The “Steady State Cardio” Method to Burn Body Fat
There are a number of ways to lose body fat, but some are more effective than others. The most popular method is what I call “Steady State Cardio”. This basically means doing cardio at a moderate pace for an extended period of time. The goal is to get your heart rate up to 60 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. It has been shown that this is an optimum zone to use fat as energy while you work out. If you do this for a long period of time, you will burn fat off your body. This is the most popular form of cardio and it works pretty well.
The “Interval Training” Method to Burn Body Fat
Interval Training isn’t as popular as Steady State Cardio, but I believe it is much more effective at burning off stubborn body fat. Interval Training basically means alternating high and low intensities throughout your cardio workout. A typical HIIT workout might be getting on a treadmill and walking for one minute followed by running for one minute. You would repeat this pattern until your cardio session was complete.
Intervals: Proven Superior in Several University Studies
In the early to mid 90’s several university studies were conducted which showed how Interval Training allowed people to burn off fat at faster rates than any other method of cardio. This method was proven years ago to be the superior method to burn body fat, yet people are still stuck in the past doing the same old steady state cardio. I believe that Interval Training isn’t understood by most people and that is why it isn’t as popular as the traditional Steady State Cardio method. If you want to get really lean, then you need to understand how Interval Training works!
Interval Training Will Burn Body Fat Hours After Your Workout is Finished
Steady State Cardio is very effective at burning body fat the 30 to 60 minutes you are working out. Interval Training is very effective at burning body fat for up to 24 hours after you complete the workout! Without getting too technical, Interval Training will increase the natural occurring level of HGH in your body. HGH is a hormone in your body that will burn off body fat like crazy. If you can find a way to increase the natural levels of HGH in your body, you will get as lean as you desire! Interval Training is the way to do exactly that. It has been shown that Interval Training can burn up to six times as much fat as traditional cardio. The HGH response is one of the reasons behind this.
Interval Training Creates a Large Calorie Deficit
This is tough work which burns more total calories than traditional cardio. A very basic approach to losing weight is to burn more calories than what you consume in a day. An intense session of Intervals will raise your metabolism for a few hours after the workout. The total calories burned will be much greater than if a more moderate form of cardio was used.
A Cardio Workout That Works Very Well
I have used several variations of this workout for 6 years and it keeps me at 6 to 8 percent body fat year round.
1) Hop on a treadmill, exercise bike, or elliptical machine
2) Walk or ride at a Steady State Cardio Pace for 1.5 minutes
3) Jog or peddle fast for 30 seconds (set the resistance higher)
4) Go back to the same Steady State Cardio Pace for 1.5 minutes
5) Jog or peddle fast for 30 seconds (higher speed/resistance than the first time)
6) Repeat this for 20-30 minutes
Note: Start off the 30 seconds sprints at a moderate pace and go a bit faster for each of the remaining sprints. The last 30 second sprint should be your toughest. It is a good sign if you are short of breath, your skin is hot, and you are sweating. This is what will cause an increase of HGH in your body. Some people call this the “HGH flush”… this is what you are aiming for. Interval Training is tough, but you will love the results!
Your Body Rarely Stores Carbs as Fat to Any Significant Degree
Almost all the fat you see on your body is from the fat that you eat.
So why don’t we just drastically reduce the fats in our diet, instead of worrying about carbs.
I have created a new course called High Carb Fat Loss which challenges the idea that carbs are the reason for the obesity epidemic.
-Rusty Moore