FAT LOSS SECRET: CARDIO OR WEIGHTS?

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There is often a debate between what is best for fat loss results, cardio or weights? Well majority of the people think that they’ll get great results and trim their waist line by simply walking or jogging on the treadmill for end number of hours.

You are simply wasting your time, I say! If fat loss is your main goal.

Then what do you do to maximize fat loss in less time? What are the alternatives? Why not cardio?

Patience is the key. I’ll discuss this right away.

  • First of all why steady state cardio is not apt for fat loss?

When you walk on the treadmill at a certain speed with medium intensity for a longer duration such 30 mins or more, what happens is you burn only those amount of calories which is used during that 30 min brisk walk (for eg: 250cals per 30min at low speed). Once you step out of the treadmill you don’t burn calories. Thus, this type of cardio consumes more time and give less calorie burn.

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You are not a hamster, so step down from the hamster wheel and start lifting!

Now, what if I say that you can burn much much more calories than this by doing a weight training and also burn calories when you are sitting at home relaxing after your workout?

Sounds interesting, right?

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Here’s how it happens:

When you weight train with high intensity using heavier weights, less rest between sets, circuit training, etc you body’s general equilibrium changes such as blood circulation in muscles increases, heart rate increases, increased blood flow, etc.

Thus, after your workout the body needs to get itself back to equilibrium i.e. back to normal blood pressure, normal resting heart rate, etc. This process consumes or burn calories in the resting state(i.e. when you are resting, doing no activity after your workout) in the presence of oxygen and uses fatty acids. Known as EPOC (Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption) which leads to this after burn affect.

Thus, ultimately, you end up burning calories/fat not only during you workout (much more calories burn than cardio) but also after the workout! What more could you ask for?

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So you might ask should I weight train everyday then?

No. You shouldn’t weight train everyday as your muscles need rest for appropriate recovery and to avoid CNS ( central nervous system) overload.

So what are the other alternatives to cardio which should be done when you are not weight training?

You can opt for HIIT cardio (High Intensity Interval Training). For example, this type of cardio requires you to run on the treadmill at 85-90% of your MHR (Maximum Heart Rate, can be calculated using heart rate monitor available in most gyms). However, I would NOT recommend this for beginners as their cardiovascular fitness is not that developed yet, so they could keep the intensity moderate.

 

Now that you know the fat loss secret, don’t be “Cardio Bunny” if your goals are fat loss, irrespective of you gender. (Yes I’m indirectly pointing out to those “swearing by cardio” females out there!)58801d05be56b87a8e0db4d2d88b3b1a

 

If you need online or offline coaching at your own gym (Mumbai), workout programming, cardio training, circuit training, etc. Please feel free to contact me at:

Mob :9920791917  (Call and Whatsapp)

Email: shivlaniharsh@gmail.com

Thank you! Happy Lifting!

Live To Lift.