Quick tips on how to burn the most and best calories during your cardio training!

Hey guys,
      I was talking to a guy today and he asked me about something that I think I should write on.  This is how to get the most out of your cardio sessions and the answer is easier than you think!

        When your heart rate is at or below 70% of your heart rate max (220-age approximately) you are primarily burning stored fats.  This sounds like it is awesome, I mean we are going easy and burning just fat what could be better?  The problem here lies in that you are only burning fats, and slowly.  A more efficient way of burning calories is to train using intervals.  Intervals are when you change your speeds and intensities.  By bringing your heart rate above this 70% you switch into a burning mode where you burn carbs as well as fats for fuel.  Now this sounds inefficient compared to before but remember, carbs store fats, aka carbs are fats essentially so you are actually doing better!  Not only are you burning carbs as well, you are also burning more calories at a higher rate than you burn fats in steady training.  This can get a bit confusing so here it is in an example for simplicity;


          Jenny Gymrat , likes to do her cardio workouts at a slow steady pace for a long duration.  This results in her doing 20 minutes at jogging pace on the treadmill.  When doing this she is only burning fats for a total of (random number) 150 calories of fat!  Sounds good right, but wait a minute.  Let's compare her to Johnny OnceAweek.  Instead if running at a steady pace, Johnny does intervals of 1 minute at 100% intensity sprints on a treadmill to 1 minute steady at 70% pace.  He does this 7 times for a total of 14 minutes.  Johnny has now lost only 50 calories of fat.  But wait, he has also lost 200 calories of carbs in the process.  So he has now lost a total of 250 calories which is more than Jenny!

         This is where people normally have the pitfall.  They buy into the steady cardio burns fat idea.  Not to mention, steady cardio yields repetition.  Repetition also has it's draw backs because you will slowly adapt and lose fewer calories each time you do the same thing.

Here are some good interval workouts that some of my clients use;

Cardiovascular Training Ideas

1 min on/1 min off  

30 seconds on / 1:30 off

Rowing machine. Ex. 3 x 2km, 4km steady, 6 x 500m

1 minute on/ 3 minute steady jog

Steady walk/run on treadmill with incline

Track laps. Ex. Sprint a lap, do an exercise, immediately sprint another, etc

Sprint stairs with treadmill steady jog even walking treadmill in between

Plyometrics. Ex. Jump squats/ lunges/ box jumps on a timer

*steady means jog or about 70%, where off or easy means just keep making the movement, ex bike with no tension, or walking on treadmill

~Remember steady cardio burns fat calories, while interval training burns fat and carbs which leads to a greater net calorie burn in a shorter period of time. 

             So moral of the story here guys!  Workout with intervals with high and low intensities for shorter durations, rather than go steady on the elliptical or bike for 20 minutes!  This will yield better results! Don't be a Jenny Gymrat be a Johnny OnceAweek!

 Cheers!

Ryan Trueman
Ryan.Trueman@dal.ca