by Darin L. Steen

Will jogging long distance or doing several short sprints get you to your fitness and fat loss goals faster and more safely?

First, let’s define cardio.

Anaerobic cardio is also called:

  • Sprinting
  • High Intensity / Short durational
  • Interval Cardio
  • Fartlek training

During anaerobic type of cardio your heart rate peaks at 85-90 percent of maximum heart rate at the end of each 1-2 minute challenge. In between each challenge is a recovery phase of 1-2 minutes of low intensity activity to let your heart rate come down to about 50 percent of maximum.

Aerobic cardio is also called:

  • Jogging
  • Low Intensity / Long Duration
  • Steady State Cardio
  • “Fat Burning Zone”

During aerobic type cardio your heart rate stays in the 55 – 65 percent of maximum heart rate (you can talk during exercise) for an extended amount of time (45-90 minutes).

Both types of cardio have a time and a place, but if you want to be efficient with your time and get to your health and fitness goals faster, you should consider sprinting types of cardio a majority of the time.

The advantages of Aerobic cardio are:

  • Easy to do, and a nice way for sedentary people to get started on an exercise program. Any activity is better than no activity
  • Good for injury rehab (as long as an elliptical or another non impact technique is used)
  • Good for a change of pace occasionally

Below are six advantages of Anaerobic type cardio:

#1 You burn more body fat

IT IS A MYTH THAT “Aerobic Cardio” is better for burning body fat.

THIS IS HUGE: When you are done with a low intensity (jogging) session; you are done burning calories.

You see, when you are done with high intensity (sprints) your body burns extra calories for the next 8 hours, depending on the intensity of the Interval Cardio Session.

So, in the Total Calories Consumed versus Calories Burned game you are way ahead by doing high intensity (sprints), mainly due to the extra calories your body burns after the cardio session.

To lose fat, you must burn more calories than you eat.

You knew it had to be too good to be true that a lower intensity cardio session would be better for you. Common sense should tell you that a really hard, sweaty session of sprints would help you get to your fat loss goal faster than sitting on a recumbent bike, pedaling slow while you read the news paper.

#2 When you perform “anaerobic” cardio you build a bigger heart and lungs

Heart and lungs are muscles, albeit slightly different than skeletal muscles. They have more red fibers, because they have to obviously work (at low intensity) 24/7.

Because your heart and lungs are muscles similar to your skeletal muscles, they respond in a similar way to exercise.

To make your skeletal muscle bigger, do you lift a light weight for lots of reps? Or do you lift a heavier weight for fewer reps?

The answer is, lift a heavier weight for fewer reps.

In fact, if you lift a light weight for lots of reps, your muscle will actually get smaller. Your body is very smart and it does not want to waste energy.

When you continuously lift lighter weights for high reps, the muscle will atrophy (get smaller) because the big muscle is not needed to lift the lighter weight, so your body can send less energy to the smaller muscle to do the work, thus saving energy.

So if you want a smaller heart and a smaller pair of lungs, keep jogging long distances.

If you want a bigger heart (with more stroke volume) and more of an ability to recover from an intense challenge (whether it be a physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual challenge) then start doing High Intensity Interval Cardio.

Same thing with lungs. Do interval cardio to build the size and capacity of your lungs. Doing low intensity, jogging type cardio will decrease your lungs’ size and capacity.

As far as living long and strong, the size of your lungs are extremely important.

As you age, it is very important that you maintain as much lung capacity as you can. High Intensity Interval Cardio is the key for this.

Study the info from the Framingham Heart Study and you will be convinced of the importance of a bigger and stronger heart & lunges when it comes to aging gracefully.

#3 Anaerobic cardio builds more functional muscle

As discussed earlier, short bursts of intense challenges builds muscle size.

Do you want the physique of a sprinter or the physique of a marathon runner?

Marathon runners tend to look thin and frail while sprinters have considerable more muscle with lower body fat.

Typically, boxers and sprinters have the best abs of any athletes on the planet. When you sprint, you are mimicking a boxer’s technique. Both sprinters and boxers almost always train with intervals.

