Traditional Cardio does Not Burn Fat

Get Off The Treadmill:
You cannot "run off" the Fat

I had the chance to speak with Rob Polous, author of The Fat Burning Furnace to find out why he is not a fan of cardio when it comes to fat loss. In fact his amazing fat loss methods do not even include traditional cardio!

Here is Rob's response:
"Let me be extra clear on this one, because my stance here confuses a lot of people. First off, I think it is a waste of time trying to "run off" your calories to burn fat.

This attitude will just wear you out over the long haul, and simply
doesn’t work as well as controlling your calories through diet
techniques. Also, studies have shown that regular moderately
paced cardio, where you run or bike at a steady pace for 30+
minutes several times a week actually causes you to store more
fat!

Here’s why this is the case.

When you’re doing this exercise, your body is using stored fat for fuel. This may sound good, but what this is actually doing is telling your body that when it encounters this activity again it needs a reserve amount of fat available to fuel the exercise session. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. On top of that, most avid runners can tell you about the injuries and nagging pains they have from the constant repetitive pound their joints and tendons take over the years...not something I would wish on my worst enemy!

Now, what does work for burning fat quickly is what’s known as interval cardio. And I know you know all about this , with your stair routines. This is where you perform a relatively short
cardio workout (usually 15-25 minutes or so) and you alternate periods of high to low intensity during the session.

So you might spend 1 minute jogging at a light pace, and then immediately switch to a near sprint for 1 minute straight, and then repeat the process several times. This type of exercise uses stored carbohydrates for fuel, not fat, so it sends a signal to your body to replenish your depleted muscles rather than storing a reserve amount of fat. Very different from the standard type of cardio that I loathe!

But believe it or not, I don’t even do this type of interval cardio in my own method. Why is that? Well, it’s because I realized a while back that the #1 activity you can do to burn fat is weight training or some form of resistance training.

This has to do with the fact that adding lean muscle to your body creates a powerful fat burning furnace that will automatically burn more calories at rest...significantly more.

What we’ve done with the type of weight training we do in Fat Burning Furnace, though, is combine interval cardio with weight training to create one short and simple fat burning, muscle, and strength building work out. Many people have called it the most efficient fat loss and fitness work out ever created."

Thanks Rob! You've helped to make it very clear that when it comes to Fat Loss - your workout routine MUST prioritize resistance training. Why waste your precious time on cardio for it is a proven fact, going longer and harder will only prevent you from achieving the fat loss you desire.

Rob Poulos is an expert fitness author and the founder and CEO of Zero to Hero Fitness. Rob created his "Fat Burning Furnace" system to help those looking to put an end to restrictive fad diets, long boring cardio workouts, and the need for super-human willpower for good.