Most people believe you must do loads of aerobic activity to burn fat.  Everyone says that running is the best for burning fat.  We call it cardio, which really is a miss use of the term.  Cardio-vascular exercise is anything involving the heart.  Wether it’s running on the treadmill, bobbing up and down on the stepper or performing biceps curls, the heart gets worked.

What would you say if I told you there is a way to burn more fat than on the treadmill and in less time?  You’d probably tell me that the latest issue of New Idea said 20 minutes on the treadmill at 60% of your maximum heart rate followed by 100 crunches 3 times a week is the only way to burn fat.  If it was really that simple there would be a lot more skinny people with six packs around.  Take a look at a basketball player.  They are usually lean and muscular.  They do very little aerobic training.  If they did too much aerobic training, they would be training to be a slower less powerful athlete.  A study showed that the more aerobically fit a person is the lower the vertical jump.  The same also applies to every day people.  You should always train in a way that makes your daily life easier.  That means if you’re a bike courier you should keep your training to endurance type cycling exercises.  If you lift heavy objects all day, you should keep your training program focused on strength endurance.  If you’re an elite sprinter you will do lots of power training and absolutely no aerobic training.  If you don’t do anything physical during your daily life then you can do a combination of things, it’s really dependant on you and your goals.

If you are new to exercise, you will get a fat burning response from using the treadmill, but as you get fitter you will burn less calories as your body becomes an efficient running machine.  You will need to do hours of running each week to burn significant amounts of fat and eventually you might look like a marathon runner (skinny and weak).  I’ve seen the same people use the same treadmills on the same speed for the same amount of time for years now and they maintain the same body size and shape.  They may have gotten results early on in their training, but now the body has adapted and change is critical to gaining further results.  Try switching exercises every 3 – 5 minutes (Cardio Blitz) or perhaps some interval training.  Running sideways or backwards or even practice riding a unicycle will elevate your heart rate if you’re challenged by it.

If you really want results there is weight training aerobically.  It offers a very functional way of getting fit and lean.  What I mean by this is that most of our daily activities involve the anaerobic energy system and not so much the aerobic system.  Generally speaking fewer than 30 repetitions of any given exercise will use our anaerobic energy system while more than 30 is starting to become more aerobic.  You can’t just simply do aerobic training to keep the weight off and to keep fit.  You need to protect your self from muscle imbalances and the injuries they can lead to.  The benefits of weight training have been proven by successful strength coach Charles Poliquin.   He’s made fat people lean and lean athletes leaner.   It’s important for everyone as they get older to maintain strength through a balanced weights program.  Virtually every athlete will have specific muscle imbalances relating to their sporting or working environment.  These can easily be avoided through good program design and correct form during exercises.  They can be corrected through stretching, but that’s an article for another time.

The benefits of weight training are almost endless.  The hormonal effects of doing anaerobic exercise will burn off fat and build lean mass.  When you put your muscles under enough stress for 30 to 70 second intervals you produce higher levels of Human Growth Hormone (HGH).  To keep the HGH levels at optimal levels you must adhere to specific rest times.  If your goals are to gain muscle and burn fat, you would rest 60 to 90 seconds between sets.  If gaining muscle was going to be a problem (many females fear this) you must keep the rest to a minimum. 20 to 30 seconds rest between sets has shown to be of the greatest benefit.  This will keep the HGH levels high, but won’t allow enough recovery for the muscle to have a growth effect.  Increasing rest to 4 or 5 minutes will increase strength while also keeping the muscle gains to a minimum.  These are not absolutes, but a general guide.  Each person will respond differently to each variable.

A successful fat burning method I have been using with clients is what Poliquin refers to as German Body Composition (GBC).  It involves super-setting a lower body exercise with an upper body.  Super-setting is a term used for grouping 2 exercises together with a small rest between them.  A good example would be to perform 15 squats followed by a 30 second rest then move to the bench press and perform 15 reps followed by another 30 second rest then back to squats.  You would repeat this 3 to 4 times.

Minimal rest and enough variation in the program will allow for maximum fat loss.  If you like you can alternate the weights program with an aerobic program, but many of you will find you don’t need to do specific aerobic training due to the intensity of the GBC programs.

Remember intensity is they key.  Those who fear bulking up with weight training are the ones who most likely won’t get any results.  You must use weights that challenge you.  With correct exercise application, coupled with a healthy diet, plenty of water, good sleep patterns and controlled levels of stress anyone can achieve a firmer looking body.

© Andrew Dixon 2005

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