“Cardio” as a Fat Loss Solution? 🤔

The first thing many people go to when they think of losing weight is “cardio”--- otherwise known as aerobic exercise. You know, you exercise vigorously by riding fast on a bike or going out for a run, and that makes you breathe harder, increase the uptake of oxygen, and your heart beats faster. The oxygen uptake is the aerobic part and the increased heartbeat is the “cardio” part. 

That’s old news. Yes, aerobic exercise can have some effect on weight loss when combined with wisely selected dietary intake. But it can backfire on you. Cardio, or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, is only one of the pieces of a more complicated puzzle, and if you miss the bigger picture, you will miss your goal. 

What can go wrong? Many women make the mistake of undereating and overdoing cardio! If you exercise aerobically, beyond your body's ability to provide regular fuel, the body reaches into muscle tissue and as you lose weight, you lose muscle! 

By losing muscle through excessive cardio, you then become dependent on that exercise just to maintain the condition you're in. Take a break from the cardio and your body will rapidly accumulate new fat stores. Oh no! That is not what you wanted at all. 

So if you do cardio—your first consideration should be a professionally guided nutrition program to make the difference between losing fat and losing muscle. 

The other important puzzle piece, alongside controlled intervals of cardio and adequate nutrition for optimal fat reduction, is resistance training.  But for now, just know that resistance training stimulates muscle development and that is the very energy-burning powerhouse you need to keep burning fat, even while you sleep! End result.....a lean, toned body! You know you want it…

But, you say, building muscle? If you’re a man, you’re getting excited, yes? If you’re a woman, I can see you taking a step or two backward. We’ll talk more about that next week. Get your nutrition right, balance it out with resistance training, and your cardio intervals will be a part of meeting your goals.

People who get started on my programs—master plans that include cardio, resistance training, and a balanced nutrition program-- begin by performing only 10 to 30 minutes of cardio every other day...and they lose fat! The reason is twofold. Firstly, they develop a nutritional basis for supplying the material for muscle maintenance, and secondly, their aerobic exercise is customized so it keeps them within their fat-burning limits.

MegaMuscle Phobia (listen up, ladies):

Women often cringe when I talk about building muscle. They have visions of women who look like the men on the cover of Fitness magazines, or even women they have occasionally seen in the gym. THIS IS NOT YOUR DESTINY. I promise. This is not the direction you will be heading because your biochemistry and hormonal make-up are not sufficient to bulk up to those monstrous proportions. Those masculine female bodybuilders on social media or YouTube? You have been misled-- although it’s not commonly presented to the general public, female bodybuilders who achieve those huge muscles depend on anabolic steroids. Many don’t, but the ones who are that bulked out, do.

You should first understand that women, because of their high ratio of estrogen to testosterone, cannot develop those hyper-manly muscles without chemical enhancement. So, don’t fear this. You can always build to the point that you want to and then maintain. Once you start a resistance training, muscle enhancement program with me, I promise, you will not suddenly wake up one day looking like THEM.

Muscle is valuable to you, especially if you want to reshape your body, and a slight accumulation of lean body mass will not only keep you feminine, but it will also likely enhance your femininity! 

Women appear to be more comfortable using the word "toned" than "muscular". “Toned" simply means reducing fat and either adding or maintaining muscle in a given area. 

What kind of a look is “toned”? It’s one you definitely want. Women who progress on this path of training will often get comments from friends and family that sound more like, “Whoa, your arms are really looking shapely!” instead of “Oh, man, your guns are HUGE!”  Legs, arms, back, torso—all become more show-worthy. 

So how does this work? Last week, we discussed weight loss using a balance of (a) resistance training, (b) cardio, and (b) proper nutrition (no, not starving yourself). The fact is that many women look much better with this combination than if they just scheduled vigorous physical activity every day. First, if the goal is to drop some body fat, the combination of the three is going to tone you up at the same time that muscles begin to uncover more shape and definition. 

But the real kick-ass effect of building muscle through resistance training is that muscle is the gift that keeps on giving! Even a small shift toward less fat and more muscle (that is, reducing the “fat-to-lean” ratio) means that your metabolism gets a boost and you continue to burn fat long after your workout ends. How cool is that?!

And then there are other benefits. Research shows that, for best health and fitness, men's body fat should range between 10-18%, and the women's range is 15-23%. Being over-fat, or having a high ratio of body fat to lean body mass, is associated with a higher risk for chronic disease. So reducing this fat-to-lean ratio may make a big difference in your overall health over the years.

People who get started on my programs—master plans that include cardio, resistance training, and a balanced nutrition program-- begin by performing only 10 to 30 minutes of cardio every other day...and they lose fat! The reason is twofold. Firstly, they develop a nutritional basis for supplying the material for muscle maintenance, and secondly, their aerobic exercise is customized so it keeps them within their fat-burning limits. 

Those "trouble areas" you mentioned will improve as you find this balance and create fitness in your body as a whole. By the way, did you know that there is no such thing as “spot reduction”?  Study after study shows that the body loses fat proportionally all over no matter what muscles you concentrate on. Develop muscle, however, and you can soon begin to "shape" your body much as a sculptor shapes clay. As you improve, customization of your program will allow you to specialize in any areas you choose.

Coach Clarence