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The Great Cardio Myth: Why Cardio Exercise Won't Get You Slim, Strong, or Healthy - and the New High-Intensity Strength Training Program that Will
The Great Cardio Myth uncovers the science behind cardio and why, despite popular belief, it is an ineffective workout for weight loss and overall health.
Today, we are heavier and more out of shape than ever—and likely suffering from overuse injuries incurred from years of prolonged cardio exercise. New research is showing that long cardio and endurance workouts do not get us slimmer or stronger. They do not promote longevity or protect against heart disease . In fact, they may do the opposite by putting excessive strain on our heart, joints, and muscles and slow our metabolism.
The Great Cardio Myth will show you how to get the same or better fitness results in one-fifth the time of a typical cardio session and debunk unproductive exercise habits.
With The Great Cardio Myth you will learn
Today, we are heavier and more out of shape than ever—and likely suffering from overuse injuries incurred from years of prolonged cardio exercise. New research is showing that long cardio and endurance workouts do not get us slimmer or stronger. They do not promote longevity or protect against heart disease . In fact, they may do the opposite by putting excessive strain on our heart, joints, and muscles and slow our metabolism.
The Great Cardio Myth will show you how to get the same or better fitness results in one-fifth the time of a typical cardio session and debunk unproductive exercise habits.
With The Great Cardio Myth you will learn
- GenresHealthNonfiction
192 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
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September 3, 2017
Notes:
Aerobic work really doesn't do much for fat loss (5). Adding cardio exercise - particularly aerobic work - doesn't translate to any meaningful fat loss results. Research increasingly suggests that as little as four minutes of intense exercise could replace a 30-, 60, or 90-minute cardio session (10).
The Major Myths
After 50 years of cardio, America is fatter and unhealthier than ever before. Two-thirds of American adults today are overweight, and a full one-third are considered obese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. Complications from obesity and inactivity together take 365,000 lives each year, making this the second-leading behavioral cause of death in the United States. (The only thing worse is smoking) Despite their daily runs, many Americans are still stressed, depressed, and exhausted (19-20).
Long, steady-state cardio is neither essential for heart health nor effective for weight loss (21).
High-intensity intermittent sprinting exercise appears to be more effective than other types of exercise at reducing subcutaneous and abdominal body fat (25). * As for strength training, the more muscle mass you have, the more calories your body burns. Thus, an exercise program that decreases fat mass while increasing muscle tissue helps achieve the lean body look and overall health you desire.
Avid cardio exercisers are more likely to suffer the deeper, irreversible injuries over time (27). Currently, the goal of the HealthyPeople 2020 initiative is to have Americans doing more than 300 minutes per week of moderate aerobic activity or more than 150 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity. On the upper end of the guidelines, that's 42 minutes a day, seven days a week - or 50 minutes a day, if you want a day off. Steady-state cardio is misrepresented as the golden standard of exercise, in amounts that aren't feasible for most people. "Popular online health resources, such as the Mayo Clinic and WebMD, simply repeat these guidelines. Sadly, this is where the majority of the public gets exercise information. Even those who ask their doctors are likely to get the same advice."
*Endurance exercise has the potential to put excessive strain on the heart and the joints (29). Other forms of exercise, such a strength training and "Sprint" workouts, can produce better weight-loss results, along with cardiovascular benefits. And without a doubt, strength and short burst workouts rival cardio in delivering stress relief, exercise endorphins, and a better sex life.
Despite constantly increasing rates of aerobic exercise over the past 40 years, the percentage of overweight adults has remained fairly constant and obesity rates have risen dramatically. Cardio is optional, but be aware of the risks - and don't rely on it for long term weight loss.
The Weight Loss Scam
Globally, 3.2 million people die every year from complications of being overweight and out of shape (33). High-intensity interval exercise facilitates fat loss (34). "Individuals are likely to get better fat loss results from high-intensity interval exercise in twenty minutes a day, three times a week, compared with three, forty-minute cardio workouts a week." (37)
Although short burst workouts can be done with cardio activities, such as cycling, an HIIT (High-intensity interval training) workout can also use body weight resistance exercises: For example, doing burpees (or squat thrusts) for twenty seconds, followed by ten seconds of rest, then jumping jacks, rest, mountain climbers, rest, and so on for eight rounds (four minutes total). Whether you're doing an HIIT workout with resistance exercise or doing push-ups and squats at your normal pace, research has shown that strength training can trump cardio for fat loss benefits. Lean muscle mass is associated with higher resting metabolism, or how many calories you burn when you're not exercising. Strength training increases muscle, whereas aerobic training does not(and sometimes actually reduces it).
