Cardio-Get Shredded For Summer!

CARDIO – Get Shredded For Summer!

Nick Smoot- Owner of Smoot Fitness

So the summer is here and you are ready to reveal that hard earned muscle you have gained over the winter months.  You know that nutrition will make up the bulk of your caloric deficit, leading to weight loss and fat annihilation, but there comes a certain point when you reach a fat loss plateau and don’t want to drop calories any lower at that time.  What do you do?  Implement cardio, or increase the amount of cardio you are already doing.

Now with nutrition, where you want to eat the most amount of food possible while still losing weight, cardio is the direct opposite.  You want to perform the least amount of cardio possible that creates a caloric deficit and stimulates fat loss.  Some people will tell you that  high intensity interval training (HIIT) is better than low intensity steady state (LISS) cardio, some experience withdraw symptoms if their cardio session is one second under an hour, and others will beat you up in the street if they learn you aren’t rolling with the moderate intensity gang.  All forms of cardio have their place.  The determining factor in your choice of cardio comes down to current weight loss goals, sport specific goals, current injuries, risk of injury, rate of CNS (central nervous system) fatigue, etc.  Figure out the amount and type of cardio you need to perform for your goals, create a plan, evaluate your results, and adjust in order to maintain progress.

HIIT, Get in and Get Out

To be perfectly honest, I hate cardio. I would rather watch a sex and the city marathon than spend 30 minutes running on a treadmill (I would never watch Sex and the City, but you get my point.)  Despite my opinion of cardio, there is no denying its effectiveness in creating a caloric deficit and stimulating fat loss.  If it must be done, I believe that HIIT is the most effective way to get the job done in the shortest amount of time possible.  No matter the activity (running, biking, jump roping, swimming, etc), the goal is to constantly switch between periods of maximum, moderate, and low intensity.  An example would be a 30 second sprint that is immediately followed by two minutes of low or moderate intensity jogging, and the cycle is performed for a total of 15-25 minutes (I have never personally seen an HIIT session last longer than 25 minutes).  HIIT burns about the same amount of calories as LISS in half the time.  It has also been shown to increase metabolic rate for hours after the cardio session is performed, and has virtually no negative effect on muscular strength and hypertrophy (1).  Turn the TV off, unclip the treadmill’s corny “stop” button from your shirt, walk outside, and get intense!

LISS, Use with Caution

Now don’t get me wrong, although I think that HIIT should take precedence over LISS in an individual’s cardio program, LISS still has its place.  HIIT is an extremely intense activity, and therefore cannot be implemented with a high frequency because of the resulting fatigue on the central nervous system.  If you have already implemented two or three days of interval training and eventually need more cardio to break through a fat loss plateau, LISS is the way to go.  If you are performing a monotonous activity for over 30 minutes and still have the ability to speak clearly, you are performing LISS.  Many people assume that low intensity cardio is more effective than high intensity intervals for fat loss because the main substrate used for energy is fat.  It is important to realize that although high intensity intervals use more carbohydrates than fats to fuel the activity, it burns more total calories than low intensity cardio.  A proportion of those calories come from fat, and that proportion is usually more than the total calories burned in a normal low intensity cardio session.  Low intensity cardio is another tool in the toolbox to create a caloric deficit, and should be implemented when needed.  However, abusing LISS is a quick way to shed muscle and bleed strength.  Don’t believe me?  Compare a picture of an endurance runner and a sprinter and you will see what I mean.  Strategically implement high and low intensity cardio for the best results.

How Do I Implement Cardio Into My Weight Loss Plan?

As previously mentioned, the goal is to perform the least amount of cardio needed to stimulate fat loss.  Losing fat is a pain in the ass because the body has an unlimited ability to adapt.  Decrease calories and the body will decrease metabolic rate to begin maintaining weight off of the lower caloric intake.  Increase cardio and metabolic rate will decrease while the body simultaneously becomes more efficient at performing the activity.  Continue to decrease food intake and increase cardio in retaliation to the body’s adaptions and you eventually begin to compromise health and performance.  Health and performance should never be sacrificed for aesthetics, and it doesn’t have to be.  You begin the fat loss battle at a disadvantage, but greatly increase your chance of reaching your goals safely and comfortably (comfortable to a degree) if you begin the cut eating the most amount of food and performing the least amount of cardio possible.  With a higher metabolic capacity, you have more to pull from when you hit plateaus, countering your body’s adaptions and reaching your goals before you ever get to an unhealthy level.  Now there is no magic formula to determine the amount of cardio a person needs to perform during a fat loss phase.  Everyone is different and will have different responses to various cardio programs.  However, there are a few guidelines that will allow you to construct a cardio program of your own.  The key is to measure EVERYTHING, and adjust the type and amount of cardio based on your results.

Cardio Guidelines during a Fat Loss Phase:

• Begin with the least amount of cardio possible (unless you are an endurance athlete).
• When needed, begin by implementing one or two cardio sessions per week for 20-30 minutes.
• When a fat loss plateau is reached (and you do not want to decrease calories), add another cardio session in to the week, or add another 15-30 minutes to the current cardio sessions being performed.
• ADD AS LITTLE CARDIO AS POSSIBLE TO BREAK THROUGH THE PLATEAU!!
• Do not exceed an hour of cardio in one session if possible.
• Do not exceed 2-3 sessions of HIIT per week.
• DO SOMETHING YOU ENJOY!!

SUMMING UP

If you hate cardio like I do, realize it must be done and man up.  If you love cardio, do your best not to abuse it.  Both high intensity interval training and low intensity cardio have their place in a fat loss plan, and there is no “one size fits all” approach to the implementation of each in an individual’s program.  Experiment with various types and amounts of cardio, measure your results, and adjust when necessary.