Smart Cardio for Weight Loss

There is no feeling quite like crossing a finish line. This year I've crossed three and each time received an emotional and motivational paycheck to keep traveling this journey towards great health.

There is also no feeling quite like maintaining your weight for 5 weeks despite running 3 miles a day and keeping nutrition in check. This happened to me from around the beginning of April to the middle of May. It also happened to coincide with the same time frame of my three races or in other words during the time I was running my guts out.

I was not then and am not now striving to be healthy for a number on the scale. When you have an unhealthy weight and amount of fat for your body, however, it is frustrating to be doing "everything right" and not see any body fat make its exit.

Dreadmill running - UGH!

So what's the deal? I always thought cardio exercise was the key to weight loss. It also seemed logical to me that the more of it I did the greater the results I would see.

Rather than give up I went to the place of answers: our public library. I checked out 3 books about running and one book that simply looked interesting to me called The Abs Diet.

As I read through the running books one thing stuck out to me. Each book had a chapter about weight loss and it was the shortest chapter in the book. The gist of what I read was that running is a great way to get into shape and consistency is the key. If your goal however is simply weight loss rather than training your body to run a bajillion miles then you're better off with Interval Training rather than Endurance Running(aka long distance training).

HUH!?!? What happened to the slow and steady concept? So I did some more research and found the same thing over and over again. Exercise performed at a steady pace for a long period of time is LESS effective for fat burning than exercise performed implementing periods of high intensity with periods of rest. Here is one example from SELF fitness magazine:

"Women who spent 20 minutes mixing sprints with jogging lost three times the fat off their legs and butt in 15 weeks as those who jogged steadily for 40 minutes, a study from the University of New South Wales in Sydney finds. Intervals may also spark fat-metabolizing hormones."

So I gave up the endurance running all together(though I plan to return to it once I've leaned up my belly). I exchanged my 45 minute runs for 20 minutes of interval sprints. I didn't follow any exact formula but just mixed up a combination of jogging, running, and sprinting for one mile. Then a combination of walking, jogging, running, and sprinting for a mile. And if I had time I'd do another mile of mixing it up.

The first time I tried this I liked it...a lot. It made it fun! I felt a little like a for real athlete(so what if my sprint is another man's jog). I was getting my heart rate up, recovering, heart rate up, recovering, etc. This made for an awesome workout that made me feel alive! Much better than the trudge through mud feeling of plugging through 3 miles at a constant rate of speed.

Oh and it worked. It helped me crash through that plateau I'd been sitting at for 5 weeks. It WILL work for you too and the concept of interval training can be applied to ANY type of workout. Let me share from The Abs Diet:

I know I can run my hardest for 30 - 60 seconds
when I know I'll be getting immediate rest
and recovery

"They say that slow and steady wins the race. But the cardiovascular key to fat burning is using interval workouts -- workouts that alternate high-intensity levels with lower-intensity effort...that formula keeps your body burning calories long after you've stopped working out...You can use interval workouts any way you want -- running, cycling, swimming, on elliptical trainers, even walking if you alternate a speed walk and slow walk. You can also vary the intensity levels in different combinations...You'll derive benefits in as little as a 20-minute interval workout. As you build up endurance and strength, you can add time to your workout."

Still not sure how to implement this into your workout?? Here's a basic example you could follow to get started:

     3-5 minutes of warmup (low intensity gradually increasing)

     1 minute of moderate or high intensity activity followed by 1 minute of low intensity repeated at least 6 or more times

     3-5 minutes cooldown (low intensity gradually decreasing)

I know many of you make exercise a priority in your life. If you're already putting the time in and have some unhealthy body fat that won't budge I challenge you to give this a go. I call this SMART CARDIO! And you can put in less time with greater results. I know you won't be disappointed!!

I'd love to hear from you all! What are some creative ways you work intervals into your cardio exercise???