*Muscle loss (catabolism) is exacerbated by calorie restriction (38).
*"Weight loss doesn't tell the whole story [of body fat]. Often we use the term "weight loss" because it's what people know, but what we really care about is improvement in body composition - that is, a decrease in excess body fat and/or an increase in muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat, which is why you can get slimmer and more toned without losing weight. It's also why most exercise studies (should) report changes in body fat mass and inches, not just weight." (39)
"Women are even less likely to lose weight from steady-state exercise than men" (40). A whole lot of cardio fans can say they've watched the numbers go down on the scale. But it's sometimes for the wrong reason: muscle loss (41). The body uses fat to fuel muscle growth (42). Lean muscle mass also makes a significant contribution to your basal metabolic rate or BMR. This describes the rate at which your body burns calories at rest. *Muscle uses more calories at rest than fat. That's one reason resistance exercise helps reduce body fat, regardless of how much you burn during the actual workout. The number of calories burned during a workout is only a small part of the fat loss picture. Science has shown that steady state cardio is less effective than any other exercises because it only burns energy during the workout, and when it doesn't incorporate resistance - as is the case with most cardio -it can decrease lean muscle mass (43). "It's not that cardio has no health benefits. It's that many of the touted benefits aren't there." Combining cardio with a very-low-calorie diet is the worst way to try to shed fat because it can increase muscle loss and, in turn, lower metabolism.
You can't outrun a bad diet (52).
The annual death rate is estimated to be somewhere around one to two deaths per 100,000 marathoners, whereas it is thirteen in 100,000 for leisure-time joggers. In other words, you're exercising for heart health, you are better off going for a light jog a few times a week than going all out on the treadmill to catch up.While regular exercise is better, that doesn't mean excessive exercise is better. It gets riskier with age (59).
Multitasking can foster low exertion and poor form. Low focus and low exertion are two reasons cardio, especially when done on a machine, fails to deliver benefits (66).
*"The fat burning zone idea is misleading and studies have proven that people can lose fat with as little as 4 minutes of high-intensity exercise per week."
Running seems to lend itself to more injuries than other types of leisure exercise; even when you limit yourself to the treadmill, chances are still high you might hurt yourself (69).
*Amount of exercise and intensity of exercise are not created equal. Though you might expend the same amount of energy in a long slow, workout as an intense, short one, each will produce a different metabolic response in the body. Herein lies the crux of why your level of exertion matters for fat loss. Short HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) workouts consistently do better at significantly reducing total body fay and unhealthy visceral fat (70). "The whole sixty to ninety minutes of moderate daily cardio isn't going to keep us slim in the twenty-first century (71). Humans appear to have built-in systems for conserving energy (72).
"Lots of moderate steady-state cardio won't lead to expanding lots of energy. Instead, fat loss depends on exercise that can help you simultaneously expend energy, build muscle, and increase your resting metabolic rate, or how many calories you burn when you're not exercising." (73)
*"Walking is not an effective long-term strategy for fat loss or preventing fat gain... Increased intensity leads to increased weight loss." A huge predictor in whether your workout will help you lose fat is what happens after the workout (77). A 30-minute elliptical session might burn 200 calories during the workout (if you trust the counter), but it won't do much to raise your metabolism afterward, which is where the bigger, long-term fat loss results come from. And metabolism, in turn, is influenced by how your exercise regimen affects your muscle mass. It's not enough to alternate between medium and low intensity. Nor do the beneficial effects of HIIT apply to other types of "intermittent exercise," such as splitting a longer cardio workout into two shorter ones. The key is the combination of high intensity and intervals. By alternating short bursts of intense activity with rest, you're severely stressing the metabolic capabilities of your muscle cells and, thus, burning more fat for energy. Essentially, you are putting "turbulence" on the body during the exercise session, and, when you recover, your body is in afterburn mode for hours (and some claim days), burning more calories and causing greater fat loss (78). "High-intensity interval training is so efficient that men have even lost fat in four minutes of full-intensity sprinting per week."
