Cardio for weight loss

When I talk to people about weight loss, 9 times out of 10 I get back “I should run more right?” The Simple answer here is no. I myself run, only once a week, though I am not a huge fan but goals right. Cardio can be an effective tool when it comes to losing weight and reducing fat but not the only tool. You would never expect your mechanic to only use a spanner to fix your engine, so why would you just run?

There are so many types of training styles out there. All of which have a specific function to the individual or group. Just looking at cardio for a moment, everyone knows the health benefits of doing this, though some people just do this and nothing else. For years I believed just doing resistance training was all that you needed to do to have a fitter and healthier body. To a certain point I still do and it still produces some of the biggest gains for your body. Though with age comes wrinkles and I now have a better understanding of my environment/body and the things that can make it work, no guff needed. Let me explain, strength training does make you stronger, this includes your cardiovascular (CV) system. But what I found was that I lacked CV stamina and endurance. My recovery is very quick (ideal for HIIT work) I couldn’t really enjoy other activity that required stamina like up hill hikes (kill me) and long distance runs. When performed properly and safely any form of training can help improve against injury, though nothing is without risk.

Cardio on its own, like I mentioned before is such a small piece of the puzzle. If your aim is weight loss then just stick with cardio and a calorie deficit and you will lose weight. Down side is a big chunk of that weight could be muscle. During pro-longed cardio sessions our body’s can break down the muscle as fuel, this will impact on your overall power, speed and strength. Muscle gives us some handy health benefits, just to point out a couple it improves metabolism, and we look fitter and healthier, it helps with injury prevention, the most important element is that we store glucose (in the form of glycogen) in the muscles. If you choose to just run you would be welcoming a host of injuries that can slow you down (no pun intended) or prevent you from being your healthiest. Injuries like: Bone fractures, shin splints, tendonitis, bursitis, muscle cramps, ligament injuries, plantar fasciitis, cardiac arrhythmias, atherosclerosis and oxidative stress and over training, and many other joint and feet problems too. I believe and hope, to help you prevent these injuries you would need to add in a resistant training regime, at least once or twice a week to help keep joints and muscles strong.

It looks like I’m ragging on cardio here. Doing CV exercises brings so much to the table, improvements to slow twitch muscle fibres, it strengthens your heart and lungs, helps use up some fat for energy and its really good for mental well being too. The list could go on but that would be a boring post right. When you start looking at different types of CV work you really see the benefits of really mixing it up. Lets say, you hated resistant work and only did CV training. You could spend some time doing sprints, flat or up hills, HIIT workouts would also be great. These short intense bursts of explosive movements really help in getting rid of that stubborn belly fat. They could also help in keeping as much muscle as possible too. You could also add in some kettle bell (KB) workouts too, they are very HIIT like. Though if you have never used KB’s before please find a couch to teach you, it’ll be worth it.

One thing you might want to keep in mind is the difference of sprinters and endurance runners; you can see the difference in their physicality, one will have a fair amount of muscle while the other doesn’t have as much. The sprinter does rely more on power and speed, so having so much muscle comes in very handy. The endurance runner requires more oxygen, and needs to be able to have the lung capacity to reach great distances. Yes CV will help with weight loss but done with at least another form of exercise to maximise your health benefits from it. Keep in mind that there are many tools to help you lose weight and be healthier, don’t just rely on one tool, use your health toolbox to get yourself where you want to be.

If like me (I can’t believe i’m saying this) and you run for fun (I just got a little sick) then keep doing it. I don’t want you to stop. I find it’s a great way to reduce stress and it lets my mind wonder. it isn’t something i personally do to lose weight, though I do like the extra health benefits that I get from it on top of the other bits I do.