Cardio versus resistance training for fat loss

In this blog piece, I am going to address the biggest pet hate of all the personal trainers out there when asking clients, ‘what are your fitness goals?’ Secondly I am going to delve into how you achieve that toned ripped look the fastest way possible and underpin the rationale as to why it’s the quickest way to do so.

When I ask, ‘what are your fitness goals,’ the response I get on a daily basis is “I want to tone up”. It’s a pet hate to all trainers out there. Toned means building muscle and dropping body fat, so “I want to build muscle and drop body fat” is your response the next time you're asked the question above!

When I inform people that resistance training (RT) and high intensity interval training (HIIT) is the fastest and most effective way to do this I normally shock people’s beliefs.  Most people believe that the only way to becoming more ‘toned’, or to lose weight, is by enduring endless hours of steady-state cardio, such as running, because this burns the most calories. You couldn’t be more wrong.

Traditional Cardio is at best a minor importance so if you choose to run, make sure you understand the real reasons why you are running. Reasons to run are:

Performance enhancement
Sport specific training
Stress relief
General health
Endorphin release
To prove something to yourself

But if you are running to drop body fat, or look better naked then you are doing it for all the wrong reasons!

The Science bit...

• The physique transformation process is more complicated than the simple calories-in vs. calories-out theory. The real keys are to use your diet and exercise to elevate your resting metabolic rate and manipulate your anabolic, lipolytic hormones and enzymes. RT has a much more powerful effect on these processes in comparison to aerobic training.
• Upon cessation of a RT session or HIIT the metabolic rate will rise further for longer periods of time than aerobic work – up to 48hrs. This is all because of the steps involved such as satellite cell activation, tissue repair, protein synthesis, etc., which require more calories than just the workout alone. Confused? It is the scienecy bit after all.
• Long painful aerobic sessions elevate cortisol levels, which can lead to excessively high levels, which is not good for body composition enhancement. Cortisol can force the body to break down its own muscle tissue, convert to glucose (gluconeogenesis), and use it as fuel. It also leads to increased fat accumulation, especially around the midsection.
• RT and HITT on the other hand raise cortisol levels, but it also raises Testosterone and growth hormone – potent muscle building/fat burning hormones that offset cortisol. The net hormonal effect (assuming proper dietary support) is protein synthesis/lean muscle gain.

Finally, RT has more powerful, positive nutrient portioning effects than cardio, meaning nutrients are diverted more towards muscle cells (Where they can be used to build/maintain lean muscle tissue) and away from fat cells (where they can be stored as body fat).

It’s time to break free from the thinking that long duration cardio equates to fat loss and RT just equates to building bulky muscles. It’s simply not as clear-cut as that and often the biggest difference between fat loss and muscle building is more related to diet than anything else.

With a look at the literature to back up my argument even further, a research review of HIIT programs noted that “the effect of regular aerobic exercise on body fat is negligible” whereas research into high intensity exercise “indicates that it may be more effective at reducing subcutaneous and abdominal (visceral) body fat than any other types of exercise”.

From reading this, it must be obvious that RT must be prioritised over cardio, but if you persist with cardio and wish to speed up the effects of RT, HIIT can significantly compliment the process.

Try one of Brian’s workouts:

Take on the exercise bike, pedal as fast as you can for 8 seconds then recover for 12 seconds. Repeat this 60 times and you have 20minutes of one of the finest HIIT sessions. Or you can even take yourself and try running as hard and fast as you can for 20 seconds then resting for 10 seconds, repeating this four times taking 3minutes recovery in between and doing a total of four sets!

Yours in health and fitness,

Dan Smullen Bsc. Personal trainer at The Fitness Dock gym.

For more great training tips click here to watch our 12 week challenge on how to get JOE get ripped.

www.thefitnessdock.ie

To see how Brian is getting on with his 12 week challenge, follow the links below:

Watch Week One Video Here

Watch Week Two Video Here

Watch Week Three Video Here

Read Week One Blog Here

Read Week Two Blog Here