How to Rate Intensity:
Intensity- How physical exertion affects YOUR body. Your "moderate" and "vigorous" might be different from someone else's.
Low intensity-little to no change in your breathing or heart rate
Moderate Intensity- a small change in your breathing or heart rate
Vigorous Intensity- A big change in your breathing or heart rate
Many people choose cardio because the alternatives are harder (79). Strength training and interval training require you to focus, even though it's only for short bursts. If you want to improve your body composition, choose a workout regimen that incorporates intensity, variety, and change. These principles apply to strength training, too. Research consistently suggests that the positive effects of HIIT aren't caused by high intensity alone; rather, it is the combination of short bursts of intensity and rest in an interval format.
* Up to 92% of runners will eventually get injured while running-usually bad enough to require medical attention (80). Myth: Running is a primal and natural activity; Humans were born to run. Fact: Humans do not appear to be built for long, repetitive activity. It leads to overuse injuries and wears and tear on the joints, and, in extreme cases, it can overtax the heart. You can get well-being, stress relief, exercise endorphins, and an energy boost from strength training and interval workouts (82). Large amounts of cardio can also age us prematurely (83). Dr. Nihcolas Romanov, in his book The Running Revolution, admits that about two-thirds of runners are injured every year (88). If humans were "born to run," shouldn't we have a better sense of how to avoid injury while doing it? Tallying up the injuries, it doesn't seem as though humans were optimally built for running. In fact, the human body was probably designed for long, arduous, repetitive activity of any kind. Up to 90% of runners sustain injuries, including strain on the knee, stress fractures, and ankle sprains (95). The repetitive pounding on joints can be especially harmful if you're heavy or overweight.
One long session of cardio does not make up for one binge-eating session. "And don't let the calorie-burn counters fool you...These days, the screen on almost every cardio machine at the gym, from stationary bikes and stair-steppers to rowing machines and ellipticals, will tell you how many calories you're burning during the workout. Unfortunately, those tallies are highly inaccurate. One study found elliptical machines to be the least-accurate cardio machine at the gym." (100) Research has found that people eat as much as 44% more dessert after exercise and 32%fewer vegetables than they normally would (102). "Using exercise to justify a fast-food splurge is just about the worst thing you can do. Fastfood has been pegged as the culprit behind most accidental calorie overconsumption." (107) Choosing a workout you enjoy is one of the best ways to avoid excessive exercise-induced calorie compensation (108). *Cardio leads to overeating.
Fully 80% of men and 75 % of women ages 35-74 were at an unhealthy weight (BMI) at the last U.S. census (113). Middle age is exactly the time when men and women should be ramping up their strength training, not stopping. Eve Marilyn Monroe lifted weights (114). Long-term, less muscle means your body will have a harder time keeping the weight off (116). *The focus of exercise shouldn't be pounds or inches. It should be body composition. Thin doesn't automatically equal healthy (117). Humans need muscle to promote bone and joint health. If you're strong, you'll have a lower risk of debilitating injuries. The secret to an effective strength-training regimen is intensity (118). **"The old idea that you need to wait forever between sets is false. Nor do you need to move slowly through your reps. Doing strength training in an interval fashion, with short burst movements, will get great results too". "The aerobics movement planted a fear of rigorous strength training in the hearts of Americans. That's one of the major reasons people eschew lifting in their 40s, 50s, and 60s: Cardio is supposedly safer. But the 'danger' of weightlifting' wasn't based on scientific evidence (119). Strengthening your back and abdominals can help lessen back pain, as well as prevent work-related pain and strain and injuries due to strenuous activities encountered in everyday life (120). If you have joint pain from years of running, strengthening the muscles in your legs can help alleviate the pain. We lose the most muscle from the lower body, as opposed to the upper body, as we age, making this especially important. Boost your aerobic capacity with kettlebells (122). It's a versatile type of weight that makes it possible to do movements such as swings, lunges, and snatches, moving through a full-body range of motion - meaning they incorporate your whole body. The real benefit is they're a very time efficient and effective way to build muscle, compared with traditional weight lifting that often works for single muscle groups in isolation (such as biceps curl) (124). *Kettlebell exercises are an especially great way to strengthen the abdominal muscles or core.
