Why Cardio Doesn't Work for Fat Loss

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Cardio exercise is such a strange thing. In theory, it should work so perfectly well for all men and women, but as anyone who has tried it knows, the practicality of it just doesn't add up.

After all, some men and women do cardio 6 hours, 9 hours, or more per week, and still have belly fat to burn. On the other hand, it works just fine for others.

British researchers wanted to get more insight into this paradox, and studied 35 overweight men and women, who weren't previously exercising.

(Reference: International Journal of Obesity 32: 177-184, 2008).

Subjects exercised 5 times per week for 12 weeks. That's a lot of exercise, but it helped the subjects lose an average of 8.2 pounds, which is great - I was positively surprised by the results.

So cardio will work for some people, however, in my experience, it works best in young men, who need the help the least!

Back to the study, the variance in fat loss between individuals was huge. Check this out...

The best subject lost a staggering 32.3 pounds in 12 weeks, while the worst subject actually GAINED 3.74 pounds.

The scientists think they know where things went sour. They classified the subjects into 2 groups, called the "Compensators" and the "Non-compensators".

The Compensators were hungrier, and as a result consumed an extra 268 calories per day, all but wiping out their cardio efforts.

Therefore, the Compensators lost the least amount of weight, and scientists believe that was due to the huge "compensatory" increase in appetite experienced by this group.

Does your appetite increase when you do slow cardio? If it does, research shows it will ruin your cardio efforts.

So if your cardio program is not working for you, check your appetite and calorie intake to see if you are "compensating" for your efforts. If you are, you might be better off using a program of high-intensity resistance and interval training (i.e. Turbulence Training) for your weight loss efforts.

As Australian Professor Steve Boucher has shown in research, interval training increases hormones called catecholamines. And increased catecholamines can reduce appetite, among other fat- burning benefits.

In the real world, few people lose 33 pounds after 12 weeks of cardio. Heck, few even achieve an average weight loss of 8 pounds with aerobic exercise. 

So again, check your appetite, and consider giving high-intensity exercise a go for your next workout program.

Beat the curse of cardio with high-intensity Turbulence Training.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Learn about the "Dark Side of Cardio" in the free report from Craig Ballantyne at www.TurbulenceTraining.com. Craig 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 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

The Simplest Way To Know If Your Overweight or Obese

According to the National Center for Health Statistics of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention almost 70% of the U.S. population is overweight and just over one-third of these overweight adults are obese.

Unfortunately, anyone who remains overweight or obese are guaranteed to expose themselves to some of the most fatal health conditions on earth.

In fact, as you're reading this article approximately 70% of Americans are suffering from one or more of these conditions:

• Gout (affects the joints that is caused by high levels of a substance called uric acid in the blood)
• High blood pressure (a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke)
• Diabetes
• Osteoarthritis (common joint condition that most often affects the knee, hip, and lower back joints)
• Cancer (uterus, gallbladder, cervix, ovary, breast, and colon)
• Heart disease and stroke (leading cause of death and disability for people in the U.S.)

So if you want to reduce or eliminate your odds of having to live with any of these conditions...

You want to know your BMI or Body Mass Index.

This is your "primary weapon" against anything that could potentially affect the outcome of your health in the future because it tells you what lifestyle changes you can make now to live a better life.

Your BMI is a measure of body fat based on your height and weight.

So if your BMI is between 25 and 29.9, you are considered overweight -- 30 or more you are considered obese.

You can discover what your BMI is with this simple BMI Chart.

First, you will locate your height in the left-most column...

Next, read across that row to find your current weight...

Hopefully at this point your BMI is not between 25 and 29.9...

If so, don't be discourage... just read back and see how much weight you will have to loose to drop down below 25...

Then take immediate action!

The Secret To Making Calcium Work For Your Bones

I'm sure you will agree that if you asked 10 adults if calcium is essential to keeping our bones healthy... at least 9 of them would say "yes".

And why wouldn't they agree... every medical professional, food manufacturer, supplement manufacturer, and health organization say the same thing.

But if it's that simple... why do these same sources report that 1 out 4 women in America alone will be affected by osteoporosis?

Why do they report that over 30 million women in America alone are living with osteoporosis?

And why do they report that more women in America alone will die prematurely from this condition than cervical and breast cancer combined?

Well... here's the truth...

First, we are not being told what causes bone loss, which I advise you get to understand immediately. You can read about it here.

