Types of Cardio

(Will Madams) #1

Let me start this with saying I have always been a cyclist from age 5 I’ve raced road and track.

However now I’m well and truely into my keto journey to get down to a weight where I will be able to join the defence forces here in Australia. Working a full time job I have a limited amount of time to exercise per day.

(Trust me I’d rather go riding for 6 hours like the pros)

But I find I burn more calories running for 40mins in the morning and evenings than I do riding.

Now we talk a lot about the calorie in calorie out theory and that it’s on its final legs as a hypothesis.

So my question is 40mins burning 600 calories running vs 40mins burning 355 calories

Is it as simple as running is more effect at burning calories therefore greater weight loss or is it just the time I spend with my heart rate up.

(Please note I’m not talking about fitness or muscle building as that is a whole other conversation)

(Alex Dipego) #2

What’s happening is adaption. This is normal in any weight loss journey and how CICO gets started.

Say you rode a bike for 15 years. How smart is your body? It knows how to ride a bike. It’s your go to mode of moving (beside walking) and it knows it needs to be efficient at it to save BF because if it just kept burning BF you’d wuther away.

Now let’s say you start running, it’s new and hard. It’s not necessarily hard to do but it’s different on the body and it begins to burn more calories because it’s not efficient at running. Eventually you’ll get adapted to running and be efficient and burn less calories. Typically this is 3-4 weeks. To get past this usually less calories are suggested or longer runs and sometimes both. You’d be better off starring short times until you get good then increase times. Or what I like doing is knowing I have to run 1.5miles under 10mins. I’ll run 10mins everyday at a slower pace that may only get me halfway. Once that’s easier I’ll go faster, then faster and faster. So I’m training to get better at running AND I’m keeping my calorie burn consistent. Make sense?

(Jamie Hayes) #3

I would suggest you move from steady state cardio to interval of high intensity and low intensity. Even 8 second sprints followed by 12 second walks can work well. Google “Lifesprints”.
You can even get music from iTunes that goes fast and slow to guide you.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #4

Agreed. When the clock and the calendar count, HIIT is phenomenal at improving performance, blood oxygen, muscle conditioning–just everything.

But go at the the pace of your joints’ happiness, don’t force anything. It doesn’t have to be shuffle-jogging into a full-bore run during your intervals, it can be a lesser jump. You can work up to sprinting from cyborgs eventually, the cyborgs aren’t going anywhere.

Also, your brain will benefit the most if you stagger the length, spacing, and intensity of the intervals. Brains dig novelty. That’s why obstacle courses are so effective. Don’t let your bod and your noggin’ get used to anything. The workout doesn’t have to be harder to promote muscle fiber growth, just different.

(Will Madams) #5

Thanks everyone I need to pass a beep test so interval training makes sense for that too. I enjoy my longer runs /shuffles might go with the hiit early morning and then slow and steady in the evening

(Jamie Hayes) #6

The workout doesn’t have to be harder to promote muscle fiber growth, just different.

With respect, I don’t think this is a correct statement. Without overload there is no muscle growth stimulus.

I’ve been doing an N=1 experiment for 15 years - from 49 to 64. I do the exact same workout always aiming for a PB (Personal Best) on every exercise. The workout is exactly the same.

I keep getting stronger. And so I believe that progressing overload stimulus through always seeking tolerable effort trumps variety. Of course variety helps, but I’d rate it second to intensity.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #7

I’ve seen impressive gains by simply switching things up, especially in secondary muscles. Also, it’s a fantastic prevention against injury in said areas.

(ianrobo) #8

It depends on what you really want @aussiewill because the reality is both have its place. Using the MAFE method and training at your endurance zone will kick in your fat burning potential a lot. If you want to really be super fat adapted there is nothing better to do. HIIT of course has it’s benefits but I probably do 11 hours a week cycling and only 1-2 hours on HIIT.

the real difference is how injury prone to running you are. I moved to cycling a decade ago because running for me kept meaning pulled calves or hammy’s, cycling even if you do that (unlikely) you can still carry on.