Basic Pursuits

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I've always been fascinated by the idea of losing fat without cardio.
When I lost the first 15lbs of fat last summer, I lost half of it with
steady state cardio, and the second half with short, intense
workouts. So, in actuality both methods work exactly the same. Here are
the pros and cons of both methods:

Steady-State Cardio

Pros

• Since you are training longer with steady-state cardio, you have the potential to burn more calories with each bout
• More suitable for beginners
• Due to it's low intensity level, it can be done at a higher frequency without burnout

Cons

• Most methods are long and boring, making the program difficult to stick to
• Too much aerobic training can cause loss in muscle size, strength, and power
• Too much of one type of cardio can cause overuse injuries. For example,
  many distance runners complain about knee and hamstring problems

Short, Intense Workouts

Pros

• You can burn more fat within a shorter period of time
  despite not burning a whole bunch of calories in one session. This is
  because intense workouts burn more calories after you workout and
  improve the ability of your muscles to use fat for fuel.
• You can accomplish your task within 10 to 20 minutes.

Cons

• High intensity levels may not be appropriate for beginners
• May not be performed at high frequency, unless athlete can recover from intense workouts.
• Mentally stressful and difficult to push yourself past comfort levels.

Which to choose?

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Well, naturally I'm pro-short, intense workouts, but each
individual needs a separate approach to fat loss. I think the best way
to answer this question is create three hypothetical trainees and see
what I would prescribe to them.

Trainee One - Bob is in his mid-forties and has been struggling
with weight his entire life. He has extremely poor eating habits and is
borderline obese. He has finally made the decision to change his
lifestyle when he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Prescription: I would put Bob on two days of heavy full body
strength training routine, and get him to go out for evening walks.
First week would be a five minute nightly evening walk. The distance of
the walk would steadily increase each week by five minutes, until he is
able to walk for 30 minutes straight after 6 weeks. He would have lost
a considerable amount of weight by the end of these six weeks. If he
wishes to continue his fat loss, I would have him maintain a 30 minute
walk at least four days a week, and steadily introduce fast, intense
workouts to replace his heavy strength days.

Trainee Two - Jessica is in her mid-twenties and is in the midst
of planning her dream wedding. She used to run track in high school,
and exercises regularly. Most of her exercise is aerobic in nature,
with light resistance training. She needs to lose 8 to 10 lbs to fit
into her new wedding dress within a month.

Prescription: Since Jessica is already doing a lot of aerobic
exercise, I would get her on a shorter, heavy strength training routine
twice a week, with one or two short, intense metabolic conditioning
workouts. Her athletic background would not make it difficult to make
the simple transition. I would also stop all aerobic exercise, or at
least limit it to one session per week. This training routine would
easily shock her body to drop the weight she needs.

Trainee Three - Fred is a former football player and still
exercises at a high intensity level under the weights. He follows a
typical split body program and does 30 minutes of cardio each morning.
His diet is not spectacular, but he is still very agile and maintains incredible athletic conditioning. Fred plays football with a few friends each
week. He is almost fifty years old, and has been trying to reduce his
stomach since he stopped playing the sport competitively (over 25 years
ago). He has tried everything except short, intense workout.

Prescription - It would be up to Fred if he wants to stop the
morning aerobic exercise. I would not tell him to stop his football
game. I may modify his strength routine in the gym, to make it shorter
and more efficient. The only thing I would add is two to three short,
intense workout combining kettlebell and football drills. This is
something that Fred would really enjoy performing and would help both
his game and help him drop fat.

Image by houstonhomefitness

What do you choose?

So there you have it. Three different trainees, three different
goals, and three different fitness levels. The main idea here is you
need a base of aerobic fitness before you can start performing short,
intense workouts. However, someone who is overweight or obese like Bob
is going to feel like he is performing some sort of short, intense
workout when he goes for his walks. The real concept here isn't to see
how many calories one burns in a particular bout of exercise, its to
gradually increase one's level of intensity as they become more fit.
And you know what, as one's intensity level increases, their training
sessions decrease.

You have two choices: train long with a low intensity level, or train short with a high intensity level. What do you choose?

About the Author

Parth Shah is a Strength and Fitness Consultant specializing in
developing practical, sustainable fitness solutions for his clients. He
is currently going through his own personal physical transformation.
His thoughts, ideas, and philosophy can be found on his website, ShahTraining.com. (Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/shahtraining/UQuk)