Fitness. Strength. Nutrition.
High Versus Low: Clearing Up The Cardio Dilemma
After my recent article on how to increase your metabolism, there has been a fair bit of talk over which form of cardio is better. It isn’t so straightforward. Both forms have their advantages, and disadvantages. I can’t stress enough how much this industry jumps on fads and how important it is to keep an open mind when you are reading and discussing concepts.
It is generally accepted now that high intensity exercise will burn more calories and aid fat loss, and therefore is the right form to choose. It is true that training above your ‘fat burning zone’ will yield better results in that respect. But it’s not that simple, and in many cases, low intensity exercise will and should be prescribed to people.
When Should I Do What?
High intensity cardio work will burn more calories and is more effective in weight loss. However it’s not always appropriate. Not everyone has the goal to burn the ultimate amount of calories. Though I will generally prescribe high intensity work over low intensity due to it’s greater calorie burning potential and time efficiency, a lot of programs will use a mixture of both, or will be dependent on the goals of the exerciser.
Reasons high intensity exercise is prescribed:
- Weight Loss is the main goal- High Intensity cardio work will burn more calories and therefore is a better choice of exercise for people wanting to lose weight. However, severely unconditioned people will generally need to do some low intensity work to begin. High intensity does not mean high impact, and nearly everyone can do some form of it.
- Performance Goals- If you have performance goals that are to do with speed or power, high intensity cardio work is more likely to help supplement them. You will get both an anaerobic and aerobic stimulus.
- Time Efficient- If you have very little time to workout, high intensity cardio is the way to go. You have to do less time for the same amount of calories burnt.
Reasons low intensity exercise is prescribed:
- People who are very out of shape- If you are a beginner and haven’t exercised at all before or are extremely out of shape, then it is probably better to get some low intensity work into you right at the start. However in saying that, high intensity does not necessarily mean high impact, and therefore some forms of high intensity work are still safe for beginners. For example, if you are working on the bike, for 10 minutes spinning at 100 plus RPM for 30 seconds, not on such a high level, and then spinning 70 plus RPM for 1.5 minutes, this is not really high impact and is still suitable ‘high intensity’ work for a beginner.
- Body Builders or Strength Athletes- Often these kinds of athletes don’t want any interference in their training at all. They will often simply go for long slow walks to burn some extra body fat without changing their muscle types or interfering with their strength and power stimulus.
- Specific Goals- If you specific goal is to run a marathon, then you will want to be doing some long low intensity work! Same deal if you are going on a hiking trip and want to build up a good base, some of this work will be used.
- Recovery- If you are stuffed and feeling like you need a recovery session, low intensity work is the best kind to get the muscles slowly moving again, regenerate and get the blood flowing.
It is important to note that in most cases a little bit of both is needed. You can’t always perform high intensity work, and will often find that a low intensity session is good every now and then.
Focus on your goals and your fitness levels when choosing the right cardio for you. What is right for one person may not be right for another. Very few things in the fitness industry are truly correct and concrete.
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about 2 years ago
Lauren:
I applaud you for trying to explain the difference in intensity when it comes to cardio, but I have to weigh in and say that, in my 21 years in this industry as a personal fitness trainer and weight loss expert, I would recommend that the majority of your readers/listeners completely eliminate cardiovascular exercise and instead, perform an interval based strength training program for optimum health and efficient weight loss.
Okay, I am Jim Karas, author of the “New York Times” bestseller, “The Cardio-Free Diet.” I have tons of research that supports my theory that cardiovascular exercise is NOT the key to good health and weight loss.
The key to my program is to maintain lean muscle tissue, which you even agree (in one of your previous posts) is essential to optimizing metabolism. Lean muscle burns between 20-36 calories per pound, per day. When most people diet, without strength training, they lose both fat AND muscle and that leads to a diminished metabolism.
And the research shows that by strength training, you can maintain and even increase your lean mass and keep your metabolism up.
Cardiovascular exercise does NOTHING to increase your lean mass and can even diminish the amount of lean mass on your body after 20-30 minutes of continual cardiovascular exercise.
Plus, by performing the exercises in an interval protocol, you achieve all the heart health benefits of cardio and then some since you increase your heart rate variability. Heart rate variability has been shown to be the best indicator of overall heart health.
That is why I call cardio “A 1970s solution to a 21st Century problem.” It just doesn’t work, and our obesity numbers prove it.
Please let me know your thoughts.
Jim Karas
about 2 years ago
Jim,
Thanks for your comment. Nice to know some experienced trainers are out there reading my blog. I do agree with you that strength training is the best way to burn fat, build lean muscle, and change your body shape. Perhaps I should have made that more clear. However, that is not the issue I was tackling here in this post.
