5 Reasons “Slow-go” Cardio Sucks

Thank you for the great job you do Joel, I am so excited about finding your site and getting all of this good information and the CYWT diet (I don’t even like to call it a diet). But anyway, I am the 24/7 caregiver for my 85 yr old mother who has Alzheimer’s. I do not have long stretches of time to do my cardio workouts, so I started the high intensity interval training (and did not even know that’s what I was doing) as a necessity time wise and because I was so out of shape. It is works! I was wondering is there a way to do resistance training using the same or similar methods? Thank you for being there for all of us, keep the info coming – YOU ROCK!!

I have waisted so much time on these “hamster mills” and I’m glad that time is behind me. When I think about it I think I wanted to lose weight without making that extra effort, really activating my senses and metabolism.

@ A,

Nowhere in Joels article did he say that “steady-state cardio” is bad. He spoke of “long duration, low-intensity cardiovascular exercise”. Steady-state cardio can be done at a high intensity, but generally not for a longer amount of time. And he never said it was completely useless. He just said “if you’re looking to achieve maximal benefit from the time you put into your workouts, long duration “slow-go” cardio is NOT the way to go, and for many reasons.” As you stated in your post, steady-state cardio isn’t the best use of somebody’s time if they are trying to lose fat. Can it work to a small degree? Yes! Is it the best option? Probably not. Just like a hole in your tire. Can you use a plug or “fix-a-flat” foam? Yes! Is it the best option? Probably not.

Also, to respond to the points you made:
1) The beginner example of somebody who is 50lbs overweight not being able to do intervals. Most likely, they ARE going to be doing intervals. Ask somebody who has been inactive for years and is 50lbs overweight to just go jog or do the eliptical, they will probably perform a jogging pace for several minutes, then be winded and walk for several minutes, and when they catch their breath, pick it up back to a jog. Doesn’t that sound like interval training? As Joel stated, high intensity is relative to you.
2) To say that HIIT is too hard for people shows that people give up too easily. Losing large amounts of fat and staying fit/lean is hard! If it was easy, everybody would be fit/lean and have that rock hard stomach look. To achieve the goals you want, sacrafices and hard work must be made. Now I’m not saying to just throw a newbie into an extreme HIIT workout. But if started out light (even like the exampel given above with the jogging), and then progressed, they’d see maximal results. But I do agree with you that too many people come out of the gates way too hard and end up giving up because of the difficult program they were put into or put themselves into. But that is no reason to not start somebody out on interval training.
3-5) Yes I do agree that there are people who enjoy long distance running and everything you listed would show how people do. To each their own. But the whole point of Joel’s article was to show that slow-go cardio will not achieve the maximal training effect. I have no studies to show this, and my perspective will be skewed since i work with collegiate athletes, but with the exception of cross country runners, I have not come across many athletes who enjoy long distance runs and have told me they find them boring. Different demographics will have different perspectives.
6) The slight afterburn is very small with long duration, low-intensity cardiovascular exercise, which is what Joel wrote about. If you were to run at 80% HR for an extended time, then yes, you would get a slightly higher “afterburn”, but still pales in comparison to interval weight or cardio training.

Personally, I am not a fan of long distance running because of the stresses it places on your body and joints. Each step records very high numbers of stresses being inflicted on your joints in a high number of repetition. Interval training will generally be shorter and have less repetitions (foot strikes, etc).

Also, most people do not know how to run properly. I challange people to watch the end of a 5K or 10K race. The top finishers will probably be finishing with proper stride length and posture. Towards the middle and end of the pack, I guarantee you will see choppy steps with a poor stride, kyphosis posture, rolled forward shoulders, etc. All of these poor biomechanical positions will cause havok on a persons body, causing pain and dysfunction down the road, and possible limiting their ability to perform at the needed level for the results they want. Those people who are finishing at the front of the race are probably already in amazing shape – those at the back are probably not. The people trying to lose fat are most going to resemble those at the back of the pack.

In no way am I trying to say long distance running is bad for you. It probably just is not the best option for most people. If done in excess, I believe that long distance running can cause a lot damages to the body. The human body was just not made for long distance running. If done every once in a while, I don’t see any harm. Just some small things to comtemplate when deciding what type of exercise you will want to perform.

@Diane – I’m doing charlene’s extreme dvd program and i find it quite interesting. I have a big stomach and her program does not target that as much as I would like. All the rest of my body is shaping up nicely but not my midsection. I’m been doing her dvd’s for almost 2 months now. I decided to quit her program at this moment and do scott colby’s six pack abs and do joel’s eating plan. Scott has a similar eating plan but he also recommends joel’s plan and joel’s plan has a cheat day. I can’t stick to an eating plan without getting bored and cheating along the way. This plan seems to suit me much better.

