking on a high incline and you have less risk of overuse injuries.
Just make sure you have a good audio book in your iPod or a good show to watch because this is as boring as it gets when it comes to cardio.
Metabolic Finishers
Metabolic finishers are done at the end of your workouts. They can last anywhere between 4 to 10 minutes and they mainly involve using bodyweight and minimal equipment. They are metabolic in nature and are done in intervals.
Fun to do yet brutally effective.
Pros
- Quick and short workouts. Workouts last anywhere from 4 to 10 minutes.
- They help burn calories as well as give a nice boost to your metabolism at the end of your workout.
- Minimal equipment needed. Can be done anywhere.
- Pretty fun to do as there are 40+ different types of metabolic finishers.
Cons
- Depending on the type of finisher you do they can be intrusive on your current workout.
- They are hard to do. Especially when done at the end of your workout.
- Depending on the finisher it could require some pieces of equipment not available to you such as TRX’s, kettlebells etc.
Sample Workout
Tabata Squat and Holds – Do bodyweight squats for 20 seconds. At the end of the 20 seconds do a 10 second hold at the bottom of your squat position. After 10 seconds are done repeat the entire sequence again for 4 minutes.
The Best Way To Implement a Metabolic Finisher
Finishers are meant to be done at the end of your workouts. If you have enough gas in the tank to complete them then I’d suggest getting Mike Whitfield’s Workout Finishers program.
He has over 40 different finishers to choose from and my clients rave about his workouts because they are fun to do and effective. Double win.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Side effects of interval training include gazelle-like sprinting across the beach in your bikini (not guaranteed)
Chances are you’ve probably heard of interval training before but just in case here’s a reminder:
Interval training is a type of physical training that involves bursts of high-intensity work interspersed with periods of low-intensity work. The high-intensity periods are typically at or close to near maximum exertion, while the recovery periods may involve either complete rest or activity of lower intensity.
Researchers are also starting to find numerous health benefits that come along with interval training.
Pros
- Helps stimulate growth hormone production.
- Boosts metabolism and burns calories.
- Fairly short workouts that last anywhere between 12 to 20 minutes.
Cons
- Much like the metabolic finishers they are hard to do especially when done at the end of your workout.
- When done extensively it can lead to overuse injuries.
- It can leave you feeling unusually fatigued.
- If done close to your bedtime it could inhibit your ability to sleep.
Sample Workout
Just shoot on over to this blog post and I have an interval workout you can do on your off day. If you intend to do it after your workout then omit the steady state cardio afterwards.
Grab your Interval Training program here ==> The Best Fat Burning Interval Training Program
The Best Way To Implement Interval Training
I like to do intervals when my clients are primarily on bodybuilding type of workouts (chest and tricep days, back and bicep days etc..) as they are pretty non intrusive on the non leg days.
If you are doing intervals on an off day then use the sample workout provided above. Just make sure that your legs are not sore when attempting to do intervals or you could injure yourself.
The Cardio Conclusion
There is nothing inherently wrong about doing cardio especially if your goal is too stay lean.
Sure people could say, “Oh don’t do cardio, just focus on diet” but reality is that most of us are not perfect when it comes to dieting. The other reality is that some people don’t mind doing extra work to get leaner faster.
When added to an pre-existing weight training program it can actually enhance the effects you get from training and help you burn some extra calories to boot. This is not to say that your diet has no effect on your body because let’s be frank; Your diet is where you get 80% of your results. Doing cardio is especially for those people who just don’t have their diet down yet.
If you don’t mind putting in the extra time and effort after you are done your resistance training workouts then types of cardio listed above are the best methods to get into shape faster.
I hope this blog cleared up any misconceptions about cardio and maybe inspired you to try out some of the cardio tools I gave you. Next week we are gonna have a little fun because I’m going to let you in on my two month journey across Asia. There will be videos, pictures, elephants and you may see me eat a preying mantis…maybe.
Stay tuned for that.
In the meantime leave a comment below and let me know what you thought of this blog post. Do you agree with doing cardio or not? All opinions are welcome!
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Dan,
This is a post “steady-state cardio” and “interval training” evangelists should read. The bigger picture isn’t about which format is better, it’s about making sure you’re doing some type of cardio.