Majority of my readers will need that, yes, I agree. And majority of trainers out there will be very quick to put people on a cardio machine and let them be. Strength training is a better way to go as a general rule, and will be the first thing I get majority of my clients to do. However, if you read my post, you will see that I am not saying cardio is better than strength training and the main point in everything I say, is that you need to keep an open mind and assess people goals and situations. I am talking about the difference between the two, and what is the best time to use either.
Generally people need strength training, however in some situations, cardio is called for and simply must be used. To say cardio is not necessary is a little narrow minded, and is ruling out a large chunk of the population. Not everyone will benefit as much as others from an interval type strength training protocol. Individual goals call for different programs and needs.
Cardio can supplement a good interval-training regime. You get a guy in that wants to build mass, a lot of mass and lose fat, get ripped. Then he needs to lift heavy weights, often. It also wouldn’t hurt him, to get that extra bit ripped, on non strength training days to do some extra high intensity cardio. There’s only so much strength training he can do. He wants to lose more fat/ weight…he can’t just keep upping his strength work. It isn’t feasible.
I need low intensity cardio work for my recovery. A light walk and stretch, a swim, an easy bike ride. All these are something as a power athlete, I have to include. I am sure that if most regular gym goers (ones that work hard enough to need one) did a recovery session once in a while, they would feel the benefits. You can’t get gains if your body is fatigued.
Yes, the key to any program should be to maintain and/or grow the proportion of lean body mass. Dieting without strength training will definitely lead to a loss in lean tissue. However, I have to disagree with you on your statement that cardiovascular exercise does nothing to increase your lean mass and can diminish it. It is a very concrete statement that isn’t entirely true. Firstly, if you did some very high intensity interval work…i.e. Hill sprints, or some tough bike work, I guarantee you this would lead to some increase in lean body mass. In combination with a strength training program. Also, after 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise, you can’t possibly diminish the amount of lean mass unless you are in a glycogen depleted/ fat depleted state where your body decides that you need to call on the protein stores. This is a very hard state to get to…almost starvation. It’s the last preference of fuel when working out, it takes the longest to convert and will rarely be used. Sure, dieting and only cardio won’t lead to an increase or even a maintenance of lean tissue, however combined with strength training, there is very little risk.
If weight loss is the goal, some high intensity cardio work can be used to supplement. Although weight training burns a lot of calories, very high intensity cardio will burn more. In an advanced exerciser, this can be the next step to use on top of the strength-training base they have built.
Also, if someone came in to train for a marathon they wanted to run in a few months, although strength training has its place and is necessary, cardio is needed and cannot be avoided. All I am saying is certain goals call for certain types of training, and it cannot be eliminated all together.
For everyone else that is reading this comment, the key is my programming is to keep an open mind. Check people goals, see where they are at, see their history, and find out what works best for them. Things move in this industry everyday, new research comes out to support new theories and new fads come flying through gym doors. If trainers don’t have the ability to adapt, improvise and meet individual goals, then they won’t succeed. While I agree with you that interval based strength training will work and is the best option for the majority of the population, I feel that it is a very bold statement to say that people can eliminate cardio for good. As I repeat in many of my posts, bold statements just don’t work in the fitness industry, there isn’t much that is concrete and 100% true.
I am fully with you regarding the benefits of strength training, and the fact that it should be prescribed for everyone. However, cardio has its place.
Thanks for your comment; it’s great to be able to discuss theories. I hope to hear back from you.
about 2 years ago
Great comment Jim and great followup Lauren.
It was a good article but reading these two comments were even more entertaining.
It seems like fitness is such a black science sometimes.
I love weight training and would totally drop it but my wife loves cardio. So, we do both. Thirty minutes of intense cardio gives me a endorphin rush type feeling that weight training does not. That’s a totally subjective statement, but weight training leaves me hobbling all day while cardio makes even the way a breath for the rest of the day feel better.
I don’t think the idea that no-cardio is the ticket for weight loss is new though. I remember reading about it in writings of Arthur Jones and Mike Mentzer which date to 70s/80s, but it is a good catch phrase there. Maybe I can dig up some of the research Jim is talking about and convince my wife of less Taebo!
-Josh
about 2 years ago
Thanks Josh, a bit of discussion can reveal a lot of things. I think these two comments have given a lot more information than my original post! My whole point is, and always will be, that nothing is concrete and we can’t say absolute statements regarding the fitness industry. The no cardio ticket definitely isn’t new, and I am not saying its wrong. I think strength training is the key to a good program….it’s just that cardio still does have it’s place. Individuals are different.
Cheers…thanks for the comment.
about 2 years ago
My grandmother ( Nonna Tina) lived till she was 101 and she had a fantastic fitness program. She would walk at low intensity every day to the shops and varied this with 1 to 2km walks interspersed with 3 to 4km walks ,if she was going to the market. She added some great “weight training” workouts with vigorous sweeping and mopping and daily “heavy duty” gardening. IE Digging and bending and squatting for a few hours a day. She also did some light “Italian specific” Tai Chi type exercises every day with arm swings and general mobility. She was a perfect specimen till she was 95 and I rue the fact I didn’t enter her in the World Masters Games. Her diet also was full of antioxidants and great food but she also knew how to live and every now and then ate a full sized pizza or some other indulgence. She balanced this the next day with slightly less food.