One of the ways short burst workout differ from steady-state cardio is they eliminate the "more is better" mentality. You shift your mindset from quantity to quality, and that eliminates your risk of overuse injuries (130). One round of interval training or resistance training gets you more than 50% of the total results of the workout. Doing three rounds is not three times better, although multiple sets to give you more results than just one. **Including rest periods, your interval workouts never need to be longer than 20 minutes and often take under 10 minutes. Each workout in this section can be done as a standalone exercise program. ***Train three times per week and you'll get fit and lose fat.
There is absolutely no need for a lengthy warm-up. For the 4minute bodyweight workouts, dong one round of the exercises for a few repetitions is an adequate warm up. For the metabolic resistance training or"MRT" workouts, a bodyweight exercise warm-up of mountain climbers, prisoner squats, and push-ups should be done first, followed by one set of each MRT exercise using 50% of the weight you'll use in the real sets. Ex: If you're gonna do Goblet Squats with 20lbs in your workout, do a warm-up set of 10lbs (131).
Short bursts of high intensity will also improve your cardiovascular fitness and health (132). Do not hold your breath while exercising. Inhale during the lowering phase and exhale on the exertion as you push back to the start position.
The Workouts: Bodyweight
4-minute Metabolic Miracle (60 seconds each)
-Prisoner Squat
-Spiderman Push-up or Kneeling Push-Up
-Total Body Extension
-Cross-Body Mountain Climbers
4 Minute New School Cardio and Abs
-Total Body Extension
-Rockin Plank
-Run in place or Jumping Jacks
-Mountain Climbers
Your goal for interval training is to exercise at a controlled, intense pace that is noticeably harder than normal cardio. Do this for one minute (8/10) or 30 seconds (9/10). Then drop the intensity of exercise down to a 3/10for your recovery periods (a stroll in the park pace)(144).
The Workouts: Interval Training
An HIIT workout can be done with traditional cardio movements (like running, cycling, rowing, or swimming), kettlebell swings, or bodyweight circuits. Choose an exercise and intensity that causes fatigue in 30-60 seconds. This could be a hill sprint, a treadmill sprint, a stationary bike against resistance, bodyweight squats, or burpees. A 3 minute warm up and cool down are all you need (whether you're doing cardio or not), and you're done in under 20 minutes (145).
Anytime you use supersets (pairs of exercises done without rest) or circuits (three exercises or more in a row without rest), you are doing metabolic resistance training (147).
"When you combine simple nutrition with short burst workouts, you lose unwanted body fat quickly (157). If you continue following the modern American approach to food - most meals prepared outside the home, tons of processed and man-made ingredients, and eating more calories than you need - then the workouts in this book will barely make a dent in your wasitline. Nutrition really is the most important factor in fat loss." (158)
"Fruit won't make you fat. That's another myth. There's no need to balk at the sugar content of fruit if you're eating fresh, whole fruits: the fiber content slows the body's absorption of fructose, the main sugar content in fruit, so it enters the bloodstream slowly. There is not a single case of obesity in America due to eating too much whole fruit. I'll bet my reputation on that." (162)
Raw nut are a great source of fiber, healthy fats, and even a little protein (163). The key is sticking with raw nuts (rather than nuts roasted in oil or covered in sugar) and eating them in moderation.
In general, processed meats (such as deli meats, sausage, and fried meats) should be avoided.
"I advocated for 12 cups (3 liters) [of water], consumed throughout the day and during exercise. Sparkling water is fine, too.
No added sugars; no processed carbs. (164). Added sugar includes all the crazy names it can be disguised as like cane syrup, agave nectar, and brown rice syrup.
Research shows we eat what's in plain sight so place healthy snacks in plain view (165).
Building your food and exercise foundation at a comfortable pace will help you avoid bad food binges.