If you want the physique of a marathon runner, train like a marathon runner. If you want the physique of a sprinter, train like a sprinter.

#4 Anaerobic cardio increases your testosterone and growth hormones

Testosterone and growth hormone are very important hormones for building muscle, losing fat, and having optimal energy levels.

When you perform Interval Cardio you boost your anabolic hormones that allow you to build muscle and become lean. Growth hormone and testosterone are increased with Interval Style cardio. Conversely, low intensity jogging type cardio suppresses them and produces cortisol, the stress hormone.

Not only does jogging type cardio suppress your anabolic hormones, it also wastes your time. You would need to do 6-8 hours of low intensity cardio per week to get the same fat burning effect as two or three 30 minute Interval Cardio sessions.

#5 Interval cardio trains your body to become an energy storage machine

Fact #1

When you eat carbs your body breaks them down into glucose (blood sugar) and glycogen. Glucose and glycogen is the gasoline that fuels your muscles for activity.

The glucose is stored in your blood and liver, while the glycogen is stored in your muscles. Your body can only store so much glucose and glycogen. Any extra carbs get stored in your fat cells.

Below is one of the major reasons why the myth that Low Intensity Cardio is best for burning body fat still persists:

It is true that when you do Low Intensity Cardio your body gets approximately 85 percent of its energy from fat cells. Thus, on the surface, it looks like you would want to exercise this way to burn more body fat.

But, the three strikes against exercising with Low Intensity Cardio are:

  1. Fat as a source of fuel is a slow burn fuel.

    It takes 20 minutes of activity to get up to the point that your body is using the fat for fuel, because fat is a slow burning fuel. Fat will not give you energy for short bursts of intense activity.

    When you train your body to use fat as a source of fuel, you never feel fast, usable energy. You tend to feel constant low energy. When you train with Interval Cardio, you will feel energized all day long because you are training your body to use quick burning fuel known as glucose and glycogen.

  2. You train your body to store more of your carbs as fat.

    When you do low intensity cardio, you’re telling your body to store more fat in order to maintain a constant supply of energy Thus you stimulate your body to become more of a fat storage machine.

  3. When doing Low Intensity Cardio, when you are done with the activity you are done burning calories.

    But with Interval Cardio you can burn extra calories and ride the fat burning wave for up to 8 hours after you’ve finished your workout, thus finding yourself ahead of the calories in / calories burned game.

Fact #2

When you do Interval Cardio your body gets 85 percent of the energy needed for the exercise from glucose and glycogen, which is a fast burning fuel. It is ready within seconds.

When you sprint (high intensity Interval Cardio) your body says: “Wow, it’s a good thing I had that glucose and glycogen in the liver and in the muscles for those sprints, I am going to store more of the future carbs there for future sprint sessions.”

What you are doing is enlarging your gas tanks to hold more glucose and glycogen, which is like lean tissue / muscle. It burns energy just sitting there. Fat does not.

Plus glycogen and glucose is a quick burn fuel, ready to help you have quick energy for sudden needs such as sprinting, running, jumping, working, etc.

To get leaner, faster, and have more quick energy to burn, stick with high intensity, sprinting type cardio.

#6. Interval cardio saves time

Twenty minutes of Interval Cardio done in the morning will burn more body fat than 60 minutes of Low Intensity cardio done later in the day. Plus, when you schedule it to be done in the morning, it’s more likely to get done.

Another plus of doing Interval Cardio in the morning is you will feel more energized, positive, and proud of yourself for getting it in early. When you exercise, it is only natural to eat better and make healthier choices throughout the day. It is like you subconsciously do not want to waste it.

Who doesn’t want to get more accomplished in a shorter amount of time? Hopefully with this information, you will feel like you have enough time to incorporate a sensible cardiovascular program into your lifestyle. It only takes two or three 20-30 minutes sessions per week. With high intensity cardio you can gain back an hour or two a day of extra energy and productivity. Now that is a good trade off!=288008″

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