| Myths Exposed and Little Known Secrets | | | | protein) |
| Revealed | | | | |
| What do you think of when I mention cardio? | | | | 4. FAT (Speaks for itself) |
| An hour-long jog? A long, steady session on the | | | | |
| exercise bike? Sweatin' to the oldies? If it's any of | | | | ¨Notice where FAT is on the scale. It is |
| those things, you're doing cardio, but you're not | | | | last!!! It’s the one thing we hate the most |
| doing smart cardio. There are lots of things you | | | | about our body and it’s the one thing your |
| can do to burn calories, but if you're reading this | | | | body hates to give up. The irony! |
| article, you know that you want the calories you | | | | ¨It takes between 20-30 minutes to reach |
| burn to come from fat, not lean mass. Traditional | | | | level #4, depending on the time of day you train |
| long, slow distance cardio burns muscle and fat | | | | and when you last ingested carbohydrates. |
| pretty indiscriminately. In fact, if you do enough, | | | | |
| you may find that your body burns muscle | | | | Case#1: Come into the gym and jump on the |
| preferentially to ease the demands of doing so | | | | cardio machine (pick your favorite). Remember |
| much aerobic work. That's exactly the opposite | | | | it will take 20-30 minutes to burn the muscle |
| of what you want. | | | | glycogen, liver glycogen and BBA before you |
| So how do you do cardio without sacrificing | | | | reach fat. In reality, the first 25 minutes of |
| precious muscle? The answer is interval work. | | | | cardio is totally USELESS!! That is of course unless |
| Definitely get yourself cleared by a doctor before | | | | you actually enjoy doing cardio, simply for the |
| jumping into intervals, because the whole idea is | | | | love of doing cardio. If you do, then I will |
| to rapidly and repeatedly raise your heart rate, | | | | affectionately call you NUTS! Most people do it |
| alternating the high heart rate work with brief | | | | for fat loss, so why not make it the most |
| recovery periods. The optimal way to do interval | | | | effective? To access fat, you now have to add |
| work is probably to do walk back sprints. Sprint | | | | an additional 20 minutes of cardio to get any |
| all-out for 15 seconds, then turn around and walk | | | | results. The entire cardio session alone will be |
| back to where you started. It should take about | | | | around 45 minutes. Now you go to weight |
| 45 seconds to walk back. Once you're back | | | | training. But wait, where is your muscle glycogen |
| where you started, sprint for 15 seconds again. | | | | (fuel for muscle contraction?) Right, it’s |
| Do seven sprints your first week, and add one | | | | gone! The result; weaker workout, less muscle |
| sprint per week until you're up to 20 sprints per | | | | development, increased fatigue, over training, |
| session. If you're not up for sprints, you can | | | | burnout, longer recovery and a slower |
| approximate them on an exercycle or an elliptical | | | | metabolism. In short, NO PROGRESS! You get |
| machine. Simply go all-out for 15 seconds, then | | | | discouraged and quit training because your body is |
| pedal or walk at a recovery pace for 45. The | | | | not changing. |
| same build-up pattern applies. | | | | |
| In order to grasp this concept, you must first | | | | Case #2: Come into the gym and you jump |
| learn what your body burns for energy during | | | | on the cardio machine for 5-minutes to warm-up. |
| strenuous exercise. I call this energy body burn, | | | | Now you hit the weights. Where is your muscle |
| “The Hierarchy Scale Of Energy.” The | | | | glycogen? Right, ready to go for power and |
| human body accesses certain nutrients for | | | | intensity resistance training. Train for 30 minutes |
| energy and does so in a precise manner every | | | | with weights and use up #1-3 on the Hierarchy |
| time. This access order NEVER changes. Let | | | | Scale. Result; increased strength, more lean |
| me repeat, NEVER changes. This scale will alter | | | | muscle, less fatigue, no burnout, more intensity. |
| the way you train forever! Here it is. | | | | Now begin cardio training. What is the only |
| | | | | available energy source left to burn for the cardio |
| 1. MUSCLE GLYCOGEN | | | | session since #1-3 are gone? You got it, #4!! |
| (Sugar processed from carbohydrates and stored | | | | Now you access fat stores immediately and only |
| in muscle for contraction) | | | | have to do 15-20 minutes of cardio to get the |
| 2. LIVER GLYCOGEN | | | | same benefits as 45 minutes in Case #1. That |
| (Storage organ for excess glycogen; primary fuel | | | | means more fat loss! In short, PHENOMENAL |
| source for brain function) | | | | PROGRESS! You get psyched and train harder. |
| 3. BBA (BLOOD BORNE AMINO ACIDS) | | | | Which would you choose to do? I know my |
| (Branched Chain Amino Acids formed from | | | | answer! |