Secondly, we are not being told how to make calcium work for our bones.

If you put these two principles to work today... your odds of suffering from complications associated with calcium deficiency will be slim and none!

To make calcium work for your bones... you must understand there are at least 19 other vital nutrients required to keep your bones strong and healthy.

If you're not supplying your body daily with these essential nutrients... your bones won't be able to absorb the calcium it needs.

The table below list these essential nutrients, the recommended daily intake to maintain good bone health, and foods rich in these nutrients.

IMPORTANT: Each food is listed by its nutrient density, so not every food source on earth is in this list. These are just the riches sources of these nutrients. So if you would like more information such as serving sizes, daily values, etc.

Go to the World's Healthiest Foods website and simply type each nutrient in the search bar on the top of the page.

Nutrient	Recommened Daily Intake For Good Bone Health
Key Vitamins
Vitamin D	800–2000+ IU
Vitamin A	Up to 5000 IU
Vitamin C	min 500–3000 mg
Folate (Folic Acid)	800–1000 mcg
Vitamin B12	10–1000 mcg
Vitamin B6	25–50 mg
Vitamin K	1000 mcg
Key Minerals
Calcium	1000–1500 mg
Strontium	3–30 mg
Magnesium	400–800 mg
Zinc	20–30 mg
Silicon (Silica)	5-20 mg
Phosphorus	800–1200 mg
Potassium	4000–6000 mg
Cooper	1–3 mg
Chromium	200–1000 mg
Manganese	10–25 mg
Boron	3–5 mg
Other Vital Nutrients
Essential Fatty Acids (Omega 3 & 6)	20 - 30% of caloric intake
Protein	46 g (adult females) 56 g (adult males)

As you can see... your bones need lots of help to stay healthy. And calcium is just a small part of it. So you want to make sure you're giving your body its daily requirement of each of these nutrients from natural food sources everyday.

What about nutritional supplements?

Well ask yourself...

How did humans get their nutrients before the advancement of nutritional supplements?

You guessed it... they ate food. So it's best you stay in flow with your body's harmony and get your essential vitamins and minerals from your food.

If you purchase organic foods and make it your daily goal to eat as much of them as necessary to supply your body needs... you will never have to consider paying for extra money on supplements that in most cases don't work due to their synthetic nature.

So when think of calcium, just think of it as being a well-rounded part of your diet. That will be the day when calcium will begin working for you and your bones will remain healthy for a lifetime.

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Should Calories Really Be Your Focus When You Select The Foods You Eat?

It's true... the amount of Calories in our food does have a dramatic affect on our weight.

But in the long run... what kind of an effect a caloric based diet has on our health?

Well, scientists have known since the 1930s that the quality of a human being's health and their longevity is directly associated to what they ate during their lifetimes.

What they found is that undernourished people experience more sickness, depression, obesity, and diseases than those that supplied their bodies with proper nutrition.

So according to this scientific data... if you desire to live a long and disease free life, you have to know how to nourish your body, instead of worrying about how many calories your feeding it.

Nourishing means your giving your body its daily supply of essential nutrients to maintain proper cell reproduction. It's this is key to you to experiencing your entire life in perfect health.

To do this effectively, you want to set your focus on foods that have a high nutrient density.

Nutrient density is the amount of nutrients (vitamins and minerals) inside a particular food in comparison to its calories.

According to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, fruits and vegetables are nutrient-dense foods because they provide substantial amounts of vitamins and minerals and relatively few calories, while foods like eggs, meats, cheese, foods containing added sugars, processed foods, and alcohol are not.

Nutrient density is the ratio of the nutrient composition of a particular food to the nutritional requirements of the human body. In other words, the amount of vitamins and minerals contained in the food to meet your body's needs in one day.

Okay, how do you learn the nutrient density of foods?

A very good place to start is the Worlds Healthiest Foods website.

The foods they have listed are powerful whole, natural, nutrient-rich, health-promoting foods. These nutrients-dense foods are organically grown, readily available in your town, affordable, great tasting, and can supply the complete nutritional package you body needs for optimal health.

I strongly advise you go organic because they have 50% more nutrients than the foods you buy at your local grocer without the lethal pesticides.

So go through the site and start consuming more nutrient-rich sources of fruits, vegetables, and grains to ensure your nutritional needs are met everyday.

Here's to your health!!!

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