5 Reasons “Slow-go” Cardio Sucks

Hi Joel,

I would appreciate to do more weight training instead sitting on the rowing machine or running on the cross-country machine, but of those they have up to 20 each in my studio while in the weight lifting room you can only find one Smith machine or Assisted Chin Ups or something similar, so that leaves me with the other machines, training only isolated muscle groups (for sure not the optimum for optimal metabolic resistance training) or with bodyweight training (very difficult for me to register any progress).

Thanks for all your advices
Reinhard

Hi!
I’m interested in your system. I had a baby 10 mon ago and still having trouble getting back to my regular weight.
Sara

i am currently doing metabolic mayhem excercises fro the 1000 calorie challenge but it lasts only 4 minutes, is this enough for cardio workouts or do i need to do more? im also doing abdominal accentuator on that day because on my resistance training dys i do arm accentuator

Joel regarding the 1000 calorie challenge am i allowed to do both arm and abdominal accentuator in my resistance days??? after the resistance training?

@ Cindy Papen-Beard:
Hi Cindy, you could work on the Assisted Chin Machine, the knee will only feel a weight oft 15 to 40 kilos, depending how much weight you can lift yourself.

Also my experience with my own knee problem is to move the knees as much as possible, so you could use the rowing machine which is also kind of weight resistance training ( I would spend 900 kcal/hour – if I could endure it for that amount of time)

Best regards
Reinhard

i completely agree.

The problem is that once one hits their athletic limit, all cardio becomes relatively low intensity, since you just can’t up the intensity any more, physically not capable.

Long-duration low-intensity cardio is huge fun outdoors, like hiking, x-country skiing, biking and swimming.

You also benefit one heck a lot by taking 40 – 60 min brisk walk at lunch at work, to get the blood flowing and don’t fall asleep in the afternoon.

It balances the mind and fights depression.

And, very often, one is so tired in the afternoon, that a low intensity cardio is the only form one can do. And well, better 300 cals a day on low intensity than NOTHING at all!

i was into slow-go cardio for a long time and never got the results i was expecting.

@ Howie:

Above comment is correct. I also love to run and cycle with friends for long periods of time. It is not about simply looking good – being lean for everyone. Some of us think it is worth the time to go longer. I do it for 1/2 marathon and triathlon training. It also does burn fat and once trained you can do pretty high intensity for 1-2 hours and burn 1000+ calories.

Went on a cruise in November and was bored to death with their Treadmill and Bike and only managed to get there 2 out of 12 days. Whereas at home I can get to Curves to do my resistance and cardio workout 7 days a week. Its a no brainer for me which one I’d choose.

yay 600th comment

Hi Joel, do you have tips for high intensity exercice to do indoors at home?
It is way too cold and icy now for me to do intervals outdoors. Txs!

I’ve seen the mistake of sloow cardio workouts at the swimming pool I used to work at. I also know from years of reading health and fitness mags that quick resistance cardio is the way to go. I like the way you spell it out for everyone though. Keep up the good work!

Great points made Joel, but a few of the comments bother me. It seems some people have taken this the wrong way and believe it is a “waste” of time now to jog on a treadmill. Truth is, you won’t be able to have a rough high intensity workout day after day. I do a short cardio circuit involving mountain climbers, squat jumps, lunges, half burpees, and etc. and I simply cannot do this circuit back to back day after day without risking injury or sacrificing performence. I alternate 3 sets of my circuit one on day with 30 minutes jogging on the treadmill the next, and it works great. That’s the other thing… jogging at a 6.5-7.5 mph pace on a treadmill is not exactly the slow workout Joel described above, especially when he pointed out that you’d be lucky to burn 300 cals in 45 minutes. Yeah… that’s walking.power walking… 45 minutes jogging at 9 minute mile pace would burn close to or more than 600 calories. On top of that, a jog would still provide some metabolic benefits, although nothing that compares with what sprints in the morning can do for your metabolism. My point is that contrary to some comments on here, there is some value to running on a treadmill. For me, jogging at an easy pace allows me to recover while burning more calories (600 is 600, right?) so I can workout at 100% the next day.

