5 Reasons “Slow-go” Cardio Sucks

@Roberta –
Hey Roberta:

I’m no expert and I’ll be curious to see what Joel says, but…it is your diet not your exercise. You have to EAT to fuel working out. I have the same problem. If I eat too little I actually gain weight. It is that whole starvation mode thing Joel talks about. You won’t have to add much maybe 100-100 calories and the weight should fall off. Do a quick check on your calorie intake and make sure it is where it should be. Good Luck!

Originally Posted By Dana@Roberta –
Hey Roberta:

I’m no expert and I’ll be curious to see what Joel says, but…it is your diet not your exercise. You have to EAT to fuel working out. I have the same problem. If I eat too little I actually gain weight. It is that whole starvation mode thing Joel talks about. You won’t have to add much maybe 100-100 calories and the weight should fall off. Do a quick check on your calorie intake and make sure it is where it should be. Good Luck!

The “starvation mode” is actually a myth. Look up Brad Pilon and his book Eat Stop Eat as he explains it very well. :)

@Michael – Not eating for 24 hours does not sound fun to me at all. I didn’t read the book, just the outline of it, but I don’t need to read anymore after seeing I can’t eat for 24 hours. That doesn’t make sense, especially if you love to exercise and need to have energy. I’m sure it will work, but it sounds too crazy. All in all, don’t over eat, eat whole natural foods, exercise for your heart and be Healthy, and happy!!! That is my motto!!!

Originally Posted By Dana@Michael – Not eating for 24 hours does not sound fun to me at all. I didn’t read the book, just the outline of it, but I don’t need to read anymore after seeing I can’t eat for 24 hours. That doesn’t make sense, especially if you love to exercise and need to have energy. I’m sure it will work, but it sounds too crazy. All in all, don’t over eat, eat whole natural foods, exercise for your heart and be Healthy, and happy!!! That is my motto!!!

That’s ok, I’m not asking anyone to actually do it (although I do follow Brads program and it is actually a lot easier than you would think). I too thought it was crazy when I first heard about it, but as I have said, Brad explains it very well and once you have read the book and heard the audio files you would realise that it actually makes A LOT more sense then some of the crap so called “fitness experts” are giving out (Note: this is no way meant as disrespect to Joel or anyone else, just giving the facts).
My main aim from my post was just to let you know that the so called “starvation mode” is really a myth, but please don’t ask me to go into it too specifically as Brad is able to explain it far better then I ever could! Cheers. :)

Hi Joel,
i am a total high intensity convert since the last one year. i am 34yrs, mother to a 5yr old. earlier i used to run for 45-60mins on the treadmill, was not over weight but not happy with the results. My husband told me about short burst high intensity training and in a matter of 3-4 months i went from 53kgs to 48kgs. yes, and felt mighty good about it. My only problem is my lower tummy. i feel i need to lose 2-3inches more to get it where i want it but am finding it extremely difficult to do so. why? and what more can i add to my workout/diet.
regards
anusha

Hey joel,
Love your website. your stuff always stays with me all the time..

I m college student. And i have my vacs going on now.. i wanna reduce as much weight as I can.. but i hate to go to gym and do lift weights. I would prefer to do more body weight based workout. Hence I would like to know if there is any body weight based resistance cardio?

Thanks

I have 15 pounds to loose …how can I do this in the shortest amount possible

Reasons 1-3 paint a pretty depressing picture. For myself – I’ve had success with stuff like jumping rope (here is my jump rope workout), basketball (which is also FUN and not BORING like cardio) and interval running (pretty close to what you described here. in the sprint workout

I also like running 1-4 laps around a track (400m) as fast as possible.

