Get The Most From Your Cardio Training

If fat loss is your goal, steady state cardio should not be your primary form of exercise. Below is a link to an excellent free report from Craig Ballantyne about the benefits of interval training, how to do it correctly, and 5 unique methods.

You can get it at Free Interval Training Report

How To Burn Belly Fat by Craig Ballantyne, CSCS

Although it's definitely improving, I'm always surprised at how many exercise and weight loss websites, online forums, magazines, fitness gurus, etc. are still promoting 45-60 minutes of cardio for fat loss. Not only is that not the most effective method, it's certainly not the most efficient.

Check out Craig Ballantyne's article below about the best way to blast body fat. I use Craig's style of training with my clients and highly recommend it.



How To Burn Belly Fat
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

I often get asked, What's the best way to burn fat and lose my belly? People want to know if aerobics is better than strength training, or if traditional cardio exercise is better than intervals. Cardio is not the best way to burn fat. Intervals are a better fat burning workout to burn belly fat.

With over 15 years experience helping others, training myself, training for sports, spending countless hours in the gym, AND actually conducting laboratory research studies on different exercise methods, I'm pretty confident in knowing what works and what does not.

But first of all, I want to frame my responses. I'm going to talk about what works for people that have a limited amount of time to exercise, mostly because I expect your readers don't have 90 minutes per day to devote to a workout, unlike the typical audience of a fitness magazine.

That's why there is a huge disconnect between some of the information found in magazines and the ability of the reader to apply it to their lives.

We just don't have 6-8 hours per week for exercise, nor do we need it. If you're a triathlete, you might need that, but not someone that just wants to lose fat and gain muscle.

Having said all that, the bottom line for getting a better body is...

Use bodyweight exercises to warm-up, strength training supersets to build muscle, and then finish your workout with interval training to burn fat in a short amount of time. I've structured my system so that you are in and out of the gym in 45 minutes, three times per week.

You'll do 5 minutes of bodyweight exercises to warm-up. This is a much more efficient approach than spending 5 minutes walking on a treadmill, which really doesn't prepare you for anything except more walking on a treadmill.

Then we move into the strength training supersets, where we use two exercises performed back to back with minimum rest between each. This cuts our workout time, while still giving us maximum results. We only need 20 minutes for this, and we'll use basic exercises, and sometimes even more bodyweight exercises, depending on the client's goal for muscle building.

And finally, we'll do 18 minutes of interval training. A warm-up, followed by six short intervals at the appropriate fitness level for the client, interspersed with short periods of low-intensity recovery. Finish with a cool-down. And that's the workout. Again, about 45 minutes total.

Compare that to what most people do, which is run, jog, cycle or use the cardio machines for 45 minutes straight. Sure, that will burn calories, but it doesn't build a better body.

In fact, there are a few "dark sides" to long slow cardio, including less-than-optimal results, the potential for overuse injuries, and it is an inefficient form of exercise. If you only have 30-45 minutes for your workout and you spend it all on a cardio machine, when are you going to train the rest of your muscles and sculpt a better body?

So the best way to burn belly fat is with a combination of strength training and interval training. It’s fast, it works, and it’s fun!

Compare that to what most people do, which is run, jog, cycle or use the cardio machines for 45 minutes straight. Sure, that will burn calories, but it doesn't build a better body. It might even leave you hurt!

So if you want to burn belly fat fast, drop the slow cardio and try interval training. Use strength training to sculpt your body and boost your metabolism. You'll be shocked at the results from this new way of training to burn fat and lose that belly!

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

5 Reasons Why Aerobics Suck for Fat Loss

More proof of why I keep telling you that steady state cardio is not the way to go if you want to drop fat.


5 Reasons Why Aerobics Suck for Fat Loss
by Trey Eckerman
The Fat Loss Expert Blog

January 24, 2008

If you know anything about me, you know that I don't believe that aerobic exercise helps you lose body fat. In fact, there are many reasons why aerobics absolutely suck for fat loss and can actually hinder your fat loss success.

Aerobics is a term coined by Dr. Kenneth Cooper in the late 1960's which became very popular in the 70's into the turn of the century. He believed that slow sustainable intensity exercise is the end all be all of exercise prescription. He launched the jogging phase, step classes, dance classes and such which is supposed to reduce fat and enhance healthy function.

