A Cambridge fitness boot camp post by Callie Durbrow
Why Steady State Cardio Sucks and What to Do About It…..
If you have spent any time with me you probably know how much I HATE cardio. I mean seriously, loathing and despise might not be enough to express my true feelings for this awful beast.
First of all let me explain to you why I hate it so much. It’s not just because I can’t stand distance running or that I personally would rather sprint than jog any day. Nope, it’s not that.
I hate it for YOU. I hate it because of what it’s doing to you. It’s slowing down your ultimate goal which is to lose fat and develop a toned, tight and lean body.
Cardio has become the thing for women to lose fat. The problem is, it’s NOT the thing to do. Cardio will not reshape and tone your body. Sure, you’ll burn calories during the workout but what about after? Did it raise your metabolism? Nope. Stupid cardio just tricked you again. That machine said you burned 600 calories and that machine lied. Those things are crazy inaccurate and you didn’t even move your body that much, the machine did the work.
Stupid cardio.
There aren’t a lot of things in life that I hate. I could probably list them on one hand. Cardio included, here they are….
1. People in the grocery store who bump you with their cart when you are in the check-out line (I have a thing about personal space)
2. Bad drivers (I’m awesome, obviously)
3. A few random words that my friends always laugh at me for….ginormous (it’s NOT a word, people!) and tender are up there on words I just hate
4. High strung people
So, that’s it. Not a lot of things but cardio training is definitely up there because it simply goes against everything that I preach that actually works for faster fat loss. It preys on innocent and naive women who think that’s the ultimate path for fat loss.
Well, the thing is, it can be the easy way out. How much easier is it to jump on the elliptical machine and pedal along for 60 minutes while watching Oprah (or not anymore, tear…). That’s much easier than joining a kick ass personal training and boot camp workout where you lunge, jump, sprint, do push ups and pull ups and just have a good old time burning close to 700 calories AND raising your metabolism up so high that you are burning calories at that level for up to 36 hours.
Now, that’s serious fat loss training at it’s best.
So, how do we fight this nasty beast called cardio?
Well, in our fitness boot camps here in Cambridge we do the complete opposite. There is no steady-state training and no exercise lasts more than 45 seconds at a time. Let me show you how these two competitors measure up….
Cardio
1. Takes way longer to complete
2. Usually on a machine where the machine does a lot of the work
3. Moving in one plane of motion = burning less calories
4. Boring
5. Does not boost your metabolism to eventually burn fat post-workout
6. If you can watch tv while doing it, it’s not hard enough
7. Will not reshape your body
High Intensity Boot Camp and Training
1. Works every single muscle in your body
2. Takes way less time (50 minutes for everything including stretching and cool-downs)
3. Working out with other people makes it more fun
4. Moving your body like an athlete = burning more calories
5. Raising up your metabolism so that you can burn fat AFTER you work out and not just getting the calorie burn during the workout
6. No tv watching here- we push your body out of it’s comfort zone which leads to REAL results
7. Every boot camp workout is different, no plateaus
8. No boredom
I could go on and on about how much cooler it is to train in a boot camp or small group setting but you get the idea….
Cambridge fitness boot camp training literally smashes cardio training to the ground and then steps on it’s face because let’s face it, boot camp is stronger, faster and more athletic and cardio is weak and skinny-fat so it has no strength to fight back. Plus, boot camp looks awesome in their summer clothes while cardio looks kinda saggy and frumpy with no toned muscle or definition.
Cardio sucks.
I would love to hear your thoughts about any boot camp experiences you have had and how they have helped you lose fat. If you love cardio then you can leave me a comment too 🙂
Here’s a little video of me doing a 15 second on-45 second off, metabolic power workout in the gym on the 4th of July. This baby got my metabolism all kinds of cranked up. Just thought you might enjoy it….
[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg9kXL3hxiA[/pro-player]