Aerobic work really doesn't do much for fat loss (5). Adding cardio exercise - particularly aerobic work - doesn't translate to any meaningful fat loss results. Research increasingly suggests that as little as four minutes of intense exercise could replace a 30-, 60, or 90-minute cardio session (10).
The Major Myths
After 50 years of cardio, America is fatter and unhealthier than ever before. Two-thirds of American adults today are overweight, and a full one-third are considered obese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. Complications from obesity and inactivity together take 365,000 lives each year, making this the second-leading behavioral cause of death in the United States. (The only thing worse is smoking) Despite their daily runs, many Americans are still stressed, depressed, and exhausted (19-20).
Long, steady-state cardio is neither essential for heart health nor effective for weight loss (21).
High-intensity intermittent sprinting exercise appears to be more effective than other types of exercise at reducing subcutaneous and abdominal body fat (25). * As for strength training, the more muscle mass you have, the more calories your body burns. Thus, an exercise program that decreases fat mass while increasing muscle tissue helps achieve the lean body look and overall health you desire.
Avid cardio exercisers are more likely to suffer the deeper, irreversible injuries over time (27). Currently, the goal of the HealthyPeople 2020 initiative is to have Americans doing more than 300 minutes per week of moderate aerobic activity or more than 150 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity. On the upper end of the guidelines, that's 42 minutes a day, seven days a week - or 50 minutes a day, if you want a day off. Steady-state cardio is misrepresented as the golden standard of exercise, in amounts that aren't feasible for most people. "Popular online health resources, such as the Mayo Clinic and WebMD, simply repeat these guidelines. Sadly, this is where the majority of the public gets exercise information. Even those who ask their doctors are likely to get the same advice."
*Endurance exercise has the potential to put excessive strain on the heart and the joints (29). Other forms of exercise, such a strength training and "Sprint" workouts, can produce better weight-loss results, along with cardiovascular benefits. And without a doubt, strength and short burst workouts rival cardio in delivering stress relief, exercise endorphins, and a better sex life.
Despite constantly increasing rates of aerobic exercise over the past 40 years, the percentage of overweight adults has remained fairly constant and obesity rates have risen dramatically. Cardio is optional, but be aware of the risks - and don't rely on it for long term weight loss.
The Weight Loss Scam
Globally, 3.2 million people die every year from complications of being overweight and out of shape (33). High-intensity interval exercise facilitates fat loss (34). "Individuals are likely to get better fat loss results from high-intensity interval exercise in twenty minutes a day, three times a week, compared with three, forty-minute cardio workouts a week." (37)
Although short burst workouts can be done with cardio activities, such as cycling, an HIIT (High-intensity interval training) workout can also use body weight resistance exercises: For example, doing burpees (or squat thrusts) for twenty seconds, followed by ten seconds of rest, then jumping jacks, rest, mountain climbers, rest, and so on for eight rounds (four minutes total). Whether you're doing an HIIT workout with resistance exercise or doing push-ups and squats at your normal pace, research has shown that strength training can trump cardio for fat loss benefits. Lean muscle mass is associated with higher resting metabolism, or how many calories you burn when you're not exercising. Strength training increases muscle, whereas aerobic training does not(and sometimes actually reduces it).
*Muscle loss (catabolism) is exacerbated by calorie restriction (38).
*"Weight loss doesn't tell the whole story [of body fat]. Often we use the term "weight loss" because it's what people know, but what we really care about is improvement in body composition - that is, a decrease in excess body fat and/or an increase in muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat, which is why you can get slimmer and more toned without losing weight. It's also why most exercise studies (should) report changes in body fat mass and inches, not just weight." (39)
"Women are even less likely to lose weight from steady-state exercise than men" (40). A whole lot of cardio fans can say they've watched the numbers go down on the scale. But it's sometimes for the wrong reason: muscle loss (41). The body uses fat to fuel muscle growth (42). Lean muscle mass also makes a significant contribution to your basal metabolic rate or BMR. This describes the rate at which your body burns calories at rest. *Muscle uses more calories at rest than fat. That's one reason resistance exercise helps reduce body fat, regardless of how much you burn during the actual workout. The number of calories burned during a workout is only a small part of the fat loss picture. Science has shown that steady state cardio is less effective than any other exercises because it only burns energy during the workout, and when it doesn't incorporate resistance - as is the case with most cardio -it can decrease lean muscle mass (43). "It's not that cardio has no health benefits. It's that many of the touted benefits aren't there." Combining cardio with a very-low-calorie diet is the worst way to try to shed fat because it can increase muscle loss and, in turn, lower metabolism.
