The Truth About Cardio

When I hear people talk about weight loss, they almost always say “I need to do more cardio”.  This could not be further from the truth! If you are looking to get the most out of your training sessions in order to lose weight and shed body fat you need to perform high intensity interval and total body strength training.

Performing steady state cardio and endless crunches is big waste of time if you are looking to lose fat. Excessive cardio can also lead to overuse injuries.  If you have been spending endless hours on the elliptical or taking countless spin classes and wondering why you are not seeing results, it’s time to take a fresh approach to your training and begin interval and total body strength training.

A simple form of Interval Training would be to run on a treadmill for 30 seconds at a speed that puts your perceived effort level at 8 out of 10, such as a sprint, follow this with a 60 – 90 second recovery jog at a perceived effort level of 3-4.  Repeat the spring/jog interval five to six times.  Make sure you adequately warm up and cool down before and after your training sessions.  That’s all there is to it!  Your total training time should be about thirty minutes.

If you would like to learn more about interval training or total body strength training contact one of our Certified Personal Trainers.

Have a fit day, Bill Brown