Why to Just Say NO to Cardio for Fat Loss
This is our 40th issue of the year of the Turbulence Training podcast and this might be the best episode ever. It’s full of new research studies and a program that most folks don’t know about – The TT Hotel Room Workouts.
So let’s get into some very interesting cardio research…that leaves me suggesting you “Just say NO to cardio!”
Click here for the best fat loss coaching call ever!
I also want to say, “Happy Thanksgiving” to all of my fellow Canadians…this is our holiday weekend. But this time of year always brings up something I really dislike – and that’s the dependence on the “Cardio Confessional”. 
Monday – Oct 12
This week’s top Transformation Tip:
Do Not Give in to the Cardio Confessional!
Depending on the calorie counters on cardio confessional machines is the biggest fraud in fat loss today.
Don’t believe that you can just go “burn off a big meal”. It’s impossible to win with that thinking. Focus on building your body up with Turbulence Training, rather than tearing your body down with repetitive cardio. Just Say NO to Cardio!
Instead, improve your diet – more on that later – and stick to body transforming workouts like the bodyweight exercise circuits you’ll get in the TT Hotel Room Workouts.
Intermediate Workout A – Hotel Room Workout – Click here for your copy
Repeat the circuit 2 times the first time you try it.
In future workouts, you can repeat the circuit up to 3 times.
Bodyweight Squat – 15 reps
Prone Stick-up – 8 reps
Step-up – 12 reps per side
Close-Grip Pushup – 20 reps
Forward Lunge – 12 reps per side
Plank with Elbows on Bed – 20 second hold
Pushup Plus – 10 reps
Side Plank – 20 second hold per side
Interval Training – Jumping Jacks
30 seconds jumping jacks, 30 seconds recovery (very slow walking in place)
Repeat 6 times
Tuesday
30 minutes of fun activity
Another study kicking sand in the face of long slow cardio for weight loss…and again its from Australia. The Aussie’s are smart, they know cardio is a big waste of time for fat loss.
(Aussies, like female surfer Serena Brooks, know its better to spend your time surfing than on the elliptical.)
*********************************
Br J Sports Med. 2009 Sep 29. Beneficial effects of exercise: shifting the focus from body weight to other markers of health. King N, Hopkins M, Caudwell P, Stubbs J, Blundell J.
Researchers studied 58 overweight men and women over a 12 week cardio program (5x’s per week, 500 calories burned per session).
Overall, the group lost an average of 3.3kg – below the expected weight loss.
But worse, 26 of the 58 lost only 0.9kg (exactly 2 pounds) in 12 weeks, despite doing almost 60 HOURS of cardio!
The good news of course – that everyone knows and I’m happy to admit – is that cardio helped folks improve their health. (Of course, you could probably get better health improvements with changes in your diet.)
In the end, the researchers concluded, and this is an EXACT quote from the study, “From a public health perspective, exercise should be encouraged and the emphasis on weight loss reduced.”
*************************
There you go, the Australian researchers have said what I’ve been saying all along…
The emphasis of cardio on weight loss should be reduced.
Trainers, magazines, and gyms need to stop promoting “cardio” as the magic formula for weight loss.
And that calls for another photo of an Australian female surfer, this time, Layne Beachley, one of the top female surfers in the world – at 37 years of age!
Wednesday
Back to the hotel…
TT Hotel Room Intermediate Workout B
Repeat the circuit 2 times the first time you try it.
In future workouts, you can repeat the circuit up to 5 times.
Prisoner Squat – 15 reps
Off-set Pushup – 6 reps per side
Stick-up – 12 reps
Split Squat – 12 reps per side
Spiderman Climb – 6 reps per side
Tabata Interval Training – Running in Place
20 seconds running, 10 seconds recovery (very slow walking in place)
Repeat 8 times
Thursday
30 minutes of fun activity. And now for a deep thought…
“Once you realize and accept how hard it is to lose fat, then you’ll find the process to be quite simple. You’ll understand that you need to plan your meals in advance, prepare for your workouts (so you don’t just “wing it” at the gym), set up social support, and identify solutions for all of the obstacles in your life. Once you “get it”, then you’ll finally be ready to succeed.”
Please let me know about your success story!
Friday
Last workout, this one is just a giant circuit…
TT Hotel Room Intermediate Workout C
Repeat the circuit 2 times the first time you try it.
In future workouts, you can repeat the circuit up to 5 times.
Jumping Jacks – 30 seconds
Bodyweight Squat – 20 reps
Pushups – 20 reps
4) Y-Squats – 12 reps
Mountain Climbers – 10 reps per side
Running in Place – 30 seconds
Social Support Saturday!
30 minutes of fun activity with a friend, and then…
Write this down and live your life according to this…Kekich Credo #75 – “Persistence is a sure path to success with quality activities. Never, ever, ever, give up.”
Stay strong through this journey. I know you can do it.
Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
30 minutes activity and then plan, shop, & prepare.
Now to stir up some more trouble…
Saying that “diets don’t work” is a politically-correct excuse that allows people to avoid diets in the first place. The politically-incorrect truth is that diets DO work…its the people that don’t work. So what you need to do is continue looking for the diet that will work for you. Don’t just give up. But remember, even the right diet will take hard work and consistency. Good luck, I know you can do it.
Now let’s look at a research study that shows the power of the diet (again from Australia!)…
Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Sep 30. One-year weight maintenance after significant weight loss in healthy overweight and obese subjects: does diet composition matter? Delbridge EA, Prendergast LA, Pritchard JE, Proietto J.
In this study, overweight men and women were put on a 12-week low-calorie diet, and they ended up losing 16.5 kg. That’s over 36 pounds and over 18x’s the amount of weight lost by some of the people in the cardio study.
That just shows you that diet crushes cardio for fat loss.
But there was a 2nd part to the study.
The subjects were split into two groups for another 12 months. During this year, one group of subjects went on a high-protein diet while the other group went on a high-carbohydrate diet.
At the end of the 12 months, both groups gained back 2kg. That’s not good news, but the point is that both groups gained back the same amount of weight.
So both “diets” worked at helping people maintain a large portion of their original weight loss.
But here’s the BAD news…
Forty-seven percent of the 180 subjects who began the study completed both phases.
That’s a lot of dropouts. So the challenge isn’t the diet, it’s getting people to stick to it. And that’s where social support, planning, education, and finding the right diet for your personality comes in.
Bottom line: Never give up. Keep looking for the diet that works for you.
Combine that with short workouts – not long cardio – and you’ll finally get the results you deserve.
Stay strong,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
PS – Next week…
1) Advanced Hotel Room Workout – Click here for your copy
2) 5 Nutrition rules
3) Fasting Research Update!