You can't outrun a bad diet (52).
The annual death rate is estimated to be somewhere around one to two deaths per 100,000 marathoners, whereas it is thirteen in 100,000 for leisure-time joggers. In other words, you're exercising for heart health, you are better off going for a light jog a few times a week than going all out on the treadmill to catch up.While regular exercise is better, that doesn't mean excessive exercise is better. It gets riskier with age (59).
Multitasking can foster low exertion and poor form. Low focus and low exertion are two reasons cardio, especially when done on a machine, fails to deliver benefits (66).
*"The fat burning zone idea is misleading and studies have proven that people can lose fat with as little as 4 minutes of high-intensity exercise per week."
Running seems to lend itself to more injuries than other types of leisure exercise; even when you limit yourself to the treadmill, chances are still high you might hurt yourself (69).
*Amount of exercise and intensity of exercise are not created equal. Though you might expend the same amount of energy in a long slow, workout as an intense, short one, each will produce a different metabolic response in the body. Herein lies the crux of why your level of exertion matters for fat loss. Short HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) workouts consistently do better at significantly reducing total body fay and unhealthy visceral fat (70). "The whole sixty to ninety minutes of moderate daily cardio isn't going to keep us slim in the twenty-first century (71). Humans appear to have built-in systems for conserving energy (72).
"Lots of moderate steady-state cardio won't lead to expanding lots of energy. Instead, fat loss depends on exercise that can help you simultaneously expend energy, build muscle, and increase your resting metabolic rate, or how many calories you burn when you're not exercising." (73)
*"Walking is not an effective long-term strategy for fat loss or preventing fat gain... Increased intensity leads to increased weight loss." A huge predictor in whether your workout will help you lose fat is what happens after the workout (77). A 30-minute elliptical session might burn 200 calories during the workout (if you trust the counter), but it won't do much to raise your metabolism afterward, which is where the bigger, long-term fat loss results come from. And metabolism, in turn, is influenced by how your exercise regimen affects your muscle mass. It's not enough to alternate between medium and low intensity. Nor do the beneficial effects of HIIT apply to other types of "intermittent exercise," such as splitting a longer cardio workout into two shorter ones. The key is the combination of high intensity and intervals. By alternating short bursts of intense activity with rest, you're severely stressing the metabolic capabilities of your muscle cells and, thus, burning more fat for energy. Essentially, you are putting "turbulence" on the body during the exercise session, and, when you recover, your body is in afterburn mode for hours (and some claim days), burning more calories and causing greater fat loss (78). "High-intensity interval training is so efficient that men have even lost fat in four minutes of full-intensity sprinting per week."
How to Rate Intensity:
Intensity- How physical exertion affects YOUR body. Your "moderate" and "vigorous" might be different from someone else's.
Low intensity-little to no change in your breathing or heart rate
Moderate Intensity- a small change in your breathing or heart rate
Vigorous Intensity- A big change in your breathing or heart rate
Many people choose cardio because the alternatives are harder (79). Strength training and interval training require you to focus, even though it's only for short bursts. If you want to improve your body composition, choose a workout regimen that incorporates intensity, variety, and change. These principles apply to strength training, too. Research consistently suggests that the positive effects of HIIT aren't caused by high intensity alone; rather, it is the combination of short bursts of intensity and rest in an interval format.
* Up to 92% of runners will eventually get injured while running-usually bad enough to require medical attention (80). Myth: Running is a primal and natural activity; Humans were born to run. Fact: Humans do not appear to be built for long, repetitive activity. It leads to overuse injuries and wears and tear on the joints, and, in extreme cases, it can overtax the heart. You can get well-being, stress relief, exercise endorphins, and an energy boost from strength training and interval workouts (82). Large amounts of cardio can also age us prematurely (83). Dr. Nihcolas Romanov, in his book The Running Revolution, admits that about two-thirds of runners are injured every year (88). If humans were "born to run," shouldn't we have a better sense of how to avoid injury while doing it? Tallying up the injuries, it doesn't seem as though humans were optimally built for running. In fact, the human body was probably designed for long, arduous, repetitive activity of any kind. Up to 90% of runners sustain injuries, including strain on the knee, stress fractures, and ankle sprains (95). The repetitive pounding on joints can be especially harmful if you're heavy or overweight.
