Myth: I need to burn 300 calories each workout to lose fat.
Truth: Possibly one of the worst inventions for
fat loss was the calorie-counting monitor on treadmills, elliptical
machines, and stairmasters. Because of these, millions of men and
women now obsess about the number of calories burned per session.
You've probably even been one of those people, watching it creep up
ever so slowly during a slow-cardio session. All the while knowing
that you can wipe out a 30-minute, 300-calorie treadmill session with
one fell swoop of the Krispy Kreme hand.
Too many people are brainwashed into thinking
that if they don't burn 300-500 calories per session, then they won't
lose fat. After all, that is what you've been told time and time again
in those fluffy fitness/fashion magazines. The problems with this
approach to fat loss are numerous. First off, it's difficult to say if
the calorie counters are even accurate. A story on CBS news showed
that cardio machines overestimate calorie burning by up to 20%.
Next, depending on slow cardio for advanced fat
loss is relatively useless and at the very least, inefficient. It
takes a long time for you to burn a lot of calories and one study
showed that men who only used cardio training for weight loss ended up
with a reduced resting metabolism. You are basically undoing the
calorie burning by depending only on cardio. On the other hand, guys
in the same study that used strength training didn't suffer a reduced
metabolic rate.
So what is the solution to burning fat in a
faster, more efficient method? The answer is to burn fewer calories in
less exercise time, but with a more intense form of exercise.
And the trick to getting better results in this
backwards approach? Your body will burn more calories after exercise
(when you use intervals) than it does after you do slow cardio and
your metabolism will stay high. Some experts refer to this as the
afterburn effect. How do you do intervals? Well, you could sprint for
30 seconds and rest for 90 seconds and repeat that for 6 sets - using
the bike preferably or treadmill if you are experienced with it.
Within that short time frame the intervals will
cause your muscles to go crazy with activity (I call it a metabolic
disturbance). This crazy metabolism boost causes lots of calorie
burning after exercise to get your body back to normal. The result is
you would end up burning more fat and more calories in the
post-exercise period as your body tries to get things under control.
Now there is one time where you'd want to count
calories, but that is when you are counting up and determining how
many calories you eat per day. Again, you can wipe out an entire
workout's work in less than a minute simply by eating garbage. Without
some structure and discipline to your nutrition, there is nothing
that even my programs can do to help you lose fat.
So exercise nutrition control and interval
training. These are the two anti-calorie counting methods that will
help you lose fat and get lean.
About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength &
Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness,
Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His
trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured
multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines and all
over the Internet, and have helped thousands of men and women around the
world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three
times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training
workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions
or fancy equipment, visit
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
