Reasons Why Cardio Is Not Ideal for Reducing Bodyfat

If you only do cardiovascular exercises such as indoor cycling and running on the treadmill in the gym your body will burn muscle as well as body fat for fuel. This generally means that your will be lessening your ability to burn fat in the long run because muscle is metabolically active and the more we have the more calories we use on a daily basis.

If you are looking to lose weight and you are spending countless hours pounding the treadmill with no noticeable results, it may be time for you to change your approach to the way you are training in order to get to your goals quicker.

As well as the above your body releases cortisol after about 45 minutes which can lead to the breaking down of more muscle tissue which will negatively affect your long term weight management goals. You will find that you are losing weight but it will not be mainly body fat.

After stopping training you will have less muscle mass as it will have been lost as well as the fat you have used but your appetite and calorie intake will still be high and you will soon begin to put on body fat again quite quickly. This is one of the reasons why people seem to yo-yo diet.

However this time the weight you will gain will not be lean muscle but fat which will be harder to lose because you will have lost your bodies ability to use up excess calories due to the amount of muscle lost.

Muscle building through lifting weights and resistance training over time will turn you in to a lean mean fat burning machine. This will create Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) which will make you burn even more calories after you have exercised, even when you are asleep.

If you look at people with low levels of body fat you will see that the key to this is lifting weights and cutting down on your cardio. If you feel that this is hard you can also look to cut down on the amount of calories you take in each day by looking to eat healthier foods and by trying to cut down on portion sizes. In order to lose body fat we always recommend little and often when it comes to your meals and you should look to cut down on sugar and alcohol intake.

Your muscles are hugely important in helping your body to burn fat and also boost your metabolism by simply being there. You need to think of it like having a car with a bigger engine; it is inevitable that it will use up more fuel, in this case body fat.

My advice here as a fitness professional is to hit the weights room and try to do some metabolic resistance training instead of spending all your time on the treadmill. In addition to this when you are doing cardio you need to cut down on the time an up the intensity. High Intensity Interval Training is definitely the way to go as this can increase the amount of calories your body uses even after you finish exercising.

If you are a member of a gym you should also speak to on of the fitness team or a Personal Trainer who will be qualified to help you out and maybe even design a program for you.