No results? It might be that your cardio training sucks

                Are you one of those people who spend countless hours on a treadmill, bike, or elliptical and is completely frustrated by a lack of change in your body: an inability to lose weight, change sizes, or otherwise fail to see improvements when you look in the mirror?  Do you wonder why other people seem to get into shape or lose weight faster than you?  Would you like to know how I, as an obese teenager, lost one hundred pounds and have kept it off for the last fourteen years?  I can tell you that I, and probably no one who looks how you wish to look, or has lived a life time at a healthy body weight, accomplished it in the cardio section of your local fitness club.  After seven years working in the fitness industry, and fourteen years being in and out of gyms as both a member and employee, I have come to the conclusion that the floor space is occupied cardio machines is generally a waste of time for the average gym-goer.

                Here is a little secret that most gym owners may not understand and equipment manufacturers do not want you to know: those cardio machines are not as effective as the manufacturers claim to be.  The reason is simple: these machines do not activate and recruit the use of muscle tissue nearly as well as performing the same activity outside.  Take the treadmill as an example: the belt moves backward while your foot comes forward with each walking step or running stride.  Now, if a person walks or runs outside, every foot strike results in tension being created as the muscle of the calves, hamstrings, and glutes as these muscles fire to propel the body forward.  The foot comes off the ground, and upon the impact of the next step, the quadriceps fire to slow the body’s momentum enough that you do not go falling head over heels.  This is what happens when the body is propelled along the solid ground. 

The problem with doing this on a treadmill is the backward motion of the belt.  This backward motion of the belt drastically reduces the use of the hamstrings and glutes from creating movement.  By the way, the glute muscles are the most powerful muscles in the human body.  The stronger a person's glute muscles are, the fitter and faster that person is.  When it comes to health and maximizing fitness, you should like big butts and that is no lie.  Alright, back to the lesson in biomechanics: essentially, a treadmill cuts the muscle involvement in walking or running almost in half.  Half of the muscle recruitment translates into half the work performed by the body so roughly half the calories are burned during time spent on a treadmill as opposed to the same activity performed outside.  Wait, what? 

Pay attention here: for the reasons I just explained, the calorie count on cardio machines is off.   Using a cardio machine only burns about half the calories the little computer tells.  Why is that?  The computers in cardio machines create an estimation of the number of calories burned based upon mathematical equations.  The problem is those formulas are based on energy expenditure for performing the activity outside, not on the cardio equipment.  So, with less muscle involvement, activities performed on cardio equipment are less intense than the same activities performed outside.  Lower intensity means lower number of calories burned resulting is far slower, if any, progression towards a healthier, fitter body.  I have used the treadmill as an example but the same principles apply to almost every piece of cardio equipment.  There are a few ways to overcome this problem.

Obviously, the best option is to take cardio activities like walking, running, and biking outside.  Now, if you do not like that idea or if the weather will not cooperate there are some simple solutions to improve the quality of those cardio workouts.

1.       Use the stair climber.  It is the only piece of cardio equipment that accurately mimics a real life activity.  For this reason is it the most challenging piece of cardio equipment in the gym. Or you can save time at the gym by taking the stairs instead of the elevators.

2.       Put the treadmill on an incline.  An inclined treadmill will increase the use of the hamstrings and glutes, making it more like walking or running outside.  The higher the incline the better.  Use a minimum of a 5% incline to create a level of muscle activation similar to walking or running outside.

3.       Increase the resistance on the bike or elliptical.  Most people simply do not push themselves hard enough on these pieces.  Increase the resistance to the point where you can feel the muscles contracting throughout every stride.  If you can’t feel the muscles contracting then you are moving more from momentum than actual physical work.

4.       Do not stay at the same boring pace for an extended period of time.  I cannot imagine anything more boring in the gym than spending an eternity strolling on the treadmill.  If the activity is not challenging or seems boring to your brain it is boring your muscles too.  Bored muscles are not receiving stimulation and do not lose weight, become stronger or leaner.

