"Performance Based" Cardio to Blast Through Fat Loss Sticking Points

Hi Rusty,

great post on how to "amp" up your cardio traing.The most efficient cardio in terms of results on my physique are the cardio sessions when i was inefficient at doing them if that makes sense.You see your body has to work harder at doing something its not very good at.Hence better intensity, better fat burn,better fitness,better results.
Keep up the great work Rusty.
Bye for now,
G.

I know exactly what you mean by how easy it is to stop doing the cardio workout. My brains eventually just ends up saying "Okay, you need to stop now". But if you keep going, that's when it's ideal at losing body fat, and getting that HGH level up.

G,

Your comment completely makes sense. Good call. If you could measure effort on a scale of 1 to 10…someone new to cardio would be operating closer to a level of 10, even if they are walking or jogging much slower than a more experienced person. That is why beginners often lose a lot of weight at the beginning.

What eventually happens is that they to gain experience and the same effort that was a 10 in the beginning is now closer to a 5 or 6…that is where the sticking point often occurs. In order to begin losing weight again, they have to increase their efforts and try to get their effort level close to a 10 again. It is tough to force yourself to do this, but that is also where you begin to improve again.

Jonneh,

The way I look at it is that you just need to pay the price if you want to get in great shape. Your mind will play tricks on you. I always try to rationalize that…I'll do more cardio next time…or my body needs to rest, etc. It takes willpower to ignore those thoughts and keep pushing on.

This is why I believe exercising builds mental toughness and confidence. It feels good to keep pushing, when you know that 9 out of 10 people would quit, given the same set of circumstances.

Yep, exactly. Though sometimes you can tell when you really have to say enough is enough, so that you don't over-do it. Overdoing it hurts…badly. Haha!

Glad to see some more advocates for HIIT style cardio out there. I see many people plateau in fat loss very quickly because they don't realize that the body adapts to cardio. 30minutes on the treadmill is great, for now, but your body gradually adjusts and 30minutes on the treadmill becomes progressively easier and consequently less affective, less calories will be burned with the same amount of work.

To draw a parallel to free weights. I can go and use a 50lb Dumbbell for one exercise for 8 reps one day. If i go and do that exercise again in a few days with the same weight for the same reps, I will not see progress with my physique because I am not progressing in the gym.

Good article.

Hi Rusty,

First of all, I love your site!
I love reading some of the stuff you have on here and it makes complete sense. I've been looking at doing interval training for sometime now but unfortunately i injured myself a while ago. You see, I wanted to take on an activity outside of the gym so I joined a soccer team. My second week into it I developed acute shin splints. It's been over 4 months now but it hasn't healed. I've been to the physio, chiro etc but nothing seems to working. They've all recommended talking some time out to rest to let it heal properly which i've done, but as soon as I start running or skipping (exercising) I get the shin splints again. I'm desperate to lose weight and tone up so it would be great if you can recommend a way to go about this.

Thanks
Jay

Jay,

Have you tried an exercise bike? I would have to think that it would be much easier on for shin splints because there is no impact whatsoever.

Before treadmills got really popular in the late 80's…gyms pretty much had nothing but exercise bikes in the cardio area…they are actually very effective. I get better results from the standard "old school" exercise bikes vs. the ones that are more comfortable where you are almost lying down in a seated position.

Give this a shot. Are you a younger guy by the way? I used to get shin splints when I was still growing…and they just went away after a while.

Rusty

The exercise bike is a great way to get cardio without as much impact as running. I used to go to spinning classes 3 or 4 times a week and not only did I lose weight, but my legs also had more tone…come to think of it maybe I should start going again! Is there any way to avoid getting shin splints? When I run I try to land on the balls of my feet, not my heels.

Im eating breakfast in the mornings (branflakes) and doing my weights & 3, 4 miles on the treadmill before my evening meal at 7pm….would it hurt for me to drink coffee before i do my routine or will this impare my fat loss (burning) as id have energy from the caffeine intake ?

Mark,

I BELIEVE in caffeine…big time…LOL! I would absolutely give a cup of coffee before your workout a "5 star" recommendation. It will actually help you burn a bit more fat…has to be coffee without anything else in it however…no cream, sugar, etc.

Rusty

…Well i think ill give it a go…thanks again

If it takes 15, 20 mins of cardio to burn through your the energy that you already have in your body through carbs that you've eaten through the day….whats the equivelant time this this process if you only eat breakfast and exercise before your last meal at 7pm ?

That is the beauty of working out on an empty stomach. You will begin to burn fat pretty quickly into your cardio workout. Hard to say exactly when this occurs, but to me it makes way more sense than burning carbs leftover in your system.

It certainly works well for me and others who follow this method.

