The path to a leaner body isn't a long, slow march -- or bike or stair-climb, for that matter.
"People stick with (slow cardio)
because they're told it's the 'fat-burning zone'," says Shawn Arent,
associate professor of exercise science at Rutgers University. But what
that doesn't tell you, he says, is that while cardio burns more fat as a
percentage of total calories burned, it burns far fewer calories than
more intense exercise, meaning you burn less fat overall.
"Slow cardio burns very few calories,"
says certified strength and conditioning specialist Craig Ballantyne,
owner of TurbulenceTraining.com and author of the book "Turbulence
Training." And unlike other forms of exercise, which keep burning
calories after your workout, inefficient cardio sessions stop chipping
away at fat as soon as you step off the machine.
The solution: Do a mix of strength training and interval cardio for efficient burning during your workout and after.
"The best thing to do is metabolic
resistance training, where you do supersets and circuits of intense,
total-body exercises, with incomplete recovery so you get a lot of work
done in a short amount of time," Ballantyne says. In workouts such as
these, you move to the next exercise while you're still somewhat
breathless from the previous one, mixing cardio work into a strength
workout that builds muscle -- muscle that feeds on calories and fat to
grow even after the workout ends.
For a similar effect on a cardio
machine, Arent says, alternate short bursts of intense cardio effort
with slower intervals of recovery time. You'll burn at a higher rate
during the intense periods, and will continue to burn at that rate as
your body recovers -- in the same way that your heart keeps racing while
you're bent over after a sprint.
To perform a simple cardio interval
workout, warm up for five minutes using the cardio method of your
choice. Then perform 30 seconds of intense work -- about an eight out of
10 effort. After 30 seconds, perform a slower, recovery period at four
out of 10 for 30 to 45 seconds. Continue alternating between these
intervals for about 20 minutes. Over time, try to make your intense
intervals more intense, and perform more rounds.
Shedding fat is tricky enough, but many dieters only have a vague idea of how much they're eating.
"Too many people lie to themselves
about how compliant they are with their nutrition," Ballantyne says.
They're good most of the day, she says, but there's a handful of this
snack that's off-plan, or a bite of chocolate that's non compliant. These
bites are forgotten because nothing's recorded. "Then they struggle and
can't figure out why they can't overcome a plateau."
The same problem arises in the gym, Arent says."You wouldn't set off driving to
California without a map. You'd get lost," he says. But many gym-goers
walk in without a plan, doing whatever tickles their fancy -- and not
tracking how their session progresses.
The solution: Keep a food journal and a workout journal, and follow a specific workout plan.
When you go to the gym, "have a game
plan, period," Tumminello says. "Whether it's certain body parts you're
going to work or a circuit or something, have some sort of plan you can
go in and execute instead of guessing."
When you're doing the workout, track
how much you've done so you can progress -- increasing reps, weights
and time so you'll actually build muscle and improve. And do the same
with your eating.
"Research shows that people who use a
food journal get better results than those who don't," Ballantyne says.
You'll be able to identify the times you cheat so you can avoid
temptation. For bonus points, take photos of everything you eat and post
them online.
"Create a blog or journal on a weight
loss forum and post your meals there," she says. "You'll be less tempted
to cheat when it means lying to the world."
If you did your workout, you can have the large fries, right? Not if fat loss is your goal, Arent says.
"That's true if you're looking at
weight maintenance," he says. But if you're trying to lose weight or
fat, "eating extra cancels out the effect [of the workout]."
The solution: Try to make a dent in your calories with both diet and exercise.Losing a pound requires cutting 3,500
calories from your diet or burning the same amount. By reducing your
calories by 500 each day, you'll lose a pound each week.
"You can figure out how to make that
dent in your energy intake between exercise and diet," Arent says. Leave
a few bites of food on your plate at each meal to reduce your intake by
250 calories and do 250 calories of exercise -- the equivalent of a
2.5-mile run. And don't overdo it when the workout's done.
"There's some evidence that people are
hungrier after they work out, he says. "Does this negate the effects of
exercise? Only if you let it."
"If you're not eating after your workout,
it's harder to build lean muscle that helps you burn fat," Arent says.
Exercise breaks down muscle and uses up its fuel; if you don't refuel
your body soon after, it breaks down other muscle fibers to refill the
tank, undoing some of the workout benefits.
The solution: Eat a mix of protein and simple sugar after your workout.The best time to consume simple sugars
-- like those found in Kool-Aid and fruit, and opposed to complex
carbohydrates -- is right after you've worked out, Arent says. Your
muscles have used up their stored carbohydrate energy and can quickly
use this simple sugar to refuel.
Protein will help your muscles grow,
which will lead to further fat-burning. This mixture will also help your
body recover from the workout faster, Arent says, so you'll be less
sore and can work out more frequently, increasing your results.
