Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to put an end to the madness.  If I had a dime for every person I’ve ever watched walk aimlessly on a treadmill or drape themselves pathetically over a stair climber I’d be on the cover of Fortune 500.  I’m not sure who’s responsible for creating this cardio epidemic but if I ever meet them I certainly won’t mince my words.  We live in a day and age where everyone wants results yesterday but the irony of it all is that most of us are taking the scenic route to get there.  Health clubs continue to fill their facilities with endless amounts of treadmills and elliptical machines equipped with the latest entertainment technology.  With built in DVD players and tv’s in each machine, people are enticed and believe this is the answer to their fitness woes.  All this really does is create long line-ups for each machine and encourages lengthy, drawn out workouts that lead virtually nowhere.  Don’t get me wrong, a long slow walk on the treadmill is better than sitting on the couch eating pizza and potato chips but I think we can do better, MUCH BETTER! 

Before I go any further, I want to first abolish the term “cardio”.  Cardio represents everything that is wrong with the fitness industry today.  It connotates mediocrity and people’s complacency with their current fitness level.  It represents traditional thinking that strength training and cardiovascular exercise must be performed seperately.  Cardio is simply an inferior means to get the job done.  If you want to efficiently burn fat while preserving muscle mass, you have to perform “CONDITIONING” workouts.  Conditioning refers to higher intensity, shorter duration, interval training.  Conditioning can be performed seperately or intertwined with strength training to make for more efficient workouts. 

Here are 2 scenarios that provide a basic example of the cardio vs conditioning.  In scenario 1, a 130lb woman runs at a medium pace for 30 mins and burns 350 calories.  75% of her calories come from fat.  350 x.75 = 262.5 calories from fat.

In scenario 2, the same woman performs an interval workout on the treadmill.  She runs for 2 mins at a fast pace and then jogs lightly for 2 mins. She repeats this 6 times for a total of 24 mins of work and burns 450 calories.  65% of her calories come from fat.  450 x .65 = 292.5 calories from fat.

As you can see, in scenerio 2, the woman not only burned more total calories in less time, she also burned more fat calories even though a smaller percentage of her calories cam from fat.  This is just a basic example of the fundamental difference between cardio and conditioning.  As one becomes fitter and can train at higher intensities, the differences become much more evident. 

The other major benefit of conditioning vs cardio is that you will better preserve muscle mass.  All you have to do is look at the physique of a sprinter vs a marathon runner and you can see one is strong, and well defined while the other looks weak and malnourished.  A prime example of short and fast vs long and slow. 

Now that you have a better understanding of why one can potentially waste their time with long, slow, daunting cardio workouts, it’s up to you to shift gears and get some real results.  With a little motivation and work ethic, you can be well on your way to achieving your goals.  Here is a sample workout you can try next time you’re on the treadmill.  You won’t need Maxim magazine for this one.

Good luck with your fitness endeavors and remember NO MORE CARDIO!

Yours in Health,