July 12, 2008
Topic:
The Importance of Cardio
In the 90’s there was what exercise experts call the fitness paradigm shift. Scientists had discovered numerous health benefits from resistance training and made working out with weights mainstream. Unfortunately this has led many people to give up cardiovascular training entirely for the benefits of strength training. This is a mistake and I’m going to tell you why.
Muscle doesn’t burn as many calories as we once thought - Muscle burns fat. This is true but not near as much as you might think. New studies show that one pound of muscle only burns about 6-10 more calories than one pound of fat. Obviously building muscle alone is not going to rev up your metabolism enough to lose a lot of weight.
Cardio is still the ultimate for sheer weight-loss – Running or cycling for 45 min can easily burn 400-600 calories in an hour depending on your conditioning. Reduce your food intake by 500 calories and that would be 900-1100 calories a day.
Cardio can be done with weights - For those that would rather drill their own teeth than do cardio, try circuit weight training. You can burn just as many calories as traditional cardio however you will need to drastically reduce the rest periods to 30 seconds to continuous. The benefit of this style of cardio is that you also get a huge post exercise metabolic increase superior to other cardio but make no mistake
Weight training does a lot. It builds muscle and bone density, strengthens our tendons and ligaments and reshapes our bodies; something cardio can’t do. But if getting lean is your primary goal, scientific studies do prove that cardio and diet reign supreme.
Question from viewers:
Zach
I have been weight lifting for a long time. I have good muscle definition over most of my body but I just can't seem to add any size to my calves. I'm not afraid of hard work, I just don't know what to do.
Jonas Michaels
I am trying to lose weight. I have been lifting a lot of heavy weights but I seem to have hit a plateau. What do you recommend?
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