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Cardi-no?

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Navigating the terrain of cardio can be tricky business – how much is enough?

Is walking better than running for fat loss? Is it better to slog it out for hours or do high intensity interval training? Will cardio make you lose muscle or fat? How do you achieve balance between strength and cardio workouts? These are questions that I’ve been asked, and that I myself have asked over the course of my own fitness journey.

I’m no exercise scientist, but I do know a little bit about cardio and fitness through study and my own experience. Here’s some lessons I’ve learnt:

It isn’t the ‘be all and end all’ when it comes to fat loss

“Just do more cardio” is advice that’s thrown around a lot when it comes to weight loss. Where does this come from? I’d say it’s the fact that high intensity cardio can burn a lot of calories. However, there are more things to consider such as body composition, overall health and, er, your sanity.

I mention the latter as someone who has spent hours on a treadmill in pursuit of weight loss. Effective or not, one thing that I can tell you is that it can get pretty boring. While I understand this isn’t the only form of cardio – not by a long shot – it does tend to be a road that many go down in the pursuit of being skinny.

Here’s the thing: weight training can be very effective as a weight loss tool too. This can be confusing because the amount of calories that you burn during a cardio session is often more than the amount you burn lifting weights. However, after a strength workout you’ll continue to burn calories for a period of time – some research says up to 36 hours (realistically it’s probably a little less). This happens with cardio too, but to a much lesser extent.

Not only that, but the more lean muscle mass you have, the more calories you’ll burn while you exercise.

Slow and steady or high intensity?

HIIT (high intensity interval training) has become a really popular way of training and for good reason – it really torches calories and gets your heart pumping in a short amount of time.

Does that mean it’s superior to LISS, or Low Intensity Steady State training, like walking or jogging? Not necessarily.

It’s really about how much time you have on your hands and what you enjoy the most. After all, if you’re smashing the rower because you’ve heard it’s super good for you, but you’re hating every damn second, you have to ask yourself: what am I doing with my life?

I’m not saying every workout has to be a jolly good time, but it should be something that you get some level of satisfaction from and can sustain long term. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before you throw it all in and snuggle up on the couch instead. If you’d prefer to go for walk, jog, swim or whatever tickles your fancy then do that!

Just remember that if you’re doing something low intensity, you may need to do it for a longer period of time to get the same results.

Will cardio ruin my gym gains?

This is a question I think about regularly. Particularly as someone who loves running but also loves lifting heavy things in the gym.

From my experience, the answer is most likely yes if you’re doing a lot of cardio. How much this bothers you will depend on your goals and preferences.

For example, if you’re someone who prefers to go for long bike rides or swims and you lift weights to increase overall fitness or prevent injury, then go nuts. If you’re aiming to increase strength and muscle definition, then maybe take it easy. There’s no need to stop completely but there’s a reason you don’t often see ‘jacked’ muscly marathon runners: it’s very difficult to achieve strength and endurance goals simultaneously, especially if you have a full time job (and life).

When it comes to cardio, as is often the case with fitness, it really depends on what you’re trying to achieve and what activities you enjoy doing.

My advice would be: move your body in a way that feels good, that you enjoy (most of the time) and that puts you on the right path to reaching your goals.

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