One long session of cardio does not make up for one binge-eating session. "And don't let the calorie-burn counters fool you...These days, the screen on almost every cardio machine at the gym, from stationary bikes and stair-steppers to rowing machines and ellipticals, will tell you how many calories you're burning during the workout. Unfortunately, those tallies are highly inaccurate. One study found elliptical machines to be the least-accurate cardio machine at the gym." (100) Research has found that people eat as much as 44% more dessert after exercise and 32%fewer vegetables than they normally would (102). "Using exercise to justify a fast-food splurge is just about the worst thing you can do. Fastfood has been pegged as the culprit behind most accidental calorie overconsumption." (107) Choosing a workout you enjoy is one of the best ways to avoid excessive exercise-induced calorie compensation (108). *Cardio leads to overeating.
Fully 80% of men and 75 % of women ages 35-74 were at an unhealthy weight (BMI) at the last U.S. census (113). Middle age is exactly the time when men and women should be ramping up their strength training, not stopping. Eve Marilyn Monroe lifted weights (114). Long-term, less muscle means your body will have a harder time keeping the weight off (116). *The focus of exercise shouldn't be pounds or inches. It should be body composition. Thin doesn't automatically equal healthy (117). Humans need muscle to promote bone and joint health. If you're strong, you'll have a lower risk of debilitating injuries. The secret to an effective strength-training regimen is intensity (118). **"The old idea that you need to wait forever between sets is false. Nor do you need to move slowly through your reps. Doing strength training in an interval fashion, with short burst movements, will get great results too". "The aerobics movement planted a fear of rigorous strength training in the hearts of Americans. That's one of the major reasons people eschew lifting in their 40s, 50s, and 60s: Cardio is supposedly safer. But the 'danger' of weightlifting' wasn't based on scientific evidence (119). Strengthening your back and abdominals can help lessen back pain, as well as prevent work-related pain and strain and injuries due to strenuous activities encountered in everyday life (120). If you have joint pain from years of running, strengthening the muscles in your legs can help alleviate the pain. We lose the most muscle from the lower body, as opposed to the upper body, as we age, making this especially important. Boost your aerobic capacity with kettlebells (122). It's a versatile type of weight that makes it possible to do movements such as swings, lunges, and snatches, moving through a full-body range of motion - meaning they incorporate your whole body. The real benefit is they're a very time efficient and effective way to build muscle, compared with traditional weight lifting that often works for single muscle groups in isolation (such as biceps curl) (124). *Kettlebell exercises are an especially great way to strengthen the abdominal muscles or core.
One of the ways short burst workout differ from steady-state cardio is they eliminate the "more is better" mentality. You shift your mindset from quantity to quality, and that eliminates your risk of overuse injuries (130). One round of interval training or resistance training gets you more than 50% of the total results of the workout. Doing three rounds is not three times better, although multiple sets to give you more results than just one. **Including rest periods, your interval workouts never need to be longer than 20 minutes and often take under 10 minutes. Each workout in this section can be done as a standalone exercise program. ***Train three times per week and you'll get fit and lose fat.
There is absolutely no need for a lengthy warm-up. For the 4minute bodyweight workouts, dong one round of the exercises for a few repetitions is an adequate warm up. For the metabolic resistance training or"MRT" workouts, a bodyweight exercise warm-up of mountain climbers, prisoner squats, and push-ups should be done first, followed by one set of each MRT exercise using 50% of the weight you'll use in the real sets. Ex: If you're gonna do Goblet Squats with 20lbs in your workout, do a warm-up set of 10lbs (131).
Short bursts of high intensity will also improve your cardiovascular fitness and health (132). Do not hold your breath while exercising. Inhale during the lowering phase and exhale on the exertion as you push back to the start position.
