What Kind of Cardio is Right for You?
As a kid in the ‘80’s I remember going with my mom to her Jazzercise classes. I would sit on the side with my sisters and we’d watch the ladies in the room move and dance across the floor. I can also remember her turning on the VHS and doing the at-home workout in front of the tv. To this day, whenever I hear the songs from the video, I can recall the images of leotard-clad ladies sweating it out to the music. Even though the leotard and leg warmer era seems like ages ago, Jazzercise opened the door to similar styles of exercise such as Zumba and P90x for people who wanted a way to lose fat. With so many options of exercise available today how do you know what works best for you?
When thinking about the kind of cardio that’s going to deliver fat loss, there are certainly some proven methods that will get the job done. First and foremost, when choosing an exercise routine, it will need to be something you can stick to. One reason why Jazzercise and Zumba have been so popular is because it makes exercise fun! If you won’t be consistent with an exercise program, then it will be difficult to get any kind of fat loss results. Once you’ve nailed consistency, then you can fine-tune an exercise program. There are various benefits of each form of cardio and how they affect fat loss. Let’s review steady state cardio, metabolic resistance training, and another style, called interval training.
Steady State Cardio
Steady state cardio is exercise performed when the pace of exercise remains steady throughout the duration of the workout. This could be jogging or running outdoors or on a treadmill, swimming, biking or rowing at a consistent speed. You’ll be burning calories and strengthening your heart and lungs, but one other benefit of this type of cardio is no special equipment is needed for the workout. In fact, if you have a pedestrian friendly neighborhood, a walkable area close by, and some tennis shoes - you can easily get out and exercise. A treadmill, rower, or bike will give you some additional options if you have the equipment at home, but a gym is not required.
The other benefit to steady state exercise is you can partner with a friend or workout partner, which will help make the workout more enjoyable and help you stay accountable with regular exercise. Also, along with the physical benefits of exercise for your health, you’ll be benefitting from the positive mental and emotional side effects that will keep you motivated to continue!
If you are new to exercise, then you will be able to burn enough calories for fat loss and quickly improve your fitness with steady state exercise. However, over time, the body will adapt to your workout routine and the number of calories you can burn with the same effort and duration will decline. In order to maintain the number of calories burned with steady state exercise you will need to spend more time exercising or increase the intensity of the workout – or both. Therefore, if you don’t have a lot of time to spend exercising, this may not be the best form of exercise for fat loss as time goes on.
Also, long bouts of steady state cardio induce gluconeogenesis, where muscle is broken down into fuel, to support the energy needed to exercise. An example that demonstrates this phenomenon is the build of a marathon runner’s body compared to a sprinter’s body. The marathon runner is quite lean but has little muscle. If you’re interested in a “toned” look you’ll want to preserve your muscle. Additionally, the more muscle tissue you have the more you increase your metabolism, which is the number of calories burned at rest. In order to efficiently burn calories without constant exercise, you’ll need to retain as much muscle as possible. If you’re interested in exercise that preserves the muscle you have and burns calories too – there’s good news…
Metabolic Resistance Training
Metabolic resistance training (MRT) really brings the best of both worlds together when it comes to cardio exercise. By incorporating weights or bodyweight exercises in the workout you maintain the muscle you have and burn calories at the same time. The weights provide external resistance that stimulates the break down and regeneration of more resilient muscle fibers. This style of training is an excellent solution for burning calories alongside a strength program because it conserves the muscle you are building with your strength workouts. As mentioned before, the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn at rest. This is because muscle cells consume more calories than fat cells.
Additionally, research has shown that MRT burns more calories than strength training or steady state cardio in the same amount of time (1). Therefore, MRT makes for an efficient workout for those with busy schedules. To maximize your workout, focus on choosing light to intermediate weights and perform as many reps of the exercise as possible during the work interval. You’ll burn the most calories by giving each rep your best effort. Not only will you burn calories while working out, but the energy required for your body to return back to normal resting conditions after the workout burns even more calories. This phenomenon is called EPOC (Excess post exercise oxygen consumption). The additional calories burned with EPOC will vary depending on fitness levels, body fat percentage, age, gender, and level of effort, but nonetheless will contribute to the number of calories expended for your workout.
MRT is not a workout style for anyone just beginning an exercise program. If you want to build up to MRT, start with lifting weights and steady state cardio to build your strength and stamina. Another limitation of MRT is that it tends to involve more equipment than what someone has in their home gym. If MRT is your preferred style of training, then joining a gym to attend MRT sessions will probably be a lot easier. The equipment will be available, the workout will already be designed for you, and there will be a coach to help guide and motivate you. So, all you need to worry about is working hard!
There are many types of workout circuits that can be designed and performed with MRT depending on the exercises, the equipment, and the work to rest ratio. One phrase you’ll hear often is “interval training”, which refers to the timing of the work cycle and rest cycle within an exercise circuit. This timing could be applied to exercise frequently done with steady state exercise (running, rowing, biking) or an MRT workout.
Interval Training
Interval training involves performing exercise at a high level of intensity followed by a rest period or an active recovery period with a low level of exertion. Interval training can be done with body weight exercises (i.e. squats or push-ups) or light weights, MRT circuits, as well as exercise typically done as steady state cardio (i.e. running, biking, rowing).
The term HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is often used to describe this form of exercise. The exercise or “work” interval will be short, anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, and the rest period will be about the same if not shorter than the exercise interval. Another popular term you may have heard about is Tabata. Tabata is a specific timing interval, which has been heavily researched and is known for its’ effectiveness. A Tabata is 20 seconds of all out work followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds. Regardless of the work to rest ratio, maximal effort during the work period will boost the calorie burning effects of interval training. This will be due to the number of calories burned during the workout as well as the effect of EPOC.
Interval training is not ideal for beginners since it is an intense form of exercise. Again, as with MRT, the best thing to build stamina for this kind of conditioning is strength training and steady state cardio. As your conditioning builds with steady state exercise, you can apply the timing of interval training. Even without maximal effort, applying interval training to exercise has shown to have a greater effect on fat loss than steady state exercise alone (2). Once you build your stamina you can take advantage of the greater fat burning effects that an interval session offers.
As you can see, there are various options for cardio when looking for fat loss results. Each option will have features that may or may not be ideal for you; however, the first step will be to get moving. Then, be consistent with your exercise routine. The more exercise is part of your daily or weekly habits, the better you’ll feel, which will keep you motivated. Continue to challenge yourself during your workouts and the fat loss results will be incredible!
1. J Strength Cond Res. 2015 Mar;29(3):779-85. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000661.
Caloric expenditure of aerobic, resistance, or combined high-intensity interval training using a hydraulic resistance system in healthy men. Falcone PH, Tai CY , Carson LR, Joy JM, Mosman MM, McCann TR, Crona KP, Kim MP, Moon JR.
2. Tremblay, A., Simoneau, J., & Bouchard, C. (1994). Impact Of Exercise Intensity On Body Fatness And Skeletal Muscle Metabolism. Metabolism, 43(7), 814-818.