Best approach to cardio

BraziliaNZ

Hi all. Just wondering what your opinions on cardio are when it comes to finding the best approach to burning calories and fat. I have been doing longish sessions lately, 40-60 mins a few times a week, and it's sweaty and tough etc. but I've been reading about this type of approach...

http://www.ast-ss.com/articles/article.asp?AID=97

That's definitely worth a read. If you go absolutely mental on your cardio workout for 20 mins or so, is it more effective than 40 or 60 mins less intense cardio? The article seems to think that a really intense workout will boost your metabolism and you'll be burning calories afterwards like there's no tomorrow. Opinions welcomed

Pherekydes

A good real-world example of the difference in effect of Max-OT Cardio and long duration cardio has on athlete’s physiques is to look at sprinters and long distance runners. Sprinters are very lean and extremely muscular. Long distance runners are lanky, frail, with little muscle yet possess higher body fat levels than the sprinters.

Sprinters train in a manner that is very similar to the Max-OT Cardio principles – short burst of maximum intensity - whereas long distance runners train more inline with the conventional cardio approach - low intensity for longer periods of time. What type of physique would you rather have?

The section in bold above is a flat out lie. Long distance runners have the lowest levels of body fat. They don't need to be measured to prove it. All body weight is a penalty in endurance competitions like long distance running, but especially body fat. A sprinter can overcome the body weight penalty by increasing muscle mass; he doesn't have to worry about oxygen debt. But distance runners are limited by the amount of oxygen they can utilise. Less body weight equals improved performance. Also, the type of training proposed is brutal. It can't be carried out every day. The body must recover from the hard sessions. Long, slow, easy running or other endurance training can be carried out every day, because the body recovers more quickly from it. Another reason runners are skinny. Finally, beating your distance every single session, as advocated, is impossible.

The last sentence quoted above is the one you have to ask yourself. If you want to look like a sprinter/jumper, train like one; if you want to look like a stick insect, train like a marathon runner; if you want to look like the guy on the website, copy his training.

thirtyfoot

"its new, its innovative...."
"Throughout the years, I have always prided myself in thinking beyond the norm......"

Don't know this guy but he seems like another self-annointed guru.

aye

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

That's definitely worth a read. If you go absolutely mental on your cardio workout for 20 mins or so, is it more effective than 40 or 60 mins less intense cardio? The article seems to think that a really intense workout will boost your metabolism and you'll be burning calories afterwards like there's no tomorrow. Opinions welcomed

more intense cardio will increase your metabolism rate, dont think you'll be burning calories likes there's no tomorrow

endurance running tends to burn calories while you are running, and provides a small raise in metabolistic rate afterward.
interval running, like weight training, increase your metabolitic rate more than endurance running.
interval training is tough tho, jogging then sprinting etc, but will take less time than endurance running.

if you are aiming for fat loss and don't like the endurance running, then do the interval training, and do some weights.
if you want to increase your aerobic fitness, then do the endurance running.