Strength or Cardio?

In the last few weeks I've heard a few comments and had a few questions about kettlebells and exercise and the subject of Strength vs. Cardio.

After training clients for three years now, I realize how much confusion there is between these two:

"I want to lose weight, I need to do more cardio."
"Kettlebells are wrong for me, I don't need strength work.  I need to lose weight."
"I left class and went to do some cardio."

All of these speak to a level of confusion around exercise and the body.  It's ok.  You all don't go read books on exercise science or have a burning passion to get a degree in kinesiology.  You just want the benefit- the tight butt, lean frame, sexy core, etc.

When people say they want cardio, I believe they mean two things- 1)They want to work their heart 2) They want to burn fat

If we take on these two statements, let's talk about building a stronger heart and burning fat with CARIO.

If you won't believe me, the personal trainer, then maybe you'll believe a doctor when he says that "cardio", or aerobic exercise (generally exercise done over long periods of time where you can maintain a conversation the entire time), is both inefficient, and WILL NOT BURN FAT OR GIVE YOU A STRONGER HEART.  Don't believe me, go read up on Dr. Al Sears work.  Here's two fascinating quotes from him about some of our favorite aerobic exercises.

"That’s why jogging, cardio and aerobic activity ultimately leave you fat, slow and injured. Because your body is not designed for long-duration activity, your heart and lungs lose their ability for maximum, peak performance.

This is the trade-off you make when your body has to adapt to this unnatural type of exercise. Your body stores fat and loses muscle as it tries to cope with running for long periods or other types of cardio or aerobics."

AND

"What’s worse is that working out in your “aerobic zone” causes “shrinkage” – smaller muscles, smaller heart and smaller lungs. This wipes out the reserve capacity in both your heart and your lungs. Reserve capacity is vital to protect, energize and strengthen your heart and give it the extra “pumping power” it needs in times of stress."

In summary:  Long Aerobic sessions + No weights= Weak heart, poor fat burn, smaller muscles (less lean muscle)

I'm guessing you all don't want any of those nasty results.  What does Dr. Sears promote?  Intense intervals (anaerobic exercise), done over shorter periods of time. 

That's the core of the 39 Minute Workout.  We work strength, mobility, and lots of INTERVALS!  And the fact that we use the kettlebells makes the stimulation of your heart, lungs and muscular system even greater than standard, leg only workouts.                               

So please, if you are doing a class that incorporate intense intervals, don't leave and "do more cardio."  If you want to hit some extra walks, runs, or time on the eliptical during your off days, that's great.  No harm done.  But think twice about HOW you are using that time.  If you don't know how to turn that into an interval workout, email me at david@39minuteworkout.com and I'll be glad to help you.  

The point is, you should not be doing workouts that look like 1 hour chunks of exercise at one pace unless you are doing it for fun.  If you love to jog, do it.  But make sure you are getting some form of intervals (and frankly, upper body work) in addition.

And when it comes to burning fat, there's two main principles you have to pay attention to:

1) Build lean muscle- the single best and fastest way is to lift weights.  If you do leg-only workouts, you will never build upper body lean muscle.  This also means forget the tight arms, nice shoulders or core... If you want all that, you've got to lift weights.  And if you know me, I'm not talking about the PINK 5lb weights. I'm talking about the appropriate sized weight for you and your capability.  For most of you, that's more than you believe you can be lifting.

2) Again, work out with Intense Intervals.  What are intense intervals that burn a ton of fat?  Kettlebell swings, tabattas, sets of 25 seconds of intense work followed by 15 seconds of active rest, etc.

So do you want Strength or Cardio?  The answer is Yes, and the type is intervals.  Nuff said.