A lot of people on their quest to achieve their goal physique need to lose a significant amount of body fat in order to reveal the muscles which are hiding below their cushioning. The very first thing people think about when it comes to burning body fat is to follow a strict exercise regime based on a traditional form of aerobic exercise or in short: cardio. Cardio stands for cardiovascular, referring to cardio being any activity that successfully raises your heart rate while performing the activity. Traditional forms of cardio include running, cycling, swimming or any machine available in the gym regarding cardio.
Then there’s the debate over whether steady state cardio or high intensity cardio is better for burning body fat. Some people swear by traditional forms of cardio, while the younger generation is leaning more toward the HIIT forms of cardio. Both camps give such convincing arguments that seem to make it impossible to figure out what we should do in order to shred fat off our bodies successfully.
Luckily, like most things in the fitness world, this topic can easily be explained and any mystery around cardio will be cleared up after you’ve read this article. To know which form of cardiovascular exercise is best to achieve our physique goals, we first must understand what the most important factor is in order to burn body fat and which role cardio plays in the fat burning process. Many people mindlessly follow a cardio routine and find out that their efforts didn’t result in what they hoped to see on the scale and in the mirror.
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR FOR FAT LOSS
No matter which form of cardiovascular exercise you will perform, it won’t have any effect regarding losing body fat if you don’t respect the number one rule of fat loss. Body fat is stored energy. Every calorie we eat that isn’t used for either our bodily functions, the tasks we have perform every day, to build muscle or to be stored as glycogen in the muscles, will be stored as body fat. In short, gaining and losing body fat is all about energy in versus energy out. This is known as the law of thermodynamics.
This is the most important factor we should take into consideration when it comes to weight maintenance and gaining or losing body fat. If you eat too many calories (= units of energy) for your body to utilize for its daily tasks, those calories will be stored as energy reserves in the form of body fat. If you eat fewer calories on a consistent basis and create an energy deficit, your body will tap into its stored energy reserves, its fat reserves, and use that as an energy source. By either consuming fewer calories or/and burning more calories through physical activity, a calorie deficit is created. As a result, your body loses off body fat.
The easiest and most efficient way to significantly reduce your calories, especially in the beginning stages of your fat loss journey where you are 15% body fat or higher, is to manipulate your diet. The number one reason why people are overweight, even those who are physically active, is because they consume too many calories on a consistent basis. And quite honestly, most people can’t out train a bad diet.
For this very reason, the best fat loss tip I can give you is to learn about your calorie requirements. Learn how to calculate how many calories you need to maintain your current weight and to create a moderate calorie deficit of about 20% every day. By simply eating less, you can create the most efficient calorie deficit and kickstart your fat loss journey. Most people don’t understand this fundamental fat loss fact and end up being frustrated why they don’t lose weight even though they spent a lot of time doing endless amounts of cardio. They burn energy through they cardio workouts, but then overeat and undo the calorie deficit they created through they cardio sessions.
Whichever form of cardio you choose, regarding fat loss, it doesn’t matter if you’re not creating a calorie deficit.
USING CARDIO AS A FAT LOSS SUPPLEMENT
So, if the easiest way to create a calorie deficit is through diet, where does cardio come into play? Good question. The thing is, you actually don’t need cardio to get very lean. If you do things properly and don’t crash diet your way down, but use a more sensible approach where you reduce your calories gradually in phases with a moderate calorie deficit, you won’t lose muscle mass and you can get extremely lean without ever having done cardio.
That being said, there comes a point where your calories will be on the lower side, especially when you dip below the 10-12% mark. This is where cardio can come in handy to create an energy deficit without lowering your calorie intake even further. At this point, cardio acts as a supplement to your diet to create an energy deficit and is being used effectively as a fat loss tool. This means that your nutritional intake is under control and that you’re manipulating your energy balance even further with the help of cardiovascular activity, which in turn will help you to achieve an even leaner state.
Now, obviously, everybody should perform some sort of physical activity. That’s just part of a healthy lifestyle and will do your body good. When it comes to body composition (the ratio of fat free mass vs fat mass in your body) though, the ultimate form of exercise is resistance training. Resistance training will force your muscles to grow and to adapt to the stimulus its being given. On a fat loss phase, it’s extremely important to perform resistance training because it will force your body to hold on a to its muscle mass when in an energy deficit.
Since you need to handle those heavy weights, your body will hold on to the metabolically expensive muscle tissue so that your body is able to continue executing its tasks. This will have a favorable effect on your body composition, as you will lose mostly body fat and at the end of your cutting phase, will be able to see the muscular definition most men dream of having.
