The question I received was, “Hey Sean, I only have time to get about a 30 minute workout in today. Should I do cardio or weight training? Which is most effective for my goals.”
This question came from one of my clients who has been working with me for a little while now and knows the importance of strength training and cardiovascular training.
Now, truth be told, our workouts generally last one hour but you truly only need 30-45 minutes of exercise 3 days per week for results when you train correctly (high intensity).
But, I still get hit with this question a lot so lets settle this once and for all shall we.
Now, typically, when someone inexperienced is trying to lose weight the first thing they decide to do is cardio. I mean after all, we have all heard that cardio is the best thing to do to burn fat right? Well, that’s not exactly the truth.
If you missed this on my post Cardio Sucks – here is the info again…
It is true that you must burn off more calories than you consume over the course of the day to burn off body fat but there is more than one way to go about doing this.
Yes, you could use your actual calorie burn during the workouts to expend the extra energy or you could format your workouts in such a way that they cause you to expend more energy all day long.
Which sounds better to you? Which do you think will get you the fastest RESULTS?
The best way to boost your fat loss success is get your body burning more calories 24/7. When you do this, you can’t be beat. You’ll be melting off fat in your sleep (dream come true, right?).
This is the big reason why resistance training is so effective for fat loss. Because it causes the body to expend numerous calories after the workout is done while you’re recovering, you’re going to find that it really moves along the rate of progress you see.
Traditional cardio, on the other hand, really doesn’t cause much of a post-workout calorie burn, however as you’re about to find out, there is one form that will change that. Be sure to see my other post, Cardio Sucks!
That form is High Intensity Interval Training or H.I.I.T. Interval training is by far the superior form of a workout, especially if you want to get lean, get in shape, and see the best results possible from your time invested, and of course when your time is limited!
And besides that, who really enjoys spending hours and hours on cardio equipment? I sure know I don’t and I’m willing to place a very large guess that you don’t as well.
What if I told you that you could be in and out of the gym in twenty to thirty minutes with interval training and still see SUPERIOR fat burning benefits?
Well, that’s precisely what H.I.I.T. is going to do for you. What you’ll be doing during interval training is combining your strength training along with your cardio – this is one of our exact formulas used at MXT.
Start with compound movements during your strength training that will work at least two or more muscles in a given set of an exercise. Examples of this are Push-Ups, Pull-Ups, Squats, Lunges, Bench Press, Rows or even more aggressively full body movements such as Squat with DB overhead press.
Select your exercises so that you are hitting every muscle in the body moving from one exercise straight to the next. For example:
Push-ups
Squats w/ DB Overhead Press
Pull-ups
Bent Over DB Rows
Lunges w/ DB Curl
Complete your resistance training for 1-2 working sets then immediately move to the cardio. You can use machines, such as treadmill, elliptical or stationary bike to do this or hit plyometrics (fancy word for jumping around) mixed with speed and agility exercises. Some of my favorite movements include box jumps, interval running (like suicides) and burpees.
If you choose to use machines, follow the H.I.I.T Cardio training prescribed in the blog post CARDIO SUCKS! You will be working your cardio for 5-10 minutes at a time.
If you choose to do plyometrics and agility training, you will find that going at full intensity for 30 seconds up to 2 minutes (depending on your fitness level) is gonna blitz you out hard! Your goal will be to hit different plyometric drills for up to 5 minutes with no rest, full intensity!
After finishing your first round of cardio, jump right back into your strength training. You can repeat the first exercises you did for another 1-2 sets or select new exercises. Once finished, do your Cardio for another round.
You’re goal will be to complete 2-4 TOTAL working sets of strength training along with the cardio within 30 minutes. If you find yourself only being able to complete 1 or 2 rounds that’s A ok.
This routine is very challenging but its the absolute BEST way for shedding Fat, building muscle and increasing your stamina and endurance all in one sweat pouring, heart pounding workout! Give it a try next time you are short on time!
Sean "Mayhem" Murphy
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