If cardio is your exercise mode of choice, get intense with it or it will not change you.  I do a sprint workout once a week for about twenty-five minutes.  This is one of two conditioning workouts that I do each week.  This sprint workout is the only time I ever get on a cardio piece.  During those twenty-five minutes I destroy more body fat than anyone who comes in and spends an hour walking on a treadmill five or six days per week.  Intensity, not duration is the key to losing body fat.  This is my sprint program, if you can’t do it at the same incline or same speed, build up to it.  Trust me; you will get faster results doing a workout like this.

Exercise	Incline	Speed	Duration	Break	Repetitions
Walk	8%	4.0 MPH	2 minutes	None	1
Sprint	12%	9.0 MPH	15 seconds	15 seconds	10
Walk	4%	3.0 MPH	3 minutes	None	1
Sprint	10%	10.0 MPH	20 seconds	40 seconds	5
Sprint	10%	10.5 MPH	20 seconds	40 seconds	5
Sprint	10%	11.0 MPH	20 seconds	40 seconds	5
Walk	4%	2.5 MPH	3 minutes	None	1

The second conditioning workout I do is a body weight exercise based program.  Typically, I follow a Tabata protocol with this workout.  Tabata protocol involves performing an exercise for twenty seconds, taking a ten second break, then repeating for twenty seconds.  This continues until a total of eight rounds are completed.  This process is completed in a single four minute time period.  This four minute period is referred to a “Tabata.”  With a multiple Tabata workout it is common to take a one minute break between each Tabata.

Tabatas are a great way to add conditioning to the end of a strength training session or multiple Tabatas may be put together for a conditioning workout, like the one below.  I did this workout Friday morning before heading into the Labor Day weekend.  It is a total of six tabatas: a 30 minute workout.

Tabata 1:

·         Cable Presses-20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Jump Rope- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Complete Four times

·         One minute Rest

Tabata 2:

·         Plank- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Battle Ropes- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Complete Four times

·         One minute Rest

Tabata 3:

·         Battle Ropes- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Mountain Climbers-20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Complete Four times

·         One Minute Rest

Tabatas 4-6:

·         Battle Ropes- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Jump Rope- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Complete four times

·         One Minute Rest

Take your conditioning and fat burning to the next level with these workouts.  Remember, when it comes to losing body fat and making the body leaner; intensity is always more important than duration.  This is truer more than ever when it comes to cardio training.

Women and Strength Training

Within the culture of fitness, a terrible myth has been circulated.  It jeopardizes the potential for a woman to truly experience and enjoy everything that her body is capable of doing.  While it is slowly being defeated among the female college, professional, and Olympic athletes; this myth still runs rampant among the general population.  Every day, thousands of women walk through the doors of a local fitness club or head outdoors in pursuit of a healthier body.  Yet most remain, at best, uninformed, and at worst, incorrectly educated into avoiding a true body-reshaping activity: heavy strength training.  I believe that there are three primary reasons for this:

1.       Incredibly poor representation in the media of how weightlifting will change the physical appearance of a woman’s body.

2.       A cultural misperception that a physically strong woman cannot be both strong and beautiful.

3.       A lack of proper education and instruction that dispels the first two reasons.

Let’s dive a little deeper into those.  Over that past thirty five years or so, mainstream media, in particular body building magazines, have typically shown women who are so muscular that they look manlier than most men.  These publications feature women who professionally compete as bodybuilders in national and international competitions.  For these women, lifting weights is their full time job.  Many, but not all, of these women use anabolic steroids as part of their training.  It is because the average person gets their information from these magazines that the idea that a woman will build massive muscle size and look bulky like a man has become a false truth.  And so, reason number two came into existence: a woman who strength trains will end up looking like a man, and, therefore, lose her beauty as a woman.  This is not true, and, unfortunately, many women have bought into this lie because of reason number three.

If most women avoid heavy weightlifting for fear of developing a masculine looking body they do so without understanding a fundamental difference between the male and female body.  This difference makes it impossible for a woman to naturally develop a man’s muscle size.   There is a simple explanation for why men can increase muscle size and strength while a woman can become incredibly strong without developing the same muscle size.  The answer to this lies in the difference in testosterone levels between men and women.  Yes, women have some testosterone, but the levels are seven to eight times lower than in men.  A research study published in 2010 in the Journal for Exercise and Sport Sciences found that the higher levels of estrogen produced in women participating in heavy strength training contributed to significant improvements in muscle strength, similar to what a man could expect with the same training, but not muscle size.  Women simply cannot increase the overall size of their muscles to the extent that a man because of naturally lower levels of testosterone.

