Have you ever been told that you should run BEFORE BREAKFAST to burn more body fat?
Here’s the thing. Our bodies are burning FAT all day long. Fat is our primary fuel source when at rest or when doing LOW INTENSITY activities like walking, jogging or gardening.
CARDIO will burn more or less fat depending on the intensity of the activity, i.e. HIGH INTENSITY cardio like SPRINTING will burn the LEAST FAT, while LONG DISTANCE running will burn the MOST FAT.
𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐀𝐓 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐅𝐀𝐓 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬.
Whether cardio helps you burn body fat comes down to your diet.
If you are in a calorie deficit, cardio is one tool to help push that deficit lower.
However, if the energy you burn through cardio DOESN NOT exceed the energy you are taking in through your diet, it does not matter HOW MUCH cardio you do.
You WILL NOT lose weight.
𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭. 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭.
In fact, doing a little more cardio rather than eating less is a good way to help keep your metabolism from slowing down too much.
You see, it takes energy to digest food, so eating slightly more food, and achieving a deficit through extra cardio enables you to tap into this thermic effect of food.
Not only are burning more calories through activity, you are burning calories with the food you eat, and since you are not restricting your food as much, your body is less likely to begin conserving energy.
Additionally, MOST PEOPLE, unless they are an athlete that competes in weight classes or a competitive endurance athlete, are interested in FAT LOSS, not strictly WEIGHT LOSS,
Studies have shown that people who exercise more, but REPLACE the calories they burn, DON’T LOSE WEIGHT, which isn’t really surprising.
𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.
Even though they don’t lose weight, THEY DO experience positive changes in their body composition i.e. their weight remains the SAME, but they have MORE MUSCLE and LESS FAT, which is what EVERYONE, the athletes above excepted, should be aiming for.
In SUMMARY, there is NO ADDITIONAL benefit to doing your CARDIO fasted, unless it means you end up eating less total calories for the day or if you experience digestive distress doing so.
Fasted cardio, could in fact be INFERIOR to fed cardio if it reduces the INTENSITY or VOLUME of your cardio session i.e. you didn’t run as far or you didn’t run as fast because you were WEAK from not enough fuel.
𝐀𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.
What and when you eat, how you eat and the type and quantity of exercise that you do will also factor into this total energy balance.
If you want help cutting through all the DIET and WORKOUT noise, check out my Hybrid Strength Training and Fat Loss Basics Guides.
Hybrid Strength training is the STRATEGIC BLEND of FOUR KEY strength training styles (Kettlebell/calisthenics training, bodybuilding, powerlifting and power/speed and explosiveness training) designed specifically for BUSY GUYS who want to get a beach-worthy body with only 20-30 minutes/day.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞?
That is because, distance running (yeah, I used to run 60-70 miles/week), P-90X and many group exercise classes rely primarily on ONE energy system i.e. your aerobic system.
But wait! P-90X and group classes use weights! How can you say it is aerobic exercise?
Well, if you can do 20,30,50, or 100 reps of something, it is CARDIO regardless of if you use weights while you are doing it.
The people who design these programs know that the PUBLIC (yeah you 😉) like to feel EXHAUSTED and SWEATY after a workout.
If we go to the gym at all, we want to feel like we actually accomplished something.
𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐲?
Mix cardio with your weight lifting. Do some light deadlifts for high reps and then hit a set of jump rope or burpees, do 20,30 or 50 + KB swings and then try to do pull-ups.
Now, I’m not BASHING Kettlebells, Burpees, Box Jumps or Burpees.
They all have a TIME and a PLACE.
What I am VEHEMENTLY against is an overreliance on ONE energy system, aerobic, glycolytic, or anaerobic, or doing excessive VOLUME just because doing so will help you BURN MORE calories.
𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐁𝐨𝐱 𝐉𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐬, 𝐣𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐥𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬.
𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐏𝐇𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐐𝐔𝐄.
Additionally, just like in the sample GROUP EXERCISE scenario outlined above, simply MASHING a bunch of exercises or training disciplines together is also UNLIKELY to be EFFECTIVE.
This is because of something known as “THE INTERFERENCE EFFECT” which relates to the S.A.I.D. principle or Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.
In other words, our bodies undergo adaptations to help them become MORE EFFICIENT at performing the activities that we do most often.
I don’t think I need to explain to you, that the adaptations required to get GOOD at POWERLIFTING are different than those required to get GOOD at MARATHON RUNNING.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐘 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐇𝐘𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦.
You need to organize your exercises in such a way that you get the MOST BANG for your BUCK from each of them without one discipline negatively impacting the next.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐂 𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐃” 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐬.
For any workout program to be effective it must also be accompanied by SYNERGISTIC NUTRITION i.e. you must match the calories as well as the proportions of various MACRO NUTRIENTS to the training that you plan to do.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐨𝐟 “𝐅𝐀𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒”.
Click the link to access the guide.
