No results? It might be that your cardio training sucks

                Are you one of those people who spend countless hours on a treadmill, bike, or elliptical and is completely frustrated by a lack of change in your body: an inability to lose weight, change sizes, or otherwise fail to see improvements when you look in the mirror?  Do you wonder why other people seem to get into shape or lose weight faster than you?  Would you like to know how I, as an obese teenager, lost one hundred pounds and have kept it off for the last fourteen years?  I can tell you that I, and probably no one who looks how you wish to look, or has lived a life time at a healthy body weight, accomplished it in the cardio section of your local fitness club.  After seven years working in the fitness industry, and fourteen years being in and out of gyms as both a member and employee, I have come to the conclusion that the floor space is occupied cardio machines is generally a waste of time for the average gym-goer.

                Here is a little secret that most gym owners may not understand and equipment manufacturers do not want you to know: those cardio machines are not as effective as the manufacturers claim to be.  The reason is simple: these machines do not activate and recruit the use of muscle tissue nearly as well as performing the same activity outside.  Take the treadmill as an example: the belt moves backward while your foot comes forward with each walking step or running stride.  Now, if a person walks or runs outside, every foot strike results in tension being created as the muscle of the calves, hamstrings, and glutes as these muscles fire to propel the body forward.  The foot comes off the ground, and upon the impact of the next step, the quadriceps fire to slow the body’s momentum enough that you do not go falling head over heels.  This is what happens when the body is propelled along the solid ground. 

The problem with doing this on a treadmill is the backward motion of the belt.  This backward motion of the belt drastically reduces the use of the hamstrings and glutes from creating movement.  By the way, the glute muscles are the most powerful muscles in the human body.  The stronger a person's glute muscles are, the fitter and faster that person is.  When it comes to health and maximizing fitness, you should like big butts and that is no lie.  Alright, back to the lesson in biomechanics: essentially, a treadmill cuts the muscle involvement in walking or running almost in half.  Half of the muscle recruitment translates into half the work performed by the body so roughly half the calories are burned during time spent on a treadmill as opposed to the same activity performed outside.  Wait, what? 

Pay attention here: for the reasons I just explained, the calorie count on cardio machines is off.   Using a cardio machine only burns about half the calories the little computer tells.  Why is that?  The computers in cardio machines create an estimation of the number of calories burned based upon mathematical equations.  The problem is those formulas are based on energy expenditure for performing the activity outside, not on the cardio equipment.  So, with less muscle involvement, activities performed on cardio equipment are less intense than the same activities performed outside.  Lower intensity means lower number of calories burned resulting is far slower, if any, progression towards a healthier, fitter body.  I have used the treadmill as an example but the same principles apply to almost every piece of cardio equipment.  There are a few ways to overcome this problem.

Obviously, the best option is to take cardio activities like walking, running, and biking outside.  Now, if you do not like that idea or if the weather will not cooperate there are some simple solutions to improve the quality of those cardio workouts.

1.       Use the stair climber.  It is the only piece of cardio equipment that accurately mimics a real life activity.  For this reason is it the most challenging piece of cardio equipment in the gym. Or you can save time at the gym by taking the stairs instead of the elevators.

2.       Put the treadmill on an incline.  An inclined treadmill will increase the use of the hamstrings and glutes, making it more like walking or running outside.  The higher the incline the better.  Use a minimum of a 5% incline to create a level of muscle activation similar to walking or running outside.

3.       Increase the resistance on the bike or elliptical.  Most people simply do not push themselves hard enough on these pieces.  Increase the resistance to the point where you can feel the muscles contracting throughout every stride.  If you can’t feel the muscles contracting then you are moving more from momentum than actual physical work.

4.       Do not stay at the same boring pace for an extended period of time.  I cannot imagine anything more boring in the gym than spending an eternity strolling on the treadmill.  If the activity is not challenging or seems boring to your brain it is boring your muscles too.  Bored muscles are not receiving stimulation and do not lose weight, become stronger or leaner.

If cardio is your exercise mode of choice, get intense with it or it will not change you.  I do a sprint workout once a week for about twenty-five minutes.  This is one of two conditioning workouts that I do each week.  This sprint workout is the only time I ever get on a cardio piece.  During those twenty-five minutes I destroy more body fat than anyone who comes in and spends an hour walking on a treadmill five or six days per week.  Intensity, not duration is the key to losing body fat.  This is my sprint program, if you can’t do it at the same incline or same speed, build up to it.  Trust me; you will get faster results doing a workout like this.

Exercise	Incline	Speed	Duration	Break	Repetitions
Walk	8%	4.0 MPH	2 minutes	None	1
Sprint	12%	9.0 MPH	15 seconds	15 seconds	10
Walk	4%	3.0 MPH	3 minutes	None	1
Sprint	10%	10.0 MPH	20 seconds	40 seconds	5
Sprint	10%	10.5 MPH	20 seconds	40 seconds	5
Sprint	10%	11.0 MPH	20 seconds	40 seconds	5
Walk	4%	2.5 MPH	3 minutes	None	1

The second conditioning workout I do is a body weight exercise based program.  Typically, I follow a Tabata protocol with this workout.  Tabata protocol involves performing an exercise for twenty seconds, taking a ten second break, then repeating for twenty seconds.  This continues until a total of eight rounds are completed.  This process is completed in a single four minute time period.  This four minute period is referred to a “Tabata.”  With a multiple Tabata workout it is common to take a one minute break between each Tabata.

Tabatas are a great way to add conditioning to the end of a strength training session or multiple Tabatas may be put together for a conditioning workout, like the one below.  I did this workout Friday morning before heading into the Labor Day weekend.  It is a total of six tabatas: a 30 minute workout.

Tabata 1:

·         Cable Presses-20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Jump Rope- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Complete Four times

·         One minute Rest

Tabata 2:

·         Plank- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Battle Ropes- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Complete Four times

·         One minute Rest

Tabata 3:

·         Battle Ropes- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Mountain Climbers-20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Complete Four times

·         One Minute Rest

Tabatas 4-6:

·         Battle Ropes- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Jump Rope- 20 seconds

·         Rest- 10 seconds

·         Complete four times

·         One Minute Rest

Take your conditioning and fat burning to the next level with these workouts.  Remember, when it comes to losing body fat and making the body leaner; intensity is always more important than duration.  This is truer more than ever when it comes to cardio training.