First off, thanks for all the love! For any of you that didn't hear I just got into a second graduate school option and will most likely be heading to Toronto for my Doctorate in Chiropractic! As awesome as it would be to head to Australia for my Doctorate in Physiotherapy at Melbourne University with two of my best friends, it is just not possible financially. Everyone's support was unexpected and humbling and a big thanks to everyone for that!
But now let's talk CARDIO!
"What should I do for cardio and when should I do it?"
I get this question on the regular from people of all ages and skill levels and I am going to try and help answer it today! Here is a little background on cardio training.
Cardiovascular training is not just getting on the treadmill! Cardio training can be done in a variety of ways and is almost anything that has little rest and a high heart rate! It can be trained using things like circuit style workouts, a long jog on the beach, or a game of squash! All of these things will get your heart rate up, your muscles moving and your cardiovascular systems pumping. The best thing about cardio in my mind is the positive health benefits towards the fight against heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases (these improvements are immediate and happen much quicker than physical changes) but let's get into what we all want to use it for. Losing weight!
Before we start. Everyone needs to know that calories in and calories burned is not accurate at explaining weight loss or gain. The main importance is the TYPES of foods we eat and how they change our body's chemistry. There are even examples of villages of people eating as little as 600 calories a day and all being overweight because they were very poor calorie choices. That being said, burning calories through cardio is an awesome way to crank up your weight loss results!
What types of cardio?
A lot of people out there have heard the line "your fat burning zone is when your heart rate is below 70-85% of your max aka slow and steady cardio." While this is technically right, it is extremely misleading and is one of the most frustrating things out there. This leads people to conclude that long and steady means you burn fat and you lose weight. While this is also true, the rate at which you burn these calories is rather low. Not only is it low, it becomes lower with repetition. So that 4km jog you have been doing for 2 years is probably burning half the calories it use to if you run it regularly. The best way to burn calories is with intensity changes. It is true that when your heart rate goes over this fat burning zone that you burn carbs too and not just fat however, these intervals of intensity will burn more net calories overall than slow steady cardio. An example is shown below using completely arbitrary numbers.
Steady cardio: 100 calories of fat burned. No carbs burned. Total 100 calories burned.
Interval cardio: 70 calories of fat burned. 70 calories of carbs burned. Total 140 calories burned.
An example of this misleading evidence you can find in any gym
It fails to point out the rate at which calories are burned.
Let's look even closer
Interval workouts: High intensity interval workouts are overall the best way to burn calories and lose weight. Interval workouts basically just mean that you are alternating your intensities from very high to very low with little rest and high exhaustion rates. These are short workouts and need to be done with a high amount of effort. An example of an interval workout I like is 1 minute sprint followed by 1 minute easy walking on a treadmill. If your sprint is at 100% you should be exhausted well short of the 1 minute mark and you should reach total exhaustion ( heart rate max). This can be done around 10-15 times and will burn tons of calories! Group classes and spin classes are great options!
Steady cardio: Now while I think this is less affective at burning calories I do still find this type of cardio to be beneficial. These include : an excellent way to do cardio on rest days or high intensity workout days, you will still get the health benefits like you will with intervals and it also helps speed up recovery and decrease soreness! If you enjoy doing long cardio, it's ok and keep it up! Just try and change of the intensities or running routes, and mix in some intervals if you are trying to lose weight! One of my all time favorites for steady cardio is walking on the treadmill with a steady and large incline. It melts fat and builds muscle in your legs while doing so!
When should I do it?
This is the great debate and one I always answer with the same question. Regardless of type cardio is good for you and as long as you are doing it I am happy and content with that. You are always going to get benefits, however, there are some ideal times to do it to get specific results depending on your goals!
If you are:
Working out to lose weight- Cardio before weight loss workouts has shown to burn more total calories. It also has been shown to leave you with a higher metabolism longer which can lead to increased weight loss. I recommend it before, however I do also like it after if the weight workout is a high intensity workout. Doing low intensity steady cardio after a tough workout will help aid in recovery.
Working out to gain muscle size- I hate to say it, but doing a lot of cardio when trying to gain muscle can make gaining muscle difficult. Your body likes to be in gain or cut mode, and switching constantly makes it difficult to do either. You want to aim for low-moderate intensities like walking on inclines or steady runs. Intervals will help you cut up and have lean hard muscle, but it can get in the way of those big biceps you want!
Working out to gain strength- Strength workouts are workouts with the rep ranges of 6 and below. If you are lifting heavy you are going to want all your strength. A light warm up is recommended but you will want to do your cardio at the end. Cardio can fatigue your muscles and this will get you less out of your weights workout. Lifting for strength - cardio after.
Hope that helped answer some questions!
Ryan Trueman
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