Good stuff,

Yavor

Hey Joel’
I train in strength and powerlifting, so weights are my main training tool. High intensity, I find, is just about unavoidable with weight training if you stick to proper form and technique. I am wondering how I will go on the cheat diet, needing as many carbs as I do, but I shall see how I go.
I reckon your comments are spot on, higher intensity promotes elevated metabolism for longer, as I certainly find this with intense weight training.
Love the diet, Steve

Being a triathlete for over 20 years, and having completed several Ironman triathlons, cardio and lots of it is necessary. I do agree that long easy cardio does not burn (enough) fat and intervals (HIIT) and tempo training at higher steady intensities burn off the calories quicker. Those of us training for 1/2 or full marathons or triathlons still need to do a lot of cardio to accomplish the feat comfortably. Besides that, I love to run in the different cities I visit when I travel. A 2 hour easy run/walk through Athens and Berlin enabled me to get a lay of the land, so I knew how to get around.
If you only have a short time to train, then HIIT is the way to burn off the calories and fat, but making health and fitness a life choice will help to make you a fit and healthy person who can enjoy their later years a lot easier!

I always watched my father lift and do his cardio. I learned way back then, without asking, that slow is not the way to go. I have always made my workouts HIT and I have gotten great results.

Hi Joel,

I discovered HIIT about a year ago and wish I’d discovered it earlier!! I do it slightly different right now but I’m always looking at ways to refine or change it.
I do one minute intervals between my sets of weights. I sprint for 6 seconds and rest for 9 seconds and then repeat until a minute is up…so basically you get 24 seconds of sprinting within a minute with 36 seconds rest. I find having shorter sprints makes you really go hard and you really do see and feel the results.

started doing intensive cardio 4 6 mins after a wieght workout about 10 weeks ago body fatdropped from 23% to 14.8 ged in

@dave –

Hi Joel,

In March 2008, I was diagnosed with having had a heart attack, and an Angiogram (Heart Catheter) revealed I had two constrictions in one Artery (top right), and a blockage in another (lower left). The recommendation was for CABG Surgery.

Well I dont want to risk such Surgery unless it becomes absolutely necessary.

I am on medication prescribed by my Cardiologist (the one who performed my angiogram). I am also trying the megadose of ‘vitamin C’ as advocated by Linus Pauling and will also look to taking ‘lysine’ as well.

I was down to 109Kg by the beginning of September 2009. The death of an American friend who was more overweight and unfit, prompted me to get more stringent on the diet and take up exercise.

I now work out at ‘Fitness First’ Gym, and go for 3 x Cardio fitness (10 min on each) and weight training and stretching. I am wearing a ‘Polar’ Heart Rate Monitor and this works to most of the Gym Equipment.

I generally have spent 1 hour of work out, 3 times a week, and receorded over 600Kcal at each.

I am down to 101Kg now, but weight loss has slowed rather this last few weeks. This is why I signed up for “Cheat My Way Thin’ since this stuff about Leptin levels stopping the fat burn seem to make sense and it one day a week of ‘cheating’ or taking a holiday from the diet regime, help[s restore Leptin levels back to where it was after the first week, and gives the weight loss I was seeing then, this will help me reach 82Kg before my 55th Birthday in April 2010.

This gives me a BMI = 37.55 (obese)

OK so the medical charts say for someone who is 5′ 4.5″ (164cm)
according to ‘Hamwi formula’, my ideal weight is 133.4 pounds or 60.51 Kg

That is ridiculous, since my chest measurement is 47” (120cm), and can now clearly feel and see my ribs!

This Calculator seems more realistic:-

“Almost all “ideal body weight” websites use obsolete formulas or tables created in 1979 or earlier. ”

http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm

Peoples Choice Ideal Weight: 181 lbs (82Kg) – much more realistic?

Medical Recommendation: 116 – 153 lbs

Metropolitan Life tables: 141 – 152 lbs

If I reach 82Kg before April next year, with the help of ‘Cheat Your Way Thin’, then I will be satisfied and happy with that.