The Workouts: Bodyweight
4-minute Metabolic Miracle (60 seconds each)
-Prisoner Squat
-Spiderman Push-up or Kneeling Push-Up
-Total Body Extension
-Cross-Body Mountain Climbers
4 Minute New School Cardio and Abs
-Total Body Extension
-Rockin Plank
-Run in place or Jumping Jacks
-Mountain Climbers
Your goal for interval training is to exercise at a controlled, intense pace that is noticeably harder than normal cardio. Do this for one minute (8/10) or 30 seconds (9/10). Then drop the intensity of exercise down to a 3/10for your recovery periods (a stroll in the park pace)(144).
The Workouts: Interval Training
An HIIT workout can be done with traditional cardio movements (like running, cycling, rowing, or swimming), kettlebell swings, or bodyweight circuits. Choose an exercise and intensity that causes fatigue in 30-60 seconds. This could be a hill sprint, a treadmill sprint, a stationary bike against resistance, bodyweight squats, or burpees. A 3 minute warm up and cool down are all you need (whether you're doing cardio or not), and you're done in under 20 minutes (145).
Anytime you use supersets (pairs of exercises done without rest) or circuits (three exercises or more in a row without rest), you are doing metabolic resistance training (147).
"When you combine simple nutrition with short burst workouts, you lose unwanted body fat quickly (157). If you continue following the modern American approach to food - most meals prepared outside the home, tons of processed and man-made ingredients, and eating more calories than you need - then the workouts in this book will barely make a dent in your wasitline. Nutrition really is the most important factor in fat loss." (158)
"Fruit won't make you fat. That's another myth. There's no need to balk at the sugar content of fruit if you're eating fresh, whole fruits: the fiber content slows the body's absorption of fructose, the main sugar content in fruit, so it enters the bloodstream slowly. There is not a single case of obesity in America due to eating too much whole fruit. I'll bet my reputation on that." (162)
Raw nut are a great source of fiber, healthy fats, and even a little protein (163). The key is sticking with raw nuts (rather than nuts roasted in oil or covered in sugar) and eating them in moderation.
In general, processed meats (such as deli meats, sausage, and fried meats) should be avoided.
"I advocated for 12 cups (3 liters) [of water], consumed throughout the day and during exercise. Sparkling water is fine, too.
No added sugars; no processed carbs. (164). Added sugar includes all the crazy names it can be disguised as like cane syrup, agave nectar, and brown rice syrup.
Research shows we eat what's in plain sight so place healthy snacks in plain view (165).
Building your food and exercise foundation at a comfortable pace will help you avoid bad food binges.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 14, 2018
Amazing
Wish more people know about this. I'll incorporate HIIT training into my workout regime immediately and I'll never do cardio again, for long duration, at least.
Wish more people know about this. I'll incorporate HIIT training into my workout regime immediately and I'll never do cardio again, for long duration, at least.
March 21, 2019
I’m going to give this a try, so I don’t know yet how effective it is. The premise seems well-supported by research—my only complaint is that the routines aren’t listed outright. Earlier in the text, there is info about warmup and cooldown, at the end, there are detailed descriptions of the exercises, and scattered throughout the book, there is information about which exercises and how long the intervals should be. I would like all that together in a logical way, rather than having to go dig the book before I go to the gym.
December 17, 2020
Solid idea, weak delivery
The basis of the book is a good one and steady-state cardio is certainly an outdated practice with tons of misconceptions surrounding it. The authors suggestions of what to do instead are basic but fine. The reason this book lacks is that the author loses himself in trying to attack specific people and principles rather than offering the most current and relevant information for the reader.
The basis of the book is a good one and steady-state cardio is certainly an outdated practice with tons of misconceptions surrounding it. The authors suggestions of what to do instead are basic but fine. The reason this book lacks is that the author loses himself in trying to attack specific people and principles rather than offering the most current and relevant information for the reader.
June 26, 2021
کتاب خیلی خوبی بودش و مسائل مهمی درباره روند چربی سوزی و اینکه چرا هوازی چربی سوز نیست رو توضیح داده بود.
January 26, 2017
fantastic book! I highly recommend it to anyone who is still spinning their wheels on endless boring cardio instead of strength training and not getting results.
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