The best results I get are when I combine the two in my workout plans. My preference is to stick with steady-state on a rest day, and use HIIT as a workout finisher. There shouldn’t be a competition between which is better. Each have their pros and cons, as you’ve highlighted.
In the end, cardio should be more about helping to tip the results of resistance training and a diet plan.
Lastly, I love your statement: “Cardio isn’t dead. It’s just misunderstood.” That’s spot on!
-Mitchell
Thanks for the comment Mitchell. Couldn’t have said it better.
I think cardio got a bad name because of the ladies that go to the gym and just stick to the treadmill, never venturing into the weights section. They do their cardio over and over but they don’t see any weight loss results. Its changing though.
I believe the trend in the fitness industry is moving more towards weight training as a means to get in shape. There are still some people just don’t know any better so they hit the aerobics routines and do what everyone else does to get in shape, which in most cases is cardio.
Right on point with rest and recovery as well as boredom. I can’t stand running on a treadmill even for a few minutes but give me an open road and I can run for hours.
I do have to say that I’m surprised to find out that some people think that cardio makes you fatter??? Sitting on a couch, drinking beer, and eating chips…now that makes you fatter.
Thanks for the comment Stan. Definitely agree that moving more doesn’t make you fatter. Eating the stuff you listed above most surely will.
Great post Dan.
I usually encourage ‘strategic cardio’ to people looking to drop fat quickly.
For seasoned lifters, keep the core of your training on free-weights, then to elevate your body to the next level, incorporate cardio as/where necessary.
We all know that abs were made in the kitchen, but for those that are classified as ‘obese’, you just cannot neglect cardio as a means of rapid ‘fat-shedding’.
I’ll be interested to see further studies relating to HIIT performed during fasted states however
Great comment Clint. I’ve read some research on HIIT in a fasted state but not compelling enough to share. I personally love to do my workouts fasted as well as my cardio because that’s the way my body prefers it.
BTW great blog!
Great summary Dan,
My current training plan involves 3 x weight training sessions and 2 x HIIT cardio sessions a week. On the days I do weight training I also finish with a bit of metabolic conditioning in the form of tabata. This training method not only keeps me strong and fit, but it help me stay lean. I’m glad you did this post, too many people simply focus on weight training, which is great, but I also want to be able to run around the block without blowing up a storm.
Niko
Dan,
I like what you did here.
I’m a big fan of metabolic finishers. With 90% of my clients, I include heavy lifting, metabolic finishers, and eating for fat loss. I think this is the best way to manage your time so you can lose fat.
For the other 10%, on top of what I described above, I get them to do HIIT (outside if possible). HIIT is a great way to spend an off day, get outside, and have a little fun (as long as they aren’t super hypocaloric).
Great stuff.
Thanks for the comment Jason. We follow similar styles in regards to getting our clients lean.
Talk about lucky and timing… was looking for some good ideas for cardio and then I get this handy dandy blog post dropped into my lap. Sweetness.
I have a question: where on the exercise spectrum does Yoga fall? I personally LOVE to do a power yoga 2-3 times a week along with weight training. What I want to know is if yoga can be “counted” as cardio, I suppose.
Great question! I don’t count Yoga as cardio but more as a recovery workout. It’s what we call NEPA (non exercise related physical activity). It surely won’t hurt your results as it helps you stay injury free but don’t look to it as a primary or secondary tool for transforming your body.
Thank you for a very informative article. I love both cardio and weights and try to incorporate both. As a follow up to the question about yoga, where does dancing fall? And by that I mean the type of dance you train for taking daily 1-1.5 hour classes – ballet, jazz, modern, etc. I’ve done it all my life and I still do it regularly 3-4 times a week but I’ve always wondered if it was considered cardio, resistance or interval and what I should focus on (cardio or weights) on my non-dancing days.
Thanks Isabel. Much appreciated.
Dancing would fall under the first type of cardio (walking on a treadmill etc..). It won’t hurt your results but it definitely won’t be the determining factor for your ultimate physique goals. Dance because you love it and because you get extra activity in. But do not dance with the hopes of getting in shape.
Hope this helps clear things up.
Great post… I for one love metabolic finishers like the squat/squat holds you gave as an example.
Thanks Franco. Tabata squat holds are tough!