With due respect here are

5 REASONS WHY INTERVAL TRAINING SUCKS FOR FAT LOSS

Even though Interval Training is great for getting fit, I personally think for fat burning, it’s a poor strategy for the average or even above average person. Why? Well unless you have what I call an “Anabolic Body” – which is naturally athletic, lean and muscular – interval training is a bad choice because the stress of the exercise is so catabolic and intense, you experience the following:
• More muscle loss than fat loss – due to the catabolic effect on the body.
• A greater chance of injury.
• Very hard work – its 85-100% of your maximum effort.
• A lack of enthusiasm for such activity over time.
• A lack of consistency, as it is hard to continually do week in, week out.
Now I’ve read the articles and the pseudo science that high intensity interval training is the most superior form of cardio when it comes to fat burning. However my 20 years of real world experience just tells me that it’s way too catabolic for 90%! of the general population

I really do not understand this view. Has anyone seen the physique of a good cross country runner? Pretty damn lean. If you run with some intensity 70+ miles per week, you will be WAY leaner than most people. (I know because I run all the time.) It could be the level of mileage and the intensity, but I know for a fact that running can make one incredibly lean.

For those that can’t get outside for their long walks or are not very active during the day do it after HIIT. After an interval session I will stay on treadmill and continue and do some steady state cardio. I think the combination of the two is great.

I agree with this post for many reasons and I train almost now exclusively this way. I think my results are good but I still am not quite sure ‘how intense’ each should it be. I feel pretty maxed physically at 180bpm almost to the point of nausea with intervals(and that’s beyond what my ‘target’ is supposed to be is 165 per the math–and what about that math??? :). The heart rate vs how you feel doing this high intensity interval work has always seemed to stump me. I suppose you can base it on results and caloric intake as well.
I’m 37/155/5’8 base weight, would like to loose about 7-8lbs. I get good results doing the Insanity mixed with the other weight resistant workouts/intervals. I’m sure you’ll post more on this to come. thanks for the info. I don’t mind running but if I can avoid it I will. And.. I will say road biking seemed to slim me down (3 hours of riding), however looking back it was intervals since we would do sprinting with the distance. :)

Vital Food Group? :-0 @ Karen:

@ Diane:
I have been doing turbo jam and Charlean for a long time. I like to combine them, but turbo jam is a little more long cardioa and Charlean is more interval high intensity if you make it that way. You have the option of pushing your self hard. good workouts though!

G’day Joel,

I have always found, even when I was a teenager, that if I was carrying a bit of chub, working out with weights (even if not really intense) was more effective than hours of jogging/running.

But I still like to do some running as I feel we need to exercise all aspects of our bodies, including stamina.

Of late I have started into some exercise again to trim down a little, and I have found your site very interesting. It has confirmed a lot of what I have believed about health and fitness, and given me scientific proof of why it is right.

For a bit of cardio I have been doing 100 meter sprints. I sprint 100 meter flat-out, then I briskly walk back to my start point, then do another sprint. After 10 minutes of repeating this I have covered several kilometers.

My question is, does this qualify as a good cardio exercise?

enjoy it. curious about high intensity short duration. Does that mean the higher the intensity the shorter duration you NEED to have or COULD get away with?

I have been doing 30 minutes at a time on a Gazelle. Show me a better way please to spend my time. I know I’m not burning the calories I need to loose the fat I want. I am looking for a better way to get more bang for my buck. Please help me out.

Hi Joel, great article.

What do you regard as a “short” high intesity session?

I’m doing 30 mins on the bike alternating between resistance 10 for about 2mins to get my heart rate up then dropping to resistance 6 or 8 till heart comes back down. Then I go do weights for about 20 to 30mins.
Am I doing it right? or could I be getting better results in even less time?

Hi Joel,

I am a firm beleiver in short duration, high-intensity exercise… Being a mum of 3, working part-time and competing in figure competetions I dont have hours to spend doing no results long, slow, boring cardio!! I am lucky enough to be quite lean naturally but when I need to get down to 6% body fat for competion, nothing gets me leaner, faster, than high-intensity cardio. With only 3 or 4 20-30 minute sessions a week in addition to my regular weight training program, and a super clean diet, it takes no time at all…