People new to the world of fitness can get intimidated when faced with the prospect of going to the gym. The machines all look so scary, and doing something with no equipment in front of a mirror seems like a no-go situation – what if everybody stares at you!? For these reasons, people usually stick to what they know, which is often the cardio machines in large amounts. This could mean an hour or two on the treadmill, for example. You then leave feeling like you’ve had a pretty good workout. But wait a sec, not only does that quickly become boring and put you off going, it isn’t going to get you the results you want!
In order to get great aesthetic results from working out, you need to do a mix of cardio and resistance training. The mistake many people make is doing a ton of cardio and nothing else. Sure, this burns calories, but you need to work your muscles if you want gorgeous definition and shape! Plus, long sessions of cardio can be seriously ineffective. The best cardio sessions are short and sweet, and contain sprinting as fast as you can.
Long Cardio Sessions Vs. Short Cardio Sessions
Come on, you don’t enjoy being on the treadmill for long. None of us do. It might tell you that you’ve burned 600 calories or something similar, BUT your body may have also started eating away at your muscle at this point too. That’s what bodies do when they have to do too much cardio, and your shape can suffer as a result. When the body is eating its own muscle, you lose any shape or definition, resulting in a ‘skinny fat’ appearance.
Shorter sessions that are performed by sprinting for 30 seconds, then resting for 30 seconds (repeat 10 times), are much more effective. They allow your body to keep its muscle, as well as burn FAT. It’ll burn a few calories too, but they aren’t the important thing here! Burning fat will give you a much better appearance, so make sure you try out this form of cardio and see what you think. Any trainer at 247 Fitness would tell you the same.
Cardio, Cardio, Cardio vs. Resistance Training
OK, you already know the problem with too much cardio. So you need to replace all of those excessive sessions you did with resistance training. Do around 3-4 sessions of HIIT cardio as I described before, and use the rest of your time to work all of your muscle groups. Sometimes, it’s best if you do them on separate days so you can really put your all into them. It’s your choice whether you’d prefer to do one body part per day, or an all over resistance workout. Make sure you vary it, with plyometrics, body weight, resistance bands, and weight training. You know me; I love weight training! It doesn’t make women bulky either; it can give you a shapely, defined figure. You’ll only bulk up if you’re training to do so in accordance with your goals.
Forget everything you thought you knew about training, and try this instead!
Haha I knew I’d love this post as soon as I read the title! Spot on – I’ve totally stopped lying to myself about cardio and I know I get a way better workout from doing the fun stuff anyway – picking up heavy(ish) stuff! Glad I found your blog 😉
I do love me some cardio, though – such a mood booster
I do spin. I think it has a good blend of cardio and resistance training. I did it for years awhile back but stopped. I started back recently and although it’s kicking my butt, I am keeping up with it.
Yay for spin! it’s such a fun workout!
these are great tips! i used to do a ton of cardio, but see much better results with doing HIIT cardio and more weights.