I've been pretty harsh with "cardio" and "aerobics" over the past few weeks, but, with due cause.
Working in an environment where I get to see widespread misconceptions about exercise nearly every day, I find it impossible not to be abrasive (where it counts, on here where things can be explained) and push in the exact opposite direction- the one that will cause the most friction, but the most progress in terms of reversing bad beliefs about exercise.
You guys should see some of the comments I've gotten on those posts that I haven't published-and for the record, there are very few comments I haven't published over the past ~2 years, but make no mistake I'm not going to approve a comment that's outright rude, ridiculous, and lacking rational thought.
Disagree with me, and Ill be glad to talk with you. Attack me? Don't have the time for you.
So, I've beaten up on low intensity steady state exercise, but have I provided an "answer"? Somewhat. If you've clicked the provided links and sparked your own curiosity in the process, then yes. But, I know not everyone has done so, hence this post.
If "cardio" is....
-Dangerous (I found out today a 23 year old girl who teaches aerobics at FSU now has 2 bad knees as a direct result of teaching group exercise)
-Ineffective (non productive)
-Inefficient ( wastes lots of time)
-a delay or reveral of progress (destroys muscle and lowers resting metabolism)
Then...what's the answer? There has to be a solution, and certainly doing NOTHING is not it.
Well, you have 1 and a half options-and this is for people in the pursuit of health/fitness and enhanced daily life, it is irrespective of sports/athletics, although these options also can greatly benefit those people as well.
The half option is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). I call it a half option because I believe it can work-that is, provide results-however I believe it is not nearly as effective or safe as the full option, not even close.
But, it's light years better than steady-state low intensity exercise, so I'm putting it out there. It's also something you can do without a gym. You can do it with swimming, running, jumping rope, biking, etc.... In short, work very intensely, and then allow rest, instead of continually working working working, which does not allow you to dig deeper into your muscle fibers, and eats up recovery resources (recovery being muscle growth).
The real answer is strength training, or more specifically High Intensity Training (HIT). A great recap of what "HIT" is can be found here.
In short though, it's breif, intense, infrequent strength training, usually with machines, but can be performed with barbells/dumbells as well, to a less effective degree.
My core reason for advocating-and of course living- HIT?
It's 99% of the benefits with 1% of the downsides and 1% of the time invested.
Downsides being wear and tear/risk of over training from HVT (high volume training), and time total time invested working out is usually less than 15 minutes for most people, once a week, if not less, rarely more.
It probably sounds nuts to most people-I know it did for me.
"All the beneifts in that little time? Yeahhh...right buddy"
But, having lived it for months now, I can assure you it's nothing short of the real deal. The results are real, as is the science backing brief, infrequent, and intense exercise.
Even, dare I say, cardiovascular benefits. In fact, there are benefits to that system that can not be achieved through aerobics, not matter how long you jog/swim/bike or what have you.
So if some is good, more is better right? Can I just do a lot of HIT and become super fit?
Nope. Even with HVT (multiple sets/ lots of reps), the core principle behind building muscle is growth stimulation and recovery. There is a delicate balance between the 2, and over stimulating your muscles to grow will not allow adequate growth time and resources. In fact over training your muscles is a sure way to atrophy them.
Wait, so is HIT one set and one rep?!!?
Well, it can be, but not necessarily. The most common form (that has also been show to produce the most progress overall a broad scale of people) is that of a few compound exercises that work the entire body. Do them back to back, no break in between, one set to failure in 45-80 seconds.
Once a week of that? Psh, sounds like its for lazy people.
Quit the contrary actually. This type of exercise is done about once a week out of necessity. An increase in intensity dictates a decrease in frequency. Done properly, it's severly uncomfortable, and far harder than jogging down a side walk or even the strength training most people engage in (based on personal experience of being in a gym consistently for over 7 years now).
I think Tim Ferris said it best "Busy work is just another way of being lazy".
So what kind of results have you had so far Dream?
Considering that I was at a standstill for months leadig up to starting HIT, I find my progress pretty awesome personally.
I started out with a body fat percent (3 skin fold measures) of over 11% at 171 pounds when I started about 2 months ago. 6 weeks in I weighed a clean 176 pounds and my body fat measured in at 10.4%.
I can now leg press about 500 pounds for over 70 seconds, I can chest press 200 pounds for over 60 seconds, and my lat pull down is now approaching 200 pounds for over 60 seconds.
I've gotten comments from virtually all of my friends/family, and it's obvious looking in the mirror that my arms and legs are now bigger, particularly my triceps/quads, and most surprisingly, the entire area near my hips.
And this is all from following the "big five"
I now weigh 173 pounds and will have my body fat measured again next week via skin fold. I expect it to be below 10%.
Find out more about HIT for free at
http://www.youtube.com/bodybyscience
and
http://baye.com/
rock on
-Dream
