5 Reasons “Slow-go” Cardio Sucks

Hi Joel

Working through high intensity for a shorter duration sounds very well for quick results but it may not be feasible for all age groups, esp for people who end up with pain in legs or knees if they work out intensely. I do 45 minutes of cardio on treadmill, cross trainer and stepper for 15 minutes duartion each and then 15 minutes of vascular exercises for nearly 5 days a week. After two years of working out in the gym I may not be in perfect shape but I do feel active and a bit more toned up.

I loved your High Inensity workouts in your Xtreme Fat Loss Program. I felt like I hadn’t busted my tail like I do with prolonged workouts, that I had a LOT more time on my hands, and that I had experienced a positive and productive workout by the time it was all through.

Fat loss is little about the type of cardio used and more about nutrition
The key is to balance both out properly
As Joel clearly mentioned, HIIT is the best way in terms of cardio.And 20 mins of that is more than sufficient.
The important thing though is to manage the nutrition properly

To put it in simple terms, fat loss will occur ONLY if the total calories in < total calories burnt
But mindlessly reducing food will lead to little fat loss and a LOT of muscle loss
So
The key is to reduce carbs in each meal by say 1/2 the original amount.And increase the protein intake to 1 1/2 times the original
However,
DO NOT REDUCE CARBS DURING PRE AND POST WORKOUT
This is the time when the carbs should stay high

Also
Be sure to stay hydrated throughout the day

This should do wonders for your fat loss goals

-Suneet

P.S: Joel, could you please look over my comment and validate and/or correct what I have said.Thank you

Been doing it wrong for such a long time! Would really like to hear your input and suggestions, in respect to HIIT training exercises, how to do them, for how long, etc.
-Mike

Can you suggest a high intensity workout that doesn’t require any equipment?

Could you roughly quantify fatloss with HIIT? How many calories can you expect to lose in 20 mins? Sure there are different protocols so you might as well give some examples… im sure you are aware of the one or other study.. cuz otherwise I dont know how you wanna estimate..

I’m 18 and in decent shape as measured by myself. I do some of the cardio workouts from “Insanity” these were my first introduction to HIIT and man even without strictly regulated nutrition i saw results. I began doing a bit of reading on HIIT and the afterburn effect was an amazing thing to find. I’m glad to hear you’ll be posting about this soon. The more people who see it the better. Thanks for all the posts, Joel they’ve helped me quite a bit! Keep it up!

Again – one more post for HIT as the only way.
Long Distance Runs or boring cardio is the key to teach the body to burn fat.
Combined with a low carb diet AND HIT AND Weight Training that´s the key.
And by the way – everyone should find time for 1-2 45-60mins cardio a week.
People are watching TV 3-4hours a DAY.
I hate those thinking “it must be quick”.
And folks – people who do slow cardio and are still “fat” have a problem with the eating regime. Everyone knows – 70% is the nutrition.
Yes – i´m doing HIT. Yes i´m doing Cardio as well..And some types of Weight Training. I´m 35 and in better shape than most of 25 years guys who only do HIT. It´s the mix…
BTW – lost 40 pounds during the last 15 monts and now aiming for a single digit bodyfat. with the MIX of all tools in our toolkit. So find out whats the best for YOUR Body and life schedule

Hi There,
Surely if you are training for long distance events ie Triathlon/ Marathon, then you must get out and do time on the road!!

hi joel..what about weight resistance cardio? is it better than high intensity cardio? tq..

Hi Joel,

i´ve been trying both type of cardio, i´m probably overweight (around 15lbs), Can´t get rid of the stubbern fat & the flacid skin from the belly. (probably the diet has something to see, & that i spend more time sitting on the PC doing my work, as well)

i do slow-go cardio 2-3 times x week, & other 2-3 times HIIT, obviously, as i´m on weight & my cardio resistance is too short, i only can do sprints of 1min – 1min 15sec, at maximum speed of treadmill (18 km/h), but to recover i do require a lot more, 4-5 minutes, depending on day. Ocassionally i can do 2sprint & rest within 6min of time.. at present i can only do 4 sprints of 1min en 25-30min of time XDD (counting warm up & cool down time)

Looking at the panorama, i don´t know whether it´s usefull to me or not, to do alternate cardio, rather than slow-go, cause with slow go i get different sensation, that i do burn some fat (while on treadmill). Meanwhile with the HIIT i feel more light when i wake up next morning.

Now i have some doubts:
– do you recommend to do HIIT cardio in the morning on empty stomach?
– or it is better to do slow go cardio on empty stomach?