Men who lose weight without performing any form or resistance training lose weight in both the form of fat and muscle tissue. This will make them skinny fat, which means that they will become a smaller, but still flabby version of themselves. The importance of resistance training cannot be underestimated when it comes to aesthetics and therefore should always take priority over cardio if you had to choose one over the other.
Remember, cardio is not necessary to achieve an amazing physique and to get extremely lean. It can simply serve as a tool to create an extra calorie deficit without reducing calories through diet even further. Or if you’re happy with where you’re at, performing cardio and burning additional calories can give you some extra room to eat some additional calories in your diet while maintaining the same weight and body fat percentage.
THE BEST FORM OF CARDIO FOR FAT LOSS
Now that you know which role cardio plays in your fat loss journey, you want to hear which form of cardio is best to achieve your goals. The answer is: there isn’t any best form of cardio. Whether it’s running, cycling, swimming, rowing, walking or hiking. It really doesn’t matter as long as the activity that you choose allows you to effectively burn additional calories. Therefore, it’s wise to choose something that you enjoy doing.
Now there is a difference between two types of cardio. That is low/moderate intensity steady state cardio and high intensity interval cardio. While these are both great forms of physical activity, I tend to lean more towards low intensity steady state cardio for fat loss goals. This is because high intensity interval training has an extremely fatiguing element to it that may lead to hindering the performance of your weight training sessions. If your weight training suffers from your cardio, it defeats the purpose of incorporating cardio into your exercise routine.
High intensity interval training is a fantastic tool to increase your VO2 max and to boost your athletic performance, but it shouldn’t be overused as a main source of cardio since it is very taxing on the body. Many people claim that HIIT is superior for fat loss because it has an afterburn effect for several hours after the activity has ended, but these claims have been massively blown out of proportion and the afterburn effect isn’t as amazing as one would think. High intensity interval workouts are actually more of an anaerobic form of exercise. They tend to lean more towards weight training than pure cardio training. While I love these kinds of workouts for athletic purposes and even building up the leg musculature, I would use them for specific athletic purposes and not necessarily for the goal of burning calories.
If you want to increase your VO2 max and improve your athletic abilities I would advise you to perform sprint training. This can be done by running on a flat surface or by performing hill sprints or you can do it on a bicycle, in a swimming pool or with the use of any cardio equipment of choice. Do this 1-2x per week and you’ll notice that your conditioning will improve drastically, but with interval training, increased fatigue also comes into play. By doing sprints no more than 2x per week, you normally won’t hinder your lifting performance. Remember, this is optional, not obligatory.
For fat loss purposes, the most important factor is energy expenditure. Steady state cardio at a low to moderate intensity allows you to perform a form a cardio for a longer time period at a certain pace which allows you to burn calories efficiently without the buildup of excessive fatigue. One of my favorite forms of exercise is just walking outdoors as part of my daily lifestyle. I love lifting weights in the gym, but absolutely hate being locked inside on a cardio machine. Instead, I opt for going on long walks and incorporate those in my daily lifestyle. I listen to an audiobook, podcasts or simply enjoy the sound of nature or life in the city as I go on long walks. These burn calories and improve blood circulation as efficiently as traditional forms of cardio and won’t hinder my recovery of my weight training. Walking is an amazing form of exercise for all kinds of health reasons and has proven to be very effective for fat loss purposes and besides… it’s what our species has been doing for the last 3,6 million years, so I think there might be something to it! If there is one form of physical activity that I advise everyone to do next to resistance training, it’s walking.
CONCLUSION ON CARDIO FOR FAT LOSS
The primary factor for losing body fat is creating a calorie deficit. This should first and foremost be done by dialing in your nutrition. Cardio is not necessary to become extremely lean or shredded, yet it can be used as a secondary tool to supplement your diet.
There is no best form of cardio, as long as it effectively burns calories and doesn’t interfere with the recovery and progress of your resistance training. Beware of HIIT as it can be taxing on the body and can hinder your weight training workouts if done excessively. Steady state cardio at a lower or moderate intensity is effective at burning calories, but not as taxing on the body and is therefore a better option for many people as it won’t hinder their weight training recovery.
Many people underestimate the power of walking. It’s the original form of cardio and is what we’ve been evolved to do. Incorporate walking as a part of your lifestyle and you’ll not only experience its benefits for fat loss, it will also massively improve your blood circulation, improve your mood and will lower your risk of developing diabetes.
A traditional form of cardio is not necessary to achieve the body most people dream of, but if you do decide to perform cardio, make sure that you enjoy it.
Kevin Mahjoubi