Why do I bring up Nonna Tina?
Well let me tell you there are no rules in fitness. Read the research and interpret it but don’t get pigeon holed. Marketing forces cause people and companies to create “rules” to enhance and/or simplify or sell a message. But if you were caught in the recent Tsunami one would need a complex array of fitness needs to survive. 1) Run hard and fast and long at anaerobic threshold or above, away from the beach for 1.5km to get away from the incoming wave. Maybe even hit warp speed and stress type 11b fibers when you see the water is gaining. Hopefully you have done your specific speed work! Then all of a sudden a hill beckons, but you have started to get over 4mmol. Power endurance is needed here. Your endurance training has not been up to scratch, given all you were doing was weights and circuits, so you run out of steam and the wave almost hits you. But thankfully all those weights help now and you grasp a ledge and do a power chin up and a hard fast burpee, combined with an explosive step up, to get over a bed in the road. The door is shut and the water is rushing in so the karate class comes in handy and you punch the door in, and then run with quick feet ( thank god for that speed ladder work) and sprint up the stairs to safety. Ooops you see a mate in the aftermath of the wave drowning so you dive in and swim breathless against the tide for 2 minutes to him and save him. That swim training came in handy eh!
Get my drift.
The best “land based” all round athletes in the are probably decathletes. Triathletes and ironmen require complex qualities. I believe the most complete program for any individual is one which encompasses all our physiological qualities. People that seem to mix and match their training always look great and that is an opinion. Also, unless one is a fanatical trainer who is a devotee of some method ( and thats ok) , or a specific sports person, then mix your training up. We all know that endurance interferes with power a bit and vice versa but for health, fitness, wellbeing,f un,variety and real life skills, mix it up. Again that is an opinion. I have trained the best power athletes in the world , the best team sportspeople and Nonna Tina. Mix it up. I get bored just sitting in a gym but love my weights. An opinion again.
Also instructors should always have the ability to cater for any individual and any need with any program in any circumstances. Use all the research available and not just some book at the newsagent, or google and adapt your programs to their needs. These may be rehabilitation from serious health problems to losing weight and toning up for a wedding to a specific sports need. Running a fun run for example.
Ciao
about 2 years ago
Good post, good discussion. Right now my goal is to build strength so when I do cardio it is fairly low intensity. I use it to either burn a few extra calories after a workout or as an active recovery exercise. It’s something I can do with family and friends that maybe aren’t in good shape. When I used to race bicycles I’d do plenty of low intensity cardio because it’s really the only way to get used to the endurance efforts without overtraining. It depends on a person’s goals. Pick the tools that support your goals.
about 2 years ago
@ Rob
It does depend on individuals goals. Everyone is going to need different things. Low intensity cardio is a great recovery exercise, and is definitely needed to build an endurance base.
about 2 years ago
Loris,
I reckon you hit the nail on the head, spot on!
There’s more than one way to reach your goals and I recommend never listening to anyone who preaches about any particular approach without accepting this fact.
I couldn’t agree more with your point about the tsunami. Lol! Great comment!
You sure can’t pump some iron in the gym and expect it to save your life in a real world survival situation. It’s just one piece of the picture.
Insightful article too Lauren, I enjoyed the read.
about 2 years ago
Great article Lauren. It really clears up the low versus high intensity debate. But it does raise another debate among body builders. Some people, Jim Karas being one of them, believe that for people (like me) who are trying to build muscle mass and lose body fat at the same time (get ripped), cardio will burn away body fat as well as muscle mass.
“Cardiovascular exercise…can even diminish the amount of lean mass on your body after 20-30 minutes of continual cardiovascular exercise.”
Frankly, I’ve seen too much mis-information on the Internet about this topic. Can anyone clear this up? What type of cardio should be prescribed to body builders? Hi-intensity-short duration cardio? Low-intensity-long duration cardio? Should cardio be done at all?
about 2 years ago
Hey Gabriel,
It is a hotly debated subject among body builders which I unfortunately don’t have a concrete answer for. I do have an opinion though, if that counts for anything. If you are trying to gain mass, but strip away body fat, walking is your best cardio. Think about it, you do the weight lifting to get big and string and gain some mass. It’s still pretty tough exercise and will burn quite a lot of calories. But if you are wanting to strip away the rest of that fat a little faster, go for long walks. The stimulus walking gives your muscles isn’t enough to interfere with the growth, but one long walk ~45 min will burn some extra calories, and yes specifically fat (but read my previous post on that one- fat burning myths) and yeah, is the perfect exercise for body builders. IN MY OPINION! Hope that helps.