As I’ve written before, most people mistakenly believe that you in order to lose fat, they need to do long duration, low intensity cardio. The reality is that science does not back this up, and in fact science shows us that long duration cardio (endurance training) is actually an inefficient way to lose fat, and higher intensity work is a much more effective option.
Here is a question on the subject that I found on a message board, along with my answer and recommendations. I’m guessing this could apply to some (many?) of you reading this.
~Dave
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Question:
How long do I have to run(km) daily to achieve 10% body fat?
Current body fat = 15%
Age = 26
Weight = 69 kg
Height = 5’7″
I currently run 5km, 5 days a week.
My Answer:
First, you didn’t say if you are male or female. If female, you may want to reconsider trying to get your bodyfat that low, as it can result in complications, such as interfering with your normal menstrual cycle. If you’re male, that’s obviously not a concern.
Long duration, low intensity cardio is actually an inefficient way to lower your bodyfat. You’d have a better chance of getting your bodyfat% lower if you switched your cardio routines to high intensity interval training, and added in some muscle building resistance training.
Adding muscle will increase your metabolism so you burn more calories all day. Your cardio routine won’t build muscle, and in fact could slowly cause you to decrease muscle mass. Also, your body adapts to low intensity cardio by becoming more efficient, meaning it now takes fewer calories for you to run 5km than it did when you first started. That’s good if your goal is to train for endurance, but fat loss is a different goal, and burning fewer calories in the same amount of time is counter productive. Also, the type of cardio you’re doing doesn’t keep your metabolism elevated very long. Within 30 minutes or so of the end of your run, your metabolism is right back down to where it was before you ran.
If you switch to high intensity cardio intervals, you’ll burn more calories in a shorter amount of time, and keep your metabolism elevated for up to 12 to 24 hours after your workout is done. An example of an interval program would be a 4 min warm up at a moderate pace (intensity of 3-5 on a scale of 1-10). Then you would perform 8 30/60 intervals. This means 30 seconds at high intensity (8 out of 10) followed by 60 seconds of moderate intensity (4-5 out of 10) and do that 8 times. Then follow that with a 4 minute cooldown, and you’re done in 20 minutes. I guarantee you’ll feel like you worked a whole lot more than you do in your 5k runs.
Combine that with a sound resistance training program and you can get your bodyfat down to 10%. A program I’d recommend is called Turbulence Training by Craig Ballantyne. You can check it out here.
Hope that helps,
Dave
About the Author
Dave Soucy is a coach, trainer, motivator, husband, dad, and former fat guy. His goal is to teach as many people as possible how to achieve a life of health, fitness, and wellness through simply eating right and exercising. Click here to learn more about Dave.
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