Hey Joel – I’m with ya! I do Crossfit 5-6 times a week, but the actual workout itself is anywhere from 10-20 minutes of super, super high intensity work. Yesterday our workout was 800m run + 30 burpees + 25 walking lunges + 20 ball walls + 15 chest to bar pull ups + 10 jumping ball slams… for time. I did it in 13:28 – the burpees really slowed me down. Felt like I was going to vomit afterwards (and I’m in good shape!), but just collapsed with everyone else instead! It sucks, but it’s wayyy better than spending an hour and a half on a treadmill or elliptical machine, plus I feel that post-workout buzz for the rest of the night! (and slept like a rock)

For me, doing more than one session of HIIT (in addition to two or three weighttraining sessions per week) has resulted in overtraining in the past.

HIIT produces the same response from the body as a weight-training session. For a hardgainer, it’s pretty much training-suicide to do weighttraining more than three times a week. If I suddenly add three HIIT-sessions, my body will interpret it the same way as if I added three weighttraining-sessions. The result for me will be overtraining, and that means zero, or even negative progress (as in fat gain+muscle loss)

I know all about the benefits of HIIT, but if I do more than one session of it, I will probably overtrain.

A person who can do three weighttraining-sessions + three (or more) HIIT-sessions per week without overtraining is no hardgainer

After so many years trying to lose weight and going on my treadmill 4 times a week 40minutes, I’m starting to really believe you. I always give up after a while because I never lose weight, I start again, and stop again. I do TaeKwondo twice a week and I believe that this is great. We do high intense kicking for 1 minute stop and go at it again. It could be punches, kicks or even sparring and it’s always bursts of intensity then stop for 30 seconds and back to it. This seems to give me much more energy then my 40 min. treadmill. I would really like to get ideas on great 15min intense workout to lose weight. Thanks

I like to do 20 minutes of sprints for a great cardio workout. It is intense and sometimes makes me feel like puking. I run all out about 50 yards, walk right back to my start point, and do again. After 20 minutes max, your whipped. Sometimes I go for a high paced run on the bike trails of my local park. Oddly I am usually the only one out there and it gives a refreshing change.
Thanks
Brandon

This is the direction training is going since 2001 but the change is slow. I remember when I first heard of interval training. Like a geek I started looking for research and there was like 4 studies. Now there’s like 80 published studies on interval training and sprint training.

This is what I’ve found about interval training and sprint training

Significant positive changes in the following:

Body Composition (fat loss and muscle mass)

Lower Body Strength and Core endurance

Speed

Total Body Power

VO2 Max (maximal oxygen consumption)

More EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) more calories burned hours after the workout

Also I get these additional results with my clients (age 15 to 54):

Increase self esteem (intervals are design to be achievable not torture, you get used to the discomfort over time)

Increase in believe in themselves because the results are faster (believe in a fitness lifestyle)

They learn how to train out of their comfort zone (increase intensity and athletism)

Increase daily energy and happiness

These are real world issues and very important aspects when you are trying to lose body fat.

Other trainers are stuck in the 80s and Science, training, nutrition and people have change. If anyone sees a trainer telling someone to do 45minutes or more of low steady state cardio for fat loss send them to this blog post to get educated.

Interval Training is not for everyone but anyone trying to do any of the above should do it.

Thanks for another great post Joel

Ricardo Irizarry MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

I completely and totally agree with you Joel. As an example of how high intensity interval training will get you ripped faster than slow go cardio, all you have to do is look at the difference in body types between sprinters and marathoners. Typically, the sprinters are ripped with very low body fat percentages. Sure, marathon runners have pretty low body fat levels but they don’t carry that lean, ripped look. Sprinters train with the HIIT type of workouts and marathoners love to hit the open road for long periods of time. I’d like it if you would suggest some workouts for the days between cardio days that would include weights. Thanks

I’ve recently started doing some (3-4) full-out sprints after a warm-up jog. Is this the type of high intensity that your refering to or should I aim at completing more at a slightly lower intesnsity?

Hi Joel,
I do believe that high intensity interval cardio is the way to go. But what about a good brisk daily walk of say 10kms, would this be regarded as a good cardio or low cardio workout, would this have an after burn effect? My dog loves going for a walk, he needs the exercise and so do I, so this keeps us both happy.
Thanks,
Brayan

I started high intensity interval training a few months ago and I finally see results; I have more energy to get through life again. Being out all day with the kids or doing a huge gardening/landscaping project is no big deal anymore. I could not even get through my workouts at first and now I’m still strong at the end. With results like this, I can be sure I’m on the right path. Plus, it is so much more fun and interesting to work out in this way.