Developing incredible physical strength while remaining distinctly feminine and beautiful is not only possible; it is a reality for any woman willing to take on the challenge.  Women whom take on this challenge will discover that physical strength enhances feminine beauty.

the majority of women whom strength-train do so with incredibly light weights and perform high numbers of repetitions.  The flaw with this type of training is that it places limits of physiology of the muscles by only training one type of muscle fiber. 

There are two primary types of muscle fiber within the human body: slow-twitch and fast-twitch.  These are also referred to as Type I and Type II muscle fibers.  Each type of muscle fiber responds to a different type of training.  To maximize fitness and improve body composition a comprehension training program must emphasize training that incorporates the use of all muscle fibers at some point of the program.

Slow-twitch, or Type I, muscle fibers produce low amounts of force during contraction, a slow contraction speed, and have a  high aerobic capacity, which delays fatigue.  These fibers are best suited for long duration, cardiovascular based exercise.  The longer a particular activity lasts the more these muscle fibers are utilized and trained. The muscles receive energy from the aerobic oxidation system, one of three different energy systems within the body.  This is important to understand because the aerobic oxidation system is the slowest system for delivering energy to the muscle cells.  These muscle fibers play the dominant role in any cardiovascular-based exercise, like running or biking that lasts longer than about two minutes.  When lifting weights this system is utilized any time the weight is light enough that more than 12-15 repetitions can be completed within a single set.  This is where the majority of women tend to spend their time when weight training.  Keep this thought in mind: Type I muscle fibers typically only comprise 45-50% of the total muscle fibers within the human body.  An example of a highly trained individual who is predominantly Type I fibers would be an elite marathon runner.

Fast twitch, or type II, fibers are more complex.  There are two subtypes of these fibers: fast twitch A and Fast Twitch B.  In general, fast twitch fiber are capable of great force production, faster contractions, and power outputs than Type I Fibers.  These are the fibers that are capable of big explosive, energetic bursts of strength and speed.  Fast twitch B fibers operate using the ATP-Cr energy system which provides the initial burst of energy for high intensity physical activity.  Activities like power lifting, sprinting, plyometric training are fuelled primarily by this system and rely on the fast twitch B fibers.  Targeting these muscle fibers when weight training requires using heavy enough weight that about 1-6 repetitions are all that can be completed in a set of any given exercise.  Typically these fibers are only engaged in high intensity activity lasting less than twenty seconds. 

Fast twitch A fibers are slightly more inclined towards aerobic capacity than Fast twitch B but both are less so than Type I fibers.  The fast twitch A fibers work using anaerobic glycolysis as an energy system.  This is the intermediate energy system that supports activity lasting from approximately twenty seconds to two minutes.   When weightlifting these muscle fibers tend to be recruited using moderate weights in which 7-12 repetitions may be completed.  The combination of Type II A and B fibers make up approximately half of the total muscle fibers within the body.

So what does this mean from a training standpoint?  It means that by training with light weights for a high number of repetitions (more than 12 per set), or, just performing long duration low intensity cardio, or, a combination of the two, trains only 45-50% of the body.

In other words, by neglecting the fast twitch fibers, a woman leaves 50% of her body’s potential untapped!

Ladies, if you are wondering why it is so difficult to change your body into the lean machine you want, the answer is here: CHANGE THE WAY YOU TRAIN!  Other than improving the quality of your nutritional program nothing will change your body faster than specifically targeting the half of your body that your current program is not touching.  I am not sure who said this, but it is one of the most accurate comments I have heard come out of the fitness community:

The only people who think women should not lift heavy weights are women who fear effort and men who fear strong women.

              

           Do not live your life, and especially, do not determine your health by someone else’s misconceptions.  Embrace the challenge of difficult exercises with heavy weight: Power Cleans, Hang Cleans, Front Squats, Back Squats, and Deadlifts.  Get under the bar and get results!