Back in 1987, when I was swimming 40min non stop, 3 times a week, I was 96Kg, and feeling in lot better shape than I do now.
So as 82Kg is 14Kg less than that, or same again weight loss, from what I weighed when I had my heart attack. This is a good ‘target’ to aim for I believe, rather than those other, unrealistic, Medical Opinion figures.

Well let me begin with I am a beginner at this work out stuff. I am 44 and never did any significant exercise or workouts in my life except what little bit of stuff we did in school P.E. classes. I neverf even played sports os I didn’t get a workout that way either. I have started to try and work out and do things recently and that is when I found your website. I don’t know what you mean between low intensity cardio and high intensity cardio. I have trouble walking too far at one time and I do an Air Incumbant Bike every day for about 15 – 20 minutes. I read a lot about people on this site doing jogging and running. When I was younger a doctor told me that running and jogging was bad because it was hard on the internal organs and not a good health choice for activities. So just how do I get intensive cardio work out?

Hi Joel…………I’m a convert. Can’t stand steady state cardio anymore! I do weights 3xweek and interval training (on tready or bike) 3xweek. So, together with CYWT…………the fat should melt off me eh?

So glad you put this post up. I dieted to compete in figure this yr. At my leanest I was doing high intensity interval training. My trainer then changed what i was doing to an hr of fast incline walking. I then stopped seeing results, I thought I was going mad and people thought I was cheating with my diet!! Totally sucked!! When I tell other bodybuilders about it they cant believe that i wasnt seeing results with an hr of walking every morning. So this season coming I’ll defintly stick to my HIIT :)

I do HIIT 3 or 4 times a week. I use various exercise DVDs and have also made up my own exercise regimen from all of these as well. I have lost two pant sizes and 4% body fat. Still working on going down one more pant size. Each one of us knows our own body and has to find the right combination that works for them. However, Joel, it would be helpful if you gave us some exercise workouts that you personally use and have found effective – whether you do this in a text format or by video or both. Thanks and keep up the good work! We are all enjoying your emails and blog every day.

Hi, you say anyone can do high intensity work out, but someone 40lbs over weight and someone who is unfit and more than 60lbs over weight is very different. Not only will exercise be difficult, high intensity will be even harder. Because your heart will definitely suffer, you definitely won’t be able to do as much. What are your suggestions?

Yours in lean success
Kehinde

Hey Joel,
I am with you on “Slow-go” cardio sucks. Personally, I can’t stand wasting time on doing something monotonous. I rather be doing a hard workout and keep it short. I seen many research that shows the benefits of short-sprints workout. Being doing the short-sprints and found them better than slow steady running. Save me time! Honestly, I don’t want to be a slave to workout.

Hi Joel, I use the treadmill, but I do 20 minute sessions as follows: 1 minute fast walk, 1 minute sprint, and so on. It’s the high interval intensity training that I learnt from Rob Poulos’s book. That’s the kind of exercise you’re advising too then, yes?! Thanks, Laura

Great to hear. This myth needs to be busted wide open.. Runner keep running meanwhile I will be loosing fat, living and looking better that you skinny greyhounds.

Grant

hey joel ,
first i wanna say that i really like ur way in training and enjoy reading ur articles so much .. i like the way u think and explain things ..
i’ve started using HIIT for 2 weeks an i really feel more toning and tightening up but when i jump n the scale i see i didn’t lose weight but some times i found i ‘ve gained 1 Ib but i see in my cloth that it’s become more loose !! .. i know that muscle weighs more than fat but i still want to lose little and they are not alot but when exercise and see them increase i feel really disappointed even when i use the tape and i found it lost 1 or 2 inches

is that is normal ??? should i continue or what ??
i’d like to know ur opinion and advice

Thanks

Hello Joel, I have started your programme and with go slow exercise all I can do with a bad back is exercises to keep my upper body as strong as possible, gardening as much as I can and swimming exercises. Okay if that takes a little longer to lose fat well so be it. Kind regards, Dorothy