I am really good friends with a fitness professional that coaches at Cooper Clinic in Dallas and I promise you his clients aren't doing aerobics for fat loss. Even the trainers at the "father of aerobics" facility resistance train and interval train for fat loss.

I also train a former marathoner who has competed in many races and actually won one a few years back. After he stopped competing, he continued to look to long distance running as a way to control his weight. He developed many nagging injuries and was never really satisfied with his "stringy" body.

He turned to me for advice. After reducing his long distance running and starting him on a resistance training program, he is muscular and ripped to the bone at 56 years young.

These are a couple of reasons why I don't think aerobics are useful for your fat loss program.

With that said, here are 5 more reasons why I think aerobic training sucks for fat loss.

1) It takes way too much time.

In the fast paced, time crunched world we live in today, time becomes a big uexcuse for not changing your body. The last thing you need to do is concentrate your time on a mode of exercise that doesn't change your body. To burn the amount of calories equal to the total daily calories burned through interval training or resistance training, you would have to spend over an hour each day of constant movement performing aerobics.

2) It tears down your body.

In order to burn enough calories to really drop weight (note I didn't say body fat) you really have to do a high amount of work just as stated earlier. This really tears down your body. If you have tried aerobics (classes, jogging, lap swimming etc.) you probably notice you start to develop achy joints. Tendonitis in your knees, shoulders and other joints develop easily with this much use. When you start to hurt, you stop exercising. There could be nothing more detrimental to your success.

3) The more you do it, the more efficiently your body performs it.

You have probably noticed that you get much, much better at jogging when you do it a lot. That is why marathon runners log mile after mile. Guess what? When you get better at running, you are burning less calories while you are running. You then need to run longer (or faster) to burn the same amount of calories. When you run faster, you start to get out of aerobic training and get into anaerobic training. Anaerobic training can come from resistance training or interval training. It works much, much better.

4) It turns you into a walking coat hanger.

If you had the choice, would you rather look like a marathon runner or a sprinter? I would guess that if you are reading what I have to say, you would rather look like a sprinter. Sprinters are lean and have a very nice athletic look. Marathon runners look like they can barely keep their tank tops hanging on their shoulders. They seriously remind me of a human coat hanger. Train to increase muscles and you will burn a tremendous amount of fat and you will achieve the body you want.

5) You will miss out on a mode of exercise which actually raises your metabolism.

Going back to point #1, aerobics take a lot of time. If you are performing an hour of aerobics per day there is no way you could have the time or energy to perform resistance training. If you aren't performing resistance training or intervals you are wasting your time. I usually don't like to speak in absolutes but in this case, you absolutely have to perform high intensity workouts to lose fat.

If you are wondering what the best workouts you can do to lose body fat, there is no better resource than Craig Ballantyne's www.TurbulenceTraining

Trey Eckerman is a fitness coach specializing in accelerated fat loss programs. He has written and supervised fat loss programs for numerous individuals ranging from former highly competitive athletes to previously sedentary beginners. He is the owner of www.PlayItFitness.com a website that is geared to helping people reach their fat loss and other fitness goals. He also owns Right at Home Fitness, a national fitness coaching company specializing in fitness programs in clients' homes.

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Efficiency Isn't Efficient When It Comes To Fat Loss

As you may know, our bodies adapt to the tasks we regularly perform, whether it's a physically strenuous job or weightlifting- which is why it's important to change your strength training routine every 4-6 weeks for best results. Adaptation also occurs when you perform steady state aerobic exercise. As you continue to exercise regularly, your body becomes more efficient and uses fewer and fewer calories to complete your normal routine. With strength training, you can increase your weights as your body adapts but with aerobic exercise your only options are to go longer, faster, or harder to get the same results. And then, your body adapts again.

Even if you regularly try to increase your speed or resistance, you will eventually get to the point where that is no longer possible. Think about it; whether walking, biking, rowing, etc., after a while most people will reach their limit as to the intensity they can maintain throughout their workout. Then, their only option is to increase their time but there’s only so many hours in the day and who has the time or desire to spend hours exercising?

Two other disadvantages associated with steady state cardiovascular training are overuse injuries and muscle loss. Did you know that, unless coupled with weight training, regular, steady state training often causes loss of muscle? Muscle is the fat burning engine of the body and the importance of maintaining and building muscle in regards to weight management is too often overlooked.

If you’re happy with your current results then keep doing what you're doing; it's obviously working for you. If your want to exercise for less time and get better results, give cardio intervals a try.

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