Very simmilar to Tom Venuto’s methodology. I’ll post a tips article that he has with many tips. There are a bunch more, but I tried to keep it closer to his views on cardio, so I edited the article a bit.
I know there’s been a lot of controversy over this topic, but I think Tom Venuto (natural bodybuilder) put in nicely here:
Fat Loss Advanced Tricks & tactics
Author: Tom Venuto
Date: Jan 05, 2005
Publisher: Fitness Renaissance
In this article, you will learn ten more of the most hyper-effective fat burning tactics I?ve discovered from nearly 20 years in the bodybuilding game and 16 years in personal training and coaching.
These are the same techniques I use to hit 3-4% body fat for competition, and stay at 9% or less all year round, year after year without difficulty. If you?ve already got all the basics covered and you want to incinerate every last vestige of unwanted body fat, then this is the information you’ve been waiting for!
DO CARDIO DAILY
If you progressively increase your cardio, as needed, up to as much as 30-45 minutes a day 6-7 days per week for 8-12 weeks, you’ll get so lean, you’ll kick yourself for not realizing it was that simple.
Now, I would not necessarily recommend starting with this amount, particularly if you’re a beginner. However, if you’re already exercising, but you’re not satisfied with your fat loss, I highly recommend that you slowly and progressively increase your cardio to the point where you’re doing it daily.
Every time I give this advice, I always hear lots of whining and complaining. But why is everybody so cardio- phobic? Why do people keep fighting the “daily exercise” concept when they’ve tried “everything” else and they still can’t get as lean as they want to be?
“But Tom, Bill Phillips says 20 minutes 3 days a week is the solution!”
“But Tom, doesn’t daily cardio burn up muscle?”
“But Tom, doesn’t weight training boost the metabolism more than aerobics?”
“But Tom, long aerobic cardio is out - anaerobic and HIIT cardio is in.”
People have plenty of buts. The irony is, they spout off all these buts, and at the same time, they?re stuck and can?t figure out why they?re not losing those last few pockets of seriously annoying body fat. If you want to get really lean - get off your “buts” and do what it takes to get the job done, not what the trend of the month dictates.
Let me ask you a question: When you read articles or courses by the world?s best bodybuilders and fitness models, what is the common denominator you see in nearly 100% of their pre contest preparation programs? Yep - daily cardio - generally in the 30 - 45 minute range, and some even do up to an hour a day (or more) during the precontest period.
By the way, daily cardio is NOT something you do all the time. This is a strategy you progressively build up to and use for short periods in order to hit a peak, break plateaus and shed the last of the stubborn fat.
Doing daily cardio year round leads to aerobic adaptation. Cardio must be cycled, just like all other factors related to fat loss. You increase cardio during periods when fat loss is desired, and reduce cardio during periods when maintenance is desired.
By the way, ‘no time’ is not a valid excuse. I know many people who get up at 5 in the morning to work out because it’s the only way they can fit it in their schedule. It’s never an issue of time, it’s always an issue of willingness and priorities. Are you willing to do what it takes for you to get the results you want? Are you willing to make it a priority in your life? That’s only real question you have to answer.
DO YOUR CARDIO FIRST THING IN THE MORNING ON AN EMPTY STOMACH
Fasted early morning cardio is still controversial in academic circles, and some people are concerned that it might be too catabolic and you may break down muscle along with the fat. However, my experience and research has shown that while there are risks, fasted early morning does work and the potential benefits outweight those risks when maximum fat loss is your goal.
But don’t take my word for it - examine the facts, test it while carefully monitoring body composition and lean body mass, and decide for yourself.
The argument in favor of fasted early morning cardio goes something like this:
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After an overnight 8-12 hour fast, your body’s stores of glycogen are depleted and you burn more fat when glycogen is low.
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Eating causes a release of insulin. Insulin interferes with the mobilization of body fat. Less insulin is present in the morning; so more body fat is burned when cardio is done in the morning.
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There is less carbohydrate (glucose) in the bloodstream when you wake up after an overnight fast. With less glucose available, you burn more fat.
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If you eat immediately before a workout, you have to burn off what you just ate first before tapping into stored body fat (and insulin is elevated after a meal.)
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When you do cardio in the morning, your metabolism stays elevated for a period of time after the workout is over. If you do cardio in the evening, you burn calories during the session, but you fail to take advantage of the “afterburn” effect because your metabolic rate drops dramatically as soon as you go to sleep.
HIIT THE FAT!
High intensity interval training, known as HIIT for short, is the technique of alternating short (usually 30-60 second) periods of very high intensity cardio with short periods of low to moderate intensity. HIIT Workouts generally last only 15-25 minutes, total.
HIIT has received a lot of press lately as being superior to steady state exercise. In some ways, it IS superior: HIIT burns a lot of calories during the workout, but where it really shines is after the workout. Your metabolic rate stays elevated longer after the workout is over than steady state, low intensity cardio.
Here’s an example of an ascending 21 minute HIIT workout on the Lifecycle stationary bike:
Level 3: 5 minutes (warmup)
Level 5: 1 minute (work interval)
Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)
Level 6: 1 minute (work interval)
Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)
Level 7: 1 minute (work interval)
Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)
Level 8: 1 minute (work interval)
Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)
Level 9: 1 minute (work interval)
Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)
Level 10: 1 minute (work interval - maxed out)
Level 3: 5 minutes (cool down)
This is just an example of course; you’ll need to adjust the workout based on your fitness level. You can adjust the duration of the intervals, the number of intervals performed and the difficulty level. You can perform similar workouts on almost any piece of cardio equipment.
HIIT is often touted as a superior fat burning method, but it really depends what you?re comparing it to. When compared to low intensity, long duration cardio (as it frequently is), HIIT wins hands down. Low intensity cardio like casual walking is never the best way to lose fat, except for beginners who are not physically prepared for high intensity yet.
If your intensity is moderate to moderately high and held steady for a long duration (30-45 min), then you?re likely to burn more fat with this approach than you would in a 15-20 minute HIIT workout. (Post workout calorie expenditure is relative to exercise intensity AND duration). However, if the intensity is high enough, you can get a very time efficient workout in a relatively short period of time using HIIT.
HIIT works, but it’s not a panacea. What’s most important for fat loss is that you burn a lot of calories with moderate to high intensity cardio. My best advice is to use BOTH forms of cardio training, leaning towards HIIT when you’re short on time or when you?ve plateau?d on moderate, long duration cardio for a long period. Remember, your body adapts to everything.
DO ALL YOUR CARDIO HARDER
Here’s an idea that might shatter every paradigm you ever had about cardio training. HIIT is very trendy these days, so if you’re trying to lose fat, and you’re wondering whether you should do short duration high intensity or long duration, low intensity, the answer might be neither!
The most effective workout is long duration, high intensity!
Provided that you are healthy, you have received your doctor’s approval to do high intensity exercise, and you have already buit a substantial base level of aerobic fitness, then gradually push up your intensity to the highest level you can hold steady for the entire duration of your cardio workout, whether that is 20 minutes, 30 minutes or even 45 minutes.
In other words, no coasting! Put the cell phone and magazine away and do a real, killer cardio workout. Your body will get leaner… by the DAY!
Of course, intensity and duration are inversely related so technically you can’t do long duration and high intensity, but what we?re talking about is to do as high as an intensity as you can for a longer period. A proper name for this type of cardio would be “moderately high intensity” (MHI) cardio.
