Nov 11
15
Do You Need To Do Cardio To Lose Fat?
The other day I was asked on my facebook fan page from a reader if you need to do cardio to lose fat?
I thought this would be a great post considering the niche of my blog.
Also… I wanted to warn you that I’m in a pretty sweet mood as I write this post. Most of the time when I blog it’s usually in the morning when I’m grumpy.
But today I’ve got some time to write it in the afternoon, so you’re probably going to see my normal personality in this article.
I warn you, it could get nasty.
Also, for the sake of this article…
When I mention cardio I mean running.
And when I mention conditioning I mean anything else that elevates the heart rate except running.
Anyways… do we need to do cardio to lose fat?
No.
But do we need to do conditioning to lose fat?
Yes.
Now before all you cardio haters start emailing me and calling me a trader, thinking I’ve gone over to the dark side. Just hang on two secs and let me explain…
You ‘could’ get away with losing body fat without cardio or conditioning IF your diet was absolutely 100% spot on. And I mean REALLLLY spot on.
No carbs.
No junk.
No cheat meals.
Noth’n, nadda, zip… Got it?
Your diet has to be as good as this if you wana lose fat without cardio
But since that will rule out 99% of the population I’m left with no other answer but yes.
Also, the other thing I should mention is when you go full ‘anti cardio and conditioning’, and you do by chance make your diet look as good as Jennifer Hawkins straight out of a hot shower and you actually see some signs of a 6 pack.
You will still feel like a slob when it comes to anything thing that involves any day-to-day work like walking up a flight of stairs, running after the bus or especially when you girls do sleep overs and have a pillow fight in your underwear.
Last year when I launched this blog and went really anti cardio and conditioning and just dialled in my diet and weight training. I did look good in photos. But when it came to performance I sucked.
Why?
Because I would be gassed out before the warm up, or like I said before, when I walked up a flight of stairs or anything that involved a higher heart rate I would break into a pant and sweat.
I could lift heavy stuff, but that was about it.
As Louie Simmons says “what good is being able to lift a heavy weight only once. For goodness sake, stay in shape”. Or something simliar along those lines.
It’s all cool, badass and hi-fives when you look in the mirror and see sweet F.A body fat, lean muscle and a 6 pack popping out at you.
But then when you step into the gym and train like a poodle, it’s very psychologically hard to deal with. Especially since we associate having a 6 pack as being ‘fit’.
But I’ve seen 14 year old kids who eat shit all day and still have a 6 pack, does that mean they’re fit and strong?
Hardly.
So now you’re probably thinking “great, cardio haters is dead, I’ve been lied too and now I gotta’ jump back on the treadmill again”.
Hold on buddy…
As I’ve said numerous times before… conditioning is anything that elevates the heart rate, not just running. Weight training is conditioning, sprinting is conditioning, walking is conditioning and even sex (as long as you last longer than my world record of 30 seconds) is conditioning.
In conclusion…
To make this article absolutely dummy proof, I’ll re-word the question…
Do you have to RUN to lose body fat?
No.
I haven’t gone for a run for almost 2 years and either have any of my clients once they enter my gym. And we still all get results and have the performance to go with it as well.
Running sucks period.
It destroys your joints, breaks down your immune system and elevates cortisol levels which is the stress hormone that is designed to store body fat and eat muscle.
So even if you enjoy the occasional run and are truely serisous about getting down to single digit body fat. I encourage you to stop and take on other conditioning methods such as…
Fasted walking
Hill sprints
and Pillow fights
Yes you do have to get your heart rate up if you want to get into killer shape.
But this (finishers, hill sprints etc.) is the kinda stuff that will get you in shape, this is the kinda stuff that will help you lose body fat without cardio.
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- ‘Simply The Best’ Exercises To Lose Fat Without Cardio
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