doing a lot of cardio will help you to lose scale weight.
(i will give an example at the end)
the only way to raise your metabolism and keep it up is with lean muscle.
i am (nor should anyone else) say its useless, but a lot of trainers push it like its crack.
why?
simple, because its simple for them.
take a look around, you will notice most of the “slim” or “toned” people in the gym spend time with weights, and only a few short (30 min or so) sessions doing cardio.
reason being; your body will use whatever it can as fuel, and pick the easiest first.
1 the carbs you ate earlier in the day that are now blood sugar… but that runs out after 20 or 30 min.
2 after that the body will move on to lean muscle, as it can break that down easier than fat.
now that’s based on working at 70%+ max heart rate. if you are from the “slow and low” 65% long duration fat burning camp things are a little different.
figure at 65% max HR for 1 hour on the tread you will burn about 450 calories, but have little to no after burn. if you were to work out for 30 min doing sprints at 75%+ you would burn the same number of calories, in half the time, and you will have an increased metabolism for a few hours after. those after hours you will be at your resting heart rate and your body will burn fat.
consequently lifting for 45 min will actually keep your metabolism up for 18 hours after you finish.
ah, the example.
me. over the last month i have lost only 2 lbs of scale weight, but lost 4 lbs of fat (body fat analyzer), and have lost 1 inch around my waist.
1 lb of muscle is only the size of a silver dollar, 1 lb of fat is the size of your fist.
i could list off a few of the people that work here, and people that have bought equipment and consulted a good personal trainer (i suggest Alessi Fitness)
man, i really should write a book. look at all this health related info you kids are getting for free.