@Jon –
Your burnout may be associated with your caloric intake. Also, what are your goals? Generally a “hardgainer” does not need to worry about fat loss, as they are usually skinny and trying to add on musculature. Joel was trying to state that high intensity interval training would most benefit those trying to lose fat. In your case, as a “hardgainer” and a high metabolism, you shouldn’t be too concerned with fat loss. Again, I don’t know anything specific about you, but if you care to share, maybe we all can help?

Yes, I hope tomorrow you will share some example workouts of interval training. I hear about it all the time but am not sure how to tackle the workout.

I totally agree with “A” above. I think the fitness industry’s attack on “slow cardio” is very gimmicky and frankly, I’m sick of hearing about it.

To me, slow cardio means “walking” and there are plenty of people who benefit from what many call “the original bodyweight exercise.”

MY GRANDPARENTS . . . were both German and brought the love of walking with them. Every night after dinner, off they’d go and they lived long happy lives in great health. In many European countries walking is a national past-time and you find walking trails everywhere. That’s slowly catching on in the US. So for the elderly or just anyone for whom fitness is not a huge priority, walking is terrific.

BODYBUILDERS . . . often walk to get in some cardio while preserving hard-gained mass.

REHABS . . . goes without saying that for some people walking or “slow cardio” is the only alternative.

OUT OF SHAPE PEOPLE/BEGINNERS . . . for some people, given their current level of fitness, walking is the ONLY alternative and IS very strenuous.

Is it truly inefficient? If you use the “Formula” (220-age x some percentage) then working at 50-70% of capacity burns 85% of calories from fat. Even if you’re working at 80% of capacity (which is a strenuous workout) you’re still getting 80% of calories used from fat. True . . . maybe you won’t burn as much as if you did high intensity intervals and pushed it up to a 90% level or more . . . but that is still a very efficient way to target fat stores.

I also have to ask . . . where is all this slow cardio? If by this we mean people who COULD go faster are deliberately choosing to go slower . . . then I rarely see anyone doing slow cardio.

I see very few people deliberately trying to stay in that 50-60% zone. Most people naturally push themselves and as they increase in fitness start to naturally work harder.

Even “back in the day” (1970s) when the jogging craze hit and we had many advocates of LSD . . . Long Slow Distance . . . most credible training programs included prescriptions to run sprints, hills or fartleks.

Finally, I want to address Joel’s comment: “45 minutes on the treadmill may burn a whopping 300 calories if you’re lucky.”

If you do 45 min and only burn 300 calories then you’re burning 6 ½ calories/min which means you’re walking so slow that for most people the heart rate won’t be near the 50-70% fat burning zone . . . or you’re a very small person.

So . . . I suspect this is an exaggeration . . . but, let’s say it isn’t. Let’s say a person actually spends 45 min and burns only 300 calories.

The person is probably small . . . let’s say a 120 lb female (which I know some of you ladies would argue is too big, but stay with me . . . :-)

The 120 lb female probably needs between 1200 to 1500 calories a day to maintain that weight. So a 300 calorie burn means a 20-25% cut in daily calories . . . add even a little reduction in food and that person is seriously under-eating for healthy weight loss.

(I base this on common prescriptions that generally, one should limit caloric reduction to no more than 20% of maintenance level.)

So my point is that depending on size, fitness and overall health, good old-fashioned slow cardio is still an excellent form of exercise. I generally agree with the points Joel made (it’s inefficient, can be boring, a lot of time, not the fastest way to cut fat, etc) . . . they’re all true.

I just think we should be a little more balanced in our perspective and not reject a perfectly good fat cutting strategy.

Joel,
I’m interested to see how the short duration, high intensity workout will fit with my training for a 1/2 marathon….if I could do the 1/2 marathon in short duration I’d be estatic.

Originally Posted By John Even if you�re working at 80% of capacity (which is a strenuous workout) you�re still getting 80% of calories used from fat.

Sorry . . . that should read . . . if you’re working at 80% of Max Heart Rate you’re getting 50% of calories from fat stores . . .

50% . . . not 80% like I said in the original

Sorry for any confusion

Absolutely agree wt u man!

hello, joel… i definetely think you are right about short burst exercises.. after a lot of research on the internet i ve found the answer to a tonified body and a healthy and normal way of exercising.. i reduced my time of exercising from 6-7 hours/week to 2-3 hour maximum and the results are beggining to show .. and the way i feel…i couldn t ever imagine that weight loss is about EATING as mush as u need and exercising so little.. and the best thing about short workouts is that they give a great energy and a wonderful feeling of well being… sorry for my spelling. i m roumanian

I go to Curves and burn an average of 500 calories in 25 min. I break a mild sweat using there resistence machines and the cardio spots in between machines. My heart rate is at the high end of my target for at least 20 minutes. Is this going to help me lose my 2 lbs per week or more or am I wasting my time? I have been doing this for a full 5 weeks now and have 40 lbs to lose.