Rusty

Thanks for the info…more than helpful

This was very helpful! As silly as it sounds, and even maybe lazy… my gym has tv's on EVERY piece of cardio equiment…. so I've decided to embrace my inner couch potato and turn her into a outer gym rat! LOL Basically, since they have tv's and cardio is quite boring but nessicary, I make sure to go when the tv shows I want to watch are on. I force myself not to give up. I know that 5 minutes can seem like nothing when you've just done 25 but I also know that I'll kick myself later for just not doing it. I've also started pushing myself like you mentioned. Increasing the incline or trying to do the same distance in a shorter time. Great Advice!!! Thanks again!

Manda,

I wish my gym had good TV sets. We end up sharing one TV set and the "muscle-heads" like watching Ultimate Fighting. Call me crazy but I don't like watching two toothless guys roll around on the ground for 10 minutes!

Rusty

Is their a readily available fat burning suppliment that is sold here in the uk that you'd reccomend or is it best to steer clear ?

Mark,

I'd steer clear of fat burning supplements for now. I think they can have their use to burn off those last 4-5 pounds, but not necessary by any means.

My favorite fat burning supplement? Green tea.

Rusty

Hey Rusty,

Been on this site everyday for 2 weeks now just diving deeper and deeper into the articles, and FitConnect.com is amazing as well. Wish you guys had stock, lol. And for my question, is this an efficient schedule for blasting fat and getting as lean as possible for summer?

0600 wake up
0800 caffeine
0900 work out (30 minutes HIIT followed by 30 Minutes Lifting for Strength)
1100 Apple or Orange
1700 Whatever for Dinner
2200 Sleep

I know it seems strict, but about 9 days into and honestly feel like I should be doing more, that's how easy this schedule is. I am 5'7" and 205 lbs, unfortunately I got on that bulk is sexy train early in life and am now trying my best to get lean. Thanks Rusty.

Mongo,

Your routine looks great. You may want to switch the order of your HIIT and lifting, but if you like to lift after HIIT…that is fine. As you get closer to your ideal weight, make sure and increase the calories a bit.

Great job so far!

Rusty

hey rusty
i am postin u again please reply this time
i am a non gym goin person,, but i kind of jog for almost 30 mins a day,, can u please tell me the diff.. cardio xersies to det that ripped that u r posein in ur james bond look,,
thanks man

Gaurav,

If you don't like to go to the gym, but you want to get ripped focus on high intensity interval training. Do you have a long flight of stairs near where you live? A lot of high schools have these by the football field.

Effective Cardio exercises to get ripped:

1) running stairs
2) sprinting intervals at a track
3) running hills
4) jump rope intervals

Basically anything you can do with an intense effort for 30 seconds alternated with a moderate effort for 30-60 seconds. Do this 30 minutes per day 5 days a week…and you will look good quickly.

Here is a routine you could do at a track. Run during the straight-aways and walk around the corners. Do this for 30 minutes. It sound simple, but will kick your butt!

Rusty

Since I've only recently discovered your site I'm still browsing the articles and when I found this one I just had to smile.

It IS hard to keep at it and burn fat.

It's actually a pretty simple neurological thing that happens in everything humans do regularly: Our body tries to find ways to conserve energy. It's as simple as that. This has a whole bunch of implications and once you know the reason why this happens it's so simple.

In everything we do our body is predisposed to find the easiest and simplest route to the goal. This means that even a simple action like walking up the stairs is so 'learnt' by your body that it will do so extremely efficiently after a couple of times. Have you ever noticed how children struggle with new moves when learning them (like riding a bike for instance) or even adults expend massive amounts of energy learning something new, only to see how effortlessly they do this later on (even driving a car is a serious workout the first few times you do it)?
That's exactly what it is: effortless.

This holds true for any exercise you put yourself up to. Muscle coördination is not so good the first time you go out running as it is the tenth time out. And this coördination is so bad at first that it requires a whole lot more energy the first time rather than the tenth time when your nervous system has adapted.

This also means that variation in exercises could aid weightloss much better than simply trying to push yourself harder. Disrupting the routine 'keeps your body guessing'. Routine will kill results quickly. On top of that, changing exercises or adding variations will also aid your nerve development in the muscles you are using and enhance your balance and coordination.

I now try to do this regularly and sometimes even do the weirdest things like doing a 'clean and press' standing on a bosu ball instead of on the ground or combining cable pulls with kneelifts, etc. the possibilities are endless. If I find an exercise to become 'easy' I just trade it in for something new and challenging and that way keep it interesting for myself AND increase my gains, which have been way better since I adopted this system.

Rusty,

You said that you like Green Tea as a supplement. How often do you consume? How much? And when do you think is optimal to do so?

NYBouncer