In our modern times the notion is often held that is some is good, more must be better. This paradox blankets many aspects of our lives. In the gym, I see people plodding away on a treadmill for and hour or more. To me this seems like a nonsensical approach to fitness in a time where everyone has an excuse on how little time they have. Time, the number one excuse for why people can't make it to the gym is a sad excuse.
Although I can expand an entire post on time management, I assume you "don't have the time" to read an entire article on how to approach time management. Instead I'll give you some practical ideas on how to get the most out of a cardio session at the gym. The caveat here is that everything I will outline below will take you between 20-30 minutes and, you'll see better results than the typical jaunt on the treadmill, bike, of elliptical Sounds like the start of an infomercial, but what I am about to share has very simple science behind it and there is no bonus for calling in the next 20:00 (although you could get a good workout in and still have time left in 20:00)
When many of us think of cardio, what comes to mind, the hamster wheel is what pops into my head, along with the skinny guys with a body fat percentage in the 20's plodding away at 4mph for 60min to "lose weight (which is probably just further muscle wasting). This image should go the way of jazzercise and Richard Simmons into the youtube vault of exercise comedy. Let's examine "chronic cardio" with basic scientific principals. Yes, you may argue that at 60% intensity, you are solely burning fat as fuel. However, you may not know that the amount you are burning is far less than say if you were at 90%. The other issue is the basic biological principal that your body will adapt to the stressed placed on it. Your 60min session, while at a comfortable pace still gets you breathing and sweating isn't doing much for changes in body chemistry that would invoke adaptations to body mass or fitness. At a comfortable level you're doing nothing but exercising within your current fitness.
The solution you ask? Interval training. With a solid interval set, we can improve fitness, spark our body to adapt, and invoke chemistry responses all at a minimal time requirement. Pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, for brief intervals of time, followed by recovery jogging or rest yield tremendous results. Let's apply some basic exercise science. MET's are the currency we use to measure the cost of activity on your body, its how much energy is required to perform a task. Brisk walking or a slow jog, requires about 4.5 MET's. Running, at a 6min mile pace (not even close to the speed you can achieve in a short interval) costs us 16 MET's. As you can see, that's over three times as much energy. Someone can easily jump up four fold from the typical cardio pace. If we are exercising at 4 times the MET's we are going to achieve much more.
Here is a little math if we do intervals at 20 MET's for :30 followed by :30 jog we end up at an average of 12.25 MET's averaged per min. Let's repeat the interval 10 times for a 10min total workout. That's a total of 122.5 MET's. To get the same energy expenditure from the typical pace, you'd have to jog for 28min. We get almost 3 times the energy expenditure all other variables equal. This isn't the only benefit, caloric afterburn, V02 max development, the rush of endorphin's hormones, and enzymes also turn our body into a fat burning incinerary.
Now hopefully I have convinced you fitness can take as little as 20min of your day. Start slow, and build up. Intervals are an excellent way to get more out of your training. There are 100's of different ways too incorporate them into a workout. Message me for some ideas!
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