I can’t resist a comment here…the key is to define the objective of the individual and their workout plan. When I first started my fitness quest, my objectives were weight loss, 6-pack abs, and overall general fitness. I didn’t think a 6-pack at 44 years old was possible. I followed Joel’s friend Mike Geary’s plans in his “Truth About 6-Pack Abs” faithfully – lo and behold, 8 months later I have lost 35lbs., have an awesome 6-pack, pretty nice muscular bulk, and have amazing energy levels compared to my pre-fitness program. THANKS MIKE!!!

So I’m now addicted to going to the gym, and maintaining my fitness – but I’m not fundamentally looking for weight loss or fat burning – I’m done! Now I’m in maintenance mode.

Over the 8 months, I have done a number of things to mix up my workouts to keep them interesting. One of the things I stumbled across was running – slow-go cardio. I stumbled into it because friends and I decided we would enter a local 5K race to raise money for cancer. Not otherwise having enjoyed running in the past, I started to do some minimal training so that when race day arrived, I wouldn’t be totally unprepared. I had read all the negative comments about slow-go cardio but I though heck, it’s only 5K – it can be run in less than 30 minutes, and it was for a good cause. As I was training, I found I was enjoying it!!! I would either put my iPod on, and have a great time listening to my favourite tunes, or run with friends which had many social benefits.

Here I am, 8 months later on the verge of running my first half-marathon! I still go to the gym to do regular resistance training, but I have fallen in love with the slow-go cardio. Here’s why… As mentioned above – I don’t need to focus on burning calories, increased metabolic rates or general fat loss – I’m already there and happy with my results. The time factor has turned out to be a significant stress reliever for my day-to-day job. I find that the time I spend running gives me an opportunity to be alone and get some real clear thinking time…which has been fantastic in managing work stress…I seriously miss if I can’t get a good long run in. Lastly, it’s not so boring…again with an iPod or running with friends, I’m never “dreading” the upcoming run. Throw in extremely positive support group in the running world that keeps you going and the satisfaction of achievement, when you hit major milestones – again, all positive effects. I don’t think I will ever run a marathon – but I can appreciate the desire and the associated training/work it takes to do so.

So I guess my conclusion is…if your goals are solely for maximum caloric burn, increased metabolic rates and maximum fat burning…then yes I agree with Joel and his ideas for achieving that the quickest way possible. But, different people are in different stages of fitness and will therefore have differing objectives, anbd slow-go cardio is not necessarily a bad thing.

Joel: What are your thoughts on longer high intensity cardio?

When I had a gym membership, once a week I did a high intensity cardio program on the cross trainer (with pumping arms ) where I went from intense to moderately high intervals for a total of 45 minutes and burning 670 calories (assuming the machine was correct). Although this wiped me out, I did about 30 minutes of weights afterwards and felt good I pushed myself afterwards. Were these “bad” things to do?

For various reasons, I don’t do that anymore and elect to begin my workouts with about 20 minutes of full body resistance training followed by 15-20 minutes of proper interval training (high/low rather than high/moderately high). The shorter time workouts are better for me and also give me better results. Workout smarter not harder is my motto.

What about periodization? I am an aged triathlete. (58 this year.) One of the earlier comments in this forum referred to building you aerobic base for better performance using LSD training (Long, slow, distance) slow meaning keeping your heart rate below 150 for me (or less than 60% of your max heart rate.). The theory being you become a better butter burner teaching your muscles to burn fat as a primary fuel which produces less lactic acid and waste products than carbohydrates. Believe me by the end of a tri my back is usually failing and I do like that bent over old guy. But there are more issues involved with that.

Hi Joel,
I hear about this from everyone, and I agree with it. But I have a statement/question. I am training for an olympic distance triathlon just because I like to see what my body can do (and I happen to enjoy all three components). I train 5-6 days a week. I try to get in one weight session a week too (I’d like more, but there isn’t time). Even when I train longer distances (Saturday I did a 7 mile run), I try to mix the intensity (2 minutes at 3-5, 1 minute at 7-8). Even though I’m sure the 7-8’s are slower at the end, this has cut down on my time considerably, even at longer distances. My question is nutritional. I just started your Cheat your Way Thin program. With as much training as I am doing, should I still be doing a full week of no carbs besides veggies? Thanks for your help.