“I don’t care if you’re already in great shape or if you’re 40 lbs overweight, you can exercise with intensity.” Makes sense to me and is what I would have said IF I had never gotten in as bad of shape as I am. I’m “only” about 25 lb overweight; the real problems are aches and pains and tiredness.
I assumed that when I got back to working out, I’d continue in the same ways I knew how before becoming a single mom. Nope. It doesn’t work that way. I simply cannot push myself in the ways I could before. It’s like there’s a hidden switch I need to find.
I’d love to find someone who had done the research to know what that switch is, and who was able to explain how to find it and turn it on.

jOEL,

I’m a true believer in HIT( high intensity training). I have a 20 minute HIT treadmill workout that has garnered great results for me. I’m a true believer of HIT…..less time and better results!

Bob

Hi Joel,
I have been fighting with weight issues for the longest time now. I need to shed atleast 30 lbs in the next 6 weeks. that would be reaching 75% of my goal.
I need a good, easy to follow diet plan. plus, i need a workout plan that’ll burn enough to reach that goal. can you help?
Nadia

I use to spend countless hours in the gym training for 1/2 marathons. I wasnt loosing much weight just gaining endurance. I started a weight training program and which included HII.T I finally received great results and a change in my body shape. I lost inches in the stranges places. I only do 20-30 min of HIIT on the treadmill, elyptical or at the track. I do 40-60 sec intervals from 7.0 to 11.0 on the treadmill or sprint the curves at the track. I feel like i’ve really worked out when I’m done. I’m 43 years old and finally I found my plan. Ladies don’t be afraid of weights they do wonders for the body. Thanks for all your help and remember not every person is alike when it comes to loosing weight. Try different things and keep it exciting. Make it a change of life.

Hey Joel
Great article on “Slow-Cardio”. I definitely don’t embraced “slow-cardio”. Being there before when I done 2 full marathons and 1 half marathons. Having to do those races, I had run between 10 to 20 hours a week thinking that the “fat-burning” zone will help me burn fat, lose weight and make me toner. You know what… I only lost like 2 kilos in the 2 years of running. And I don’t feel particularly toner.
Now, I just stick to “hardstyle” kettlebell training which is way more intense and less time-consuming. Personally, I feeling stronger and much more tone than before.

I had been doing 5 min intervals of 1.5 min 6.6km/h, 1 min 9km/h, 1.50 min 6.6km/h and 1 min of 12km/h for 40min. I run twice per day. Did this 5 days per week plus do wt trg using gym machines 5 time per week. Use about 700 calories each day for running. In 6 months times lost 12kg. Muscles become toner but not significant bigger. Is this call interval trg? Want to do intensive wt trg only and skip jogging on treadmill but scarce will stop losing wt as I still need to loose 16kg to reach ideal/health wt of BMI of 22.9. Done research on Internet and discover that wt trg seems to assist in loosing more wt as muscle need more energy to maintain but not sure whether to skip the jogging I am doing. Really want to hear from you about info on jogging in treadmill.

So pleased to read this – I personaly am not mad about cardio anyway, I find it terribly hard to do alone and opt for Spinning classes or Boot Camp classes 3x a week to get through cardio, the add weights 3x a week to that. LOVE to hear that HIIT works well!

As one with asthma, I am only using my body in my home work outs and I do 5 different exercises of 10-15, once through and am left quite winded, but feeling the burn in my arms and legs. It is short and sweet, but I hope to be able to work up to endurance of 3 times through. I try to do this 3 times each week.

Yes, we want to know about high intensity cardio!!

I completely agree that the prolonged workout inside can be boring/tedious. If I am looking for strength training the metabolic workouts are great. My training HAS TO include edurance strengthing. Longer distance biking, running, swimming outside or in is the only way I can improve my traithon preparation.

I want to do HIIT but everytime I run I end up with pain that runs around the top of my leg and I end up limping for a week and not being able to exercise at all. How can I incorporate HIIT without running?

I totally understand the high intensity/interval idea…. but what about when training for 10k’s and halfs…. it seems to all involve low intensity cardio. Any advice on how to modify for those types of training??

I’m relatively small, but have a small (about 2 inches) lower belly gut i can’t seem to shake. I haven’t been doing a lot of cardio lately. Usually i do weight training each week touching each body part at least once, then cardiio, aerobics and running twice a week. My diet is pretty good, only one major carb a day, but i can’t seem to shake it. What am i doing wrong.

I’ve been doing resistance training for about six months and am not seeing much results. What am i doing wrong?

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