Do you love to spend hours on cardio every week? Chances are, you don’t. What if I could tell you there is a better way to lose weight? Most people struggle to complete their cardio workouts and only participate in them because they think it is one of the necessary tools needed to lose weight. Even if you are one of “those” people who enjoy spending a lot of time on your cardio, if your goal is to lose weight, spending hours on the treadmill may be doing you more harm then good.
If your goal is to increase your endurance to prepare for a marathon or other endurance related activity or if you are looking to improve your cardiovascular health, the information in this post is not directed to you. If you are looking to lose weight or change your body composition then pay attention to these very important things I am about to share with you.
Why your long cardio sessions may be preventing you from losing weight.
Have you ever experienced that “second wind”? This is where you get on a treadmill or other piece of cardio equipment and the first 5-10 minutes are extremely difficult and then like magic it gets much easier and you feel like you could go on forever.
This isn’t magic, it is what as know as steady state exercise. In steady state exercise the energy and physiological demands are met by the delivery of the physiological demands of the body. When you first start a cardio exercise session. Your heart rate and breathing need to increase to supply your muscles with more oxygen rich blood. Other physiological effects such as an increase in blood lactate levels, hormone changes and body temperature are occurring as well. When you reach steady state all of these demands level out and your body reaches it’s ventilatory threshold. Your body makes this adaption because it believes it will need to sustain this activity for a long period of time.
You may feel great when you are in a steady state groove, however the results you are looking for have just become much harder to achieve. In steady state exercise our metabolism decreases. Our body starts to conserve calories because it believes we will need them to sustain this activity. When you are participating in long duration endurance activities you mostly stay in an aerobic zone. Your breathing and heart rate may be slightly elevated but you still are able to talk in short sentences. You are burning both carbohydrates and fat as a fuel sources and burning a consistent number of calories. Weight loss can occur in this zone if you maintain this activity for a long period of time, and burn more calories then you consume. However, there is an easier way.
Finding a better way by understanding EPOC
Most of us have one thing in common. A lack of TIME. We don’t have hours every day to devote to cardio exercise. We want the most bang for our buck. To get this bang and greatly reduce the amount of time you need to devote to your cardio workout, you will want to get into the anaerobic zone. In the anaerobic zone you are panting and it is very hard to talk. You begin burning a ton of calories and your metabolism increases. This is where the “afterburn” kicks in. This “afterburn” is the EPOC effect. EPOC is the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. This is where your body continues to burn more calories even after you finish your workout. This means you are burning more calories when you are resting, sleeping, participating in other activities of daily living, and while completing your strength workouts.
How to achieve the EPOC effect
You can benefit from this EPOC effect by participating in cardio interval training. Cardio HITT workouts (High Intensity Interval Training) will trick your body into burning more calories because it does not anticipate the activity continuing for a long period of time. In cardio HITT workouts you push yourself at a high intensity for a short period of time 30 seconds to 1 minute and then slow down or rest for a short period of time 20 seconds to 1 minute. You then repeat. This time of cardio exercise can be completed in a much shorter period of time. HITT workouts are usually only 30-45 minutes long and can even be as short as 8 minutes for a REHIT workout. If you would like some examples of these workouts, check out some of my cardio workouts in my resources section.
Another way to challenge your body and get better results is to vary your cardio activity. Instead of spending 30 minutes on a treadmill every day, alternate between the treadmill and a bike, elliptical, rower, etc. Spend about 8-10 minutes on one piece of equipment and then quickly move to the next. Your body sees this new form of exercise as a new workout and is not able to find the steady state as quickly.
And my favorite way to benefit from the EPOC effect is to add strength training to your schedule. When you participate in strength training, you create very small tears in your muscle fibers. This is how your muscles become stronger. When the muscles repair from these small tears they grow back stronger. This is that “sore” feeling you get after a good workout. This benefits you in two ways. First, you build more muscle mass and muscles burn more calories in a resting state (increasing your metabolism). And second, your muscles need energy (calories) to repair. So while you are feeling that “sore” feeling you are also benefiting from the EPOC effect. If you need some inspiration for your strength workouts, check out some of my strength workouts in my resources section.
Deciding what works best for you.
There is no one “right” way to get the best results. This is why you will find so much information pointing in different directions. Everyone is different and can get results in different ways. The key is to find the way that works best for you and your schedule. I would love to help you do that and achieve the results you are looking for. Schedule a free no-obligation consultation with me where we can discuss your goals and help you create a plan for success.
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