I wanted to talk a bit about cardio with everyone.  I have noticed the phenomena of 'mindless cardio' over the last few years, and by making a slight correction to your routines, you can make a difference in achieving your fitness goals.  Have you ever noticed how some people train very intensely with weights, but when they get on the treadmill/elliptical/bike that their intensity disappears, and they are just 'passing the time?'  You'll see some people talking on their cellphones, watching TV, chattering to the person next to them, etc.  Let me ask you this - would you watch TV while trying to bench press 350 lbs?  Of course not!  Well, you want to maintain that same hawk-like focus that you have during your weight training session in your cardio session.  How do you do this, you might ask?

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a way that you can be 'engaged' throughout your cardio session.  HIIT is training at a high intensity (sprinting) for a short period of time followed by training at a moderate intensity (jogging), then a lower intensity (fast walking), and then starting again. Essentially, throughout your cardio sessions, you are cycling through intensity levels, which causes your heart rate to spike and then come down, then spike again, and then come down again. 

While I'm doing my cardio, I'm constantly monitoring both the cardio time and speed.  If you are doing a HIIT session, you can't just mindlessly watch TV for 45 minutes, while ignoring both the time that you have been going as well as the speed that you are going.  I like to do my HIIT on the Precor Elliptical machine.  I establish a baseline, steady pace of 115 to 130 strides per minute.  Here would be 1 example of how to incorporate HIIT into your routine. 

Warmup - 2 minutes going 115 to 130 strides per minute

2:00 to 2:15 --- 200 to 220 strides per minute (sprinting)

2:15 to 2:50 --- 115 to 130 strides per minute (fast jogging)

2:50 to 3:00 --- 100 to 115 strides per minute (fast walking)

3:00 to 3:15 --- 200 to 220 strides per minute (sprinting)

3:15 to 3:50 --- 115 to 130 strides per minute (fast jogging)

3:50 to 4:00 --- 100 to 115 strides per minute (fast walking)

And so on and so forth.  I'll do this for approximately 20 minutes, and have worked much harder than someone who just simply went onto the cardio rack for 40 minutes at a steady pace, while chatting on their cellphone, watching TV, etc.  Notice that I am watching the clock, and changing my speed based on the clock, so that I'm engaged throughout the entire 20 minutes - I'm not daydreaming in the least.  Now, you can obviously alter this to your fitness level.  You could do 5 seconds of sprinting, 40 seconds of fast jogging, and 15 seconds of fast walking.  The key is that the heart rate spikes, and then drops a bit, and then spikes again.  Not only will you burn fat faster this way, but you will have a sense of purpose throughout your cardio session and leave with a sense of accomplishment. 

HIIT is a great way to burn bodyfat - many studies will tell you so - but it is also borne out in reality.  Just take a look at the physiques of the sprinters/track stars from the Beijing Olympics, many of them have bodybuilder-esque physiques whereas the long distance runners look emaciated and have droopy muscles.  It goes to show you that short bursts of high intensity exertion is more effective at maintaining muscle and burning bodyfat than longer bouts of moderate intensity exertions.  So, by applying this same theory into your own training, you can continue to make improvements and achieve the physique that you desire.

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Fall Of The Cardio Dynasty

The old-school approach to weight loss and physical fitness told us to hop onto a treadmill, find the pace that corresponded to our fat-burning “target heart rate,” and enjoy the monotony of the human hamster wheel for an hour. If only we’d remembered to consult our great reality check, human evolution, we might have realized that this approach produces meager results. We’re not hamsters; we’re primates who have progressed in ways that make our ability to lose weight dependent on many factors.

Out Of The Trees, On Our Two Feet.
About five million years ago, our primate ancestors descended from the trees and stood up. Over the next 4.95 million years, they also grew larger, requiring more food for survival. However, ground-dwelling primates had to range over increasingly large areas to meet their nutritional and energy needs. Through natural selection, the mechanics of an upright posture evolved to favor endurance over speed. Anthropologists maintain that early humans spent at least three hours walking 10–12 miles each day in order to procure adequate sustenance for survival. Therefore, our survival as a species came to rely on our genetic propensity for extraordinary endurance during low- to moderate-intensity activities like brisk walking or slow jogging.

Low-Intensity Cardio Is Counterproductive.
Activities that fall within the so-called “fat-burning zone” favor overall energy conservation, so if your goal is to shed unwanted body fat, the last thing you want to do is program your physiology to maximize energy conservation. Unless you are physically unable to engage in vigorous forms of exercise, old-school cardio is not only inefficient, but may actually be counterproductive to reaching your physique goals. Although low-intensity aerobic exercise burns some fat during the actual activity, it has only minimal impact on lean tissue development and overall metabolism.

And It’s Boring.
Don’t get me wrong: long, slow cardio is better than nothing. Previously sedentary individuals get results from cardio, at least for a little while. In the long run (excuse the pun), progress is limited. Studies have clearly demonstrated that, over time, conventional cardio compromises speed, coordination, strength and agility. Plus, to many, it’s boring.

Increase Your Metabolic Rate 24/7.
Exercise physiologists are now proving that the most efficient way to induce progressive (and permanent) fat loss is to elevate metabolic rate around the clock — an endeavor best accomplished through a combination of resistance training and intense, short-duration exercise. Weight training builds muscle, and a little muscle goes a long way toward increasing metabolic rate, caloric expenditure and fat burning. Likewise, brief intervals of intense exercise induce a hormonal response that raises resting metabolic rate and increases overall fat burning for up to two days!

Do High-Intensity Interval Training.
Modify your current cardio routine so that it’s working for, rather than against, your physique goals. Whereas long, slow cardio tends to devour most of the muscle you are trying to build, punctuating your aerobic workout with brief (30–60 seconds) all-out sprints every three to five minutes will accomplish the exact opposite. Often referred to as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), this regimen not only makes your workout more effective, it also makes it far more efficient so that you can literally cut your workout time in half and reap significantly greater benefits in terms of fat loss and peak performance."

12/28/2009

Ana Claudia: I did this workout on Christmas day, and it was very challenging. I will keep you posted!!!

12/22/2009

Mark Ingaram: Thanks for demonstrating this. I am going to try this today.