Cardio, Optimized

Posted November 25, 2011 on my old blog

For fat-burning optimization, here is your ideal 3-fold approach:

1. Weights

2. Intervals

3. Steady cardio

Why?

Sugars (glucose) are stored in your body all the time. It is hanging around in your bloodstream (“blood sugar,” your muscles, and your liver.).

1. When you lift weights, you are relying primarily on these quickly available sugars. Lift heavy; push your muscles to the max. Not only will this develop your body shape and strengthen and tone your muscles, but it will use up those easily-accessible sugars floating around in your blood stream.

Side note: don’t try and avoid having these sugars hanging around by going all low-carb on me! Your brain and your body NEEDS them to be there. You need to think! And your muscles need fuel! The only car accident I’ve ever had was when I was carb-depleted and couldn’t think straight! I just want to explain how to maximize fat burning by taking advantage of certain windows of opportunity to utilize certain types of training.

2. Once you have finished hitting the weights, hop on a cardio machine and do 10-15 minutes of HIIT (high-intensity interval training). This increases your Human Growth Hormone and Testosterone levels (note – if you’re a woman, this does not mean you’ll bulk up and look like a bodybuilder or a man. It means you can suddenly TONE UP and BURN FAT a whole lot easier because you’ve optimized the production of these two hormones.). Work at MAXIMAL intensity for 1 minute, and then walk (recover) for 2 minutes. Repeat, repeat. This interval training will use up any remaining sugars for fuel, it will increase your metabolism for up to 48 hours (yep!), and, best of all, it will literally cause your fat cells to release fatty acids into your blood stream. These free fatty acids are just begging to be burned; they’re now totally available for fuel.

3. You’ve used up your stored fuel by weight training and doing intervals. You’ve pushed your muscles to their limit and strengthened your heart. With your intervals, you’ve released stored FAT. It’s now flowing through your body. But we don’t want your body to decide it doesn’t need it as fuel, and put those fatty acids back into your fat cells, do we? No!!

So how do we make sure those fat cells are burned up, never to be seen again? SLOW CARDIO! That’s right! Slow, steady cardio has been bashed lately because of its apparent ineffectiveness. Used on its own, I may agree. However, it is the PERFECT activity to cherry-pick those freely available fatty acids that are hanging around in your bloodstream.

By steadily walking or biking at a low intensity for 15-30 minutes after weights and intervals, you can burn calorie after calorie – in the form of FAT. The fat that only 20 minutes ago was lodged on your stomach, butt, and thighs.

Let’s review…

1. Hit the weights.

2. Do high intensity intervals.

3. Do slow cardio.

Another way of saying this is: Burn your stored sugars and tone your muscles. Release your fat stores. Burn fat.

There you go. Cardio, used to its full potential.

Now, go forth and burn the fat!

(as Tom Venuto likes to say…)