Can cardio help with fat loss? Coach Thib's answers

Earlier this week, I posted a quote that I got from Alwyn Cosgrove's blog regarding using a metabolic weight circuit to burn fat instead of doing cardio. The numbers that AC found are astounding in that lifting weigth will do more for fat loss then cardio.

What I did show was that cardio CAN BE a benefit while trying to burn fat, in addition to lifting heavy weight.

Here is a knowledge bomb that Christian Thibaudeau dropped during my Physique Clinic almost 2 years ago:

LONG AND SLOW OR SHORT AND HARD?

There are several types of "cardio" you can perform on your way to leanness. All of these can normally be grouped into two camps:

1. Long and slow: low intensity of work (65-70%) for a relatively long period of time (30-45 minutes).

2. Short and hard: high intensity of work (75-90%) for shorter periods of time or intervals. GPP work such as sled dragging, sledgehammer striking, sandbag carrying can also be included in this camp.

Both types will help you lose fat but not via the exact same action. The long and slow techniques will favor direct fat oxidation over the total caloric expenditure increase while the short and hard techniques will act primarily
via an increase in total energy expenditure rather than on direct fat mobilization.

So which one is better? There is no "best" way to perform energy system work. It all depends on the type of diet and training program you are using as well as some genetic factors. Without going into too much detail, the following guidelines give you the 411 on what type of technique to use depending on some factors:

If you are on a very restrictive diet you should avoid short and hard cardio work because you are already causing a severe caloric deficit, dipping too low could lead to muscle loss.

If you are on a low-carbs diet you should also avoid short and hard sessions because these rely heavily on glycogen for energy. When you don't consume a lot of carbs your body will not be able to store a lot of glycogen and the little that you have will be needed to fuel your strength training workouts. Performing short and hard cardio work while in a glycogen-depleted state also increases the risk of muscle catabolism as the body will tend to breakdown muscle tissue into amino acids to produce new glucose from them.

If you are on a moderate diet providing sufficient amounts of carbohydrates performing short and hard sessions will be best as it will allow you to create more of a caloric deficit.

If you wish to quickly deplete your glycogen stores (if you are using a cyclical low-carbs diet and wish to deplete your glycogen stores after a carb-up to get back into a fat burning state as fast as possible) you can perform a short and hard session.

Earlier in a fat loss/body transformation program it is possible to use a greater proportion of short and hard sessions. But as you get down to very low levels of body fat you should switch to more low intensity work because when you reach a very low level of body fat you tend to feel more lethargic and have less energy. As such low intensity cardio work is mentally easier to perform and will allow for a greater program compliancy.

EXAMPLES OF ENERGY SYSTEMS TECHNIQUES

There really is no need to explain long and slow cardio work as it's pretty straight-forward: train for 30-45 minutes at an intensity level of 65-70% of your maximum heart rate. You can use the treadmill, stepmill, stationary
bike, recumbent bike, x-vest walking, etc. as long as you are in the proper intensity and duration range you'll be fine.

But what about short and hard techniques? Well, here are a few of my favorites:

400-Meter Running

I discovered the high fat-burning potency of 400 meter sprints without really looking for it. I use a lot of 400m running with my hockey players, mostly because it develops the energy system they require the most during a game.
However, I quickly noticed how lean they were getting shortly after starting 400m runs. They were not only getting leaner but stronger!

I then experimented with the 400m for fat-loss purposes and found time after time how efficacious it truly was. To this day I still believe that few things can match up with 400m runs for fat loss.

For mathematically impaired Americans who never ran track in high school, 400 meters is one lap around a standard track.

I recommend using 400-meter sprints once per week at first as they're very hard work! However, some of my athletes use up to three sessions per week, two being the norm.

Interval Running

Interval running is another great way of burning body fat without jeopardizing your efforts to gain muscle and strength. It combines low-intensity and high-intensity work for a very large fat-burning effect. Basically you'll alternate between slow-pace running (slow jog) and fast-pace running (sprint).

This form of training is a bit less intense and stressful than 400-meter sprints. It can be started at a frequency of twice per week, building-up to three or four times per week for maximum fat loss. Stay with two weekly sessions if you're trying to build muscle.

Interval Build-Up Running (IBUR)

This is my personal favorite fat-burning strategy. IBUR is based on many of the same principles as regular interval training, but with each cycle (or each interval), the duration of the sprint and jog phases increase in length.

CARDIO: WHEN TO DO IT?

There is a big debate regarding the optimal time to perform cardio to shed a maximum of fat. The biggest aspect of that debates is in regard to morning (upon waking up) cardio. Some say that it can drastically increase the amount of fat you use while others state that it can actually be quite
catabolic especially if performed in a completely fasted state. So, who's right?

