Cheat At Exercise To Lose Fat
Have you noticed that many people work really hard to lose fat, busting out hours of effort in the gym but never seeming to get any real results…
Maybe this is you?
Over the last few posts you’ll have heard me telling you how to cheat at fat loss, this post is no exception. You’ll be getting the idea that this is not your usual “healthy eating regular exercise” style advise that you see every where else. I want to knock on the head the idea that losing fat is all about inordinate amounts of time in the gym.
If you are like “most” people time to potter around a gym for a few hours a day simply just doesn’t work. Unless you are a “lady of leisure” or unemployed then spending crazy amounts of time training just is impossible!
I am going to explain a short routine that takes just 23 minutes and burns 9 times more fat than that hour of aerobic exercise we are told to do 5 times a week. Interested? read on!
| In a study comparing a diet group and a diet plus exercise group, doing 45 minutes of aerobic workouts in the “fat-burning zone”, 5 times a week for 12 weeks. (this means SIXTY workouts in total!)
At the end of the study, the diet plus exercise group had not lost any more fat than the “just diet” group! SIXTY workouts and no extra fat loss than just dieting. |
Does this spell the end of business for GetFit.lu, Does this mean you should throw out the exercise bike gathering dust in the garage?
WAIT!
Before that seemingly useless exercise bike gets thrown out the door, there is a way to do cardio training that is far more effective for fat loss.
Intervals are the king of fat burning cardio workouts. Intervals are simply exercising with short bursts of effort with periods of rest between them. For Example:
- Warm up on a treadmill for 5 minutes
- Then immediately start a 1 minute period of intensive effort (90% of your maximum ability)
- Then return to a low intensity to recover for 2 minutes
- Then repeat the intense period
- Do FIVE repetitions of the intense period before cooling down over a 5 minute period at a low intensity
That’s it done!
| In another study comparing steady state cardio exercise(think jogging) and interval training over a 20 week study period, the interval group saw 9(NINE) times more fat loss in total. |
So here is the question, would you prefer to jog for 45 minutes, 5 times a week, OR do 3 or 4 short interval based routines like the one described above for NINE times more fat loss. It’s a no brainer really.
If fat loss is your goal… do NOT go jogging! Do intervals.
In a future article I’ll be telling you about an even more effective interval based routine, but for now just stop the jogging, it isn’t giving you the results you are expecting!
5 Responses to “Cheat At Exercise To Lose Fat”
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Rainer Rohde on April 23rd, 2009
This sounds really interesting, Tim. I am now at 45mins/day on my elliptical trainer at home, with the last 30 to 40 seconds being the “intense phase”, where I try to go as fast as I can. Afterwards there’s a 3 mins cool-down phase and I am done.
I realize that now, after 3 weeks of doing this, my pulse is down at a steady 130-140 (from 160-170 in the beginning), which means that I have to either increase resistance (which is already maxed out) on that machine or increase the time I spend on it.
Well, that was until I read this post of yours, Tim.
So, I will try to do some intervals instead of going 45 mins straight and see what it does for me.
So far I lost about 7kg, with about 50kg to go. I am as motivated as I ever was, and I am eager to try this interval idea tonight.
Cheers,
Rainer
rrohde on April 25th, 2009
Ok, so I tried this now 2 days in a row and I have to say this stuff is *HARD*, with a captial H.
Compared to this, the straight out 45min evenly paced workout is a ‘walk in the park’.
Wow. The intensive phase is like a slap in the face, and the two minutes of low intensity just barely enough to catch my breath again for the next intensive minute..
In the end, I can actually feel my calves and thighs burn… this is fantastic stuff!
Thanks for this one, Tim! Looking forward to your ‘even more effective’ interval training.
Cheers,
Rainer
admin on May 1st, 2009
Good stuff Rainer.
The first time through the intervals session you’ll find the workout tough but much more rewarding than the 45 minute steady state.
You’ll be sweating a fair bit too!
Rainer Rohde on May 3rd, 2009
Indeed, Tim.
I’ve been doing this for a week now and, before I stagnated at 129kg, I am now down to 127kg - in one week. I will continue to do intervals - that’s a no-brainer!
Thanks,
Rainer
kim faltys on September 16th, 2009
I’ve had several personal trainers tell me that in order to burn fat, you need to do at least 45-60 minutes of cardio because the first 20-30 minutes is just burning up carbs. Please clarify this for me because I feel guilty if I don’t get at least 50 minutes of cardio in 4-5 days per week. Thank you!!