First, let's look at the pros of fasted morning cardio:

Pro #1: Morning cardio could potentially increase the amount of free fatty acids (FFA) used up as fuel. This is not due to performing cardio in a glycogen depleted state though, since this isn't happening here. Unless you go to sleep in an already depleted state, you won't wake up in such a state.

During sleep almost 100% of the energy expended comes from fatty acids because of the extremely low intensity of the activity and because of the natural hGH burst which occurs 30 minutes or so after you enter the deep sleep phase (hGH increases fatty acid mobilization).

So you really aren't depleting your intramuscular glycogen stores during the night. You might be tapping your hepatic glycogen stores slightly, but even then that can't account for much since at best this contains maybe 200-300kcals
of stored energy. So it's a fallacy to believe that when you wake up your muscles are emptied of their glycogen.

However, since fat is the primary energy source during your sleeping period, chances are that upon waking you have a greater amount of free fatty acids available. Since you don't have to mobilize them (they're already freed up) they become easier to oxidize for fuel and are thus more readily used up during morning cardio.

Pro #2: Fasted morning cardio could also potentially be glycogen-sparing for the same reason as stated above: the greater availability of FFAs reduces the reliance of glycogen for fuel during low-intensity energy systems work.

Pro #3: Fasted morning cardio could lead to an improved fatty acid mobilization during exercise and increase insulin sensitivity afterwards. This might be true of exercise at a low level of intensity (50-75% of max VO2) since this decreases insulin levels via the stimulation of adrenergic receptors. A lower insulin level can increase fatty acid mobilization.

However, a higher intensity of work (above 75% of max VO2) can actually have the opposite effect. So in that regard a moderate or even low intensity of work would seem to be superior in the morning as far as fat mobilization goes. (Galbo, 1983, Poortmans et Boiseau, 2003)

To counterbalance the reduction in insulin production during exercise at a moderate intensity, insulin sensitivity is increased, especially in the muscle. Since insulin sensitivity is already high in the fasted state, morning cardio could allow you to significantly increase glycogen storage and reduce the storage of carbohydrates as body fat.

So in that regard, morning cardio in a fasted state could increase fat loss during a cutting period and allow a bodybuilder in a bulking phase to significantly increase his carb intake without gaining more fat.

However there aren't just bright aspects to fasted morning cardio. If fasted state cardio could potentially increase fat mobilization, it's also potentially more catabolic to muscle tissue. This is due to an increase in cortisol
production during fasted exercise. Since cortisol levels are already high in the morning, this could lead to more muscle wasting than during non-fasted cardio.

In fact, cortisol levels could increase muscle breakdown and the use of amino acids as an energy source. This is especially true if high-intensity energy systems work is performed. If an individual uses lower intensity (around 60-65% of maximum heart rate), the need for glucose and cortisol release are both reduced and thus the situation becomes less catabolic.

I personally do believe in the efficacy of morning cardio, but not in a completely fasted state. For optimal results I prefer to ingest a small amount of amino acids approximately 15-30 minutes before the cardio session. A mix of 5g of BCAA, 5g of glutamine, and 5g of essential amino acids would do the trick in preventing any unwanted muscle breakdown.

However, I'll also play devil's advocate and say that morning cardio won't be drastically more effective than post-workout or afternoon cardio work when it comes to fat loss.


Pre-strength workout cardio

If one chooses not to go the morning cardio route another option is to perform the sessions along with the strength training workouts. However this poses another conundrum: should we perform our cardio before or after our strength training work?

Some peoples claim that performing the cardio first will provide for a good warm-up and thus reduce the risk of injuries during the session and even improve performance by increasing body temperature. This is actually true, and a short 5-10 minutes warm-up before hitting the weights is certainly a good idea in most cases; it really doesn�??t apply to a full blown fat-loss cardio session. While a short, low intensity warm-up can help with your performance slaving on the treadmill for 45 minutes or hitting it hard with intervals is a sure way to drain yourself and as a result it will end up sapping your much needed strength thus reducing the efficacy of your lifting workout.

So if you decide to perform your cardio work along with your lifting session it is much better to lift first and run second.

The last option is to perform your cardio on a non-lifting day. This can be adequate if a low-intensity approach is used as it will not reduce recovery capacities (it might actually help you recover faster). However if you decide
to use a short and hard approach, it might not be the best option (to do it on your days off) especially if you are hitting the gym 4-5 times per week.

A high intensity cardio session is just about as stressful as a lifting workout, so you basically are not giving your body any break. While this may be okay if fat loss is your only concern, it really isn't right if you are interested in a body transformation because muscle is built while you are recovering.

CONCLUSION

To get to a very low level of body fat, most peoples will need to perform cardio work. The type of cardio selected will depend on the type of diet and training program used. And while there will not be a huge difference in progress depending on when you perform you sessions, the morning and
post-lifting windows seem to offer the best options in most cases.