Still doing long runs or cycles trying to lose fat?
Our advice – ditch it!
Recent studies have found that your classic low-intensity cardio such as running or cycling is the least effective form of cardio for long-term fat loss.[1] And it also eats up your hard-earned muscle!
Neither of these outcomes are what we want! We all have the same goals for cardio: to burn fat whilst maintaining as much muscle as possible.
After all, muscle is what adds shape and tone to our physique, and fat is what makes us slow and wobbly — and who want’s to wobble?
Conversely, short duration high intensity exercise (aka HIIT) has actually been found to be extremely effective at burning fat whilst still maintaining that all-important muscle mass.
So even if you didn’t know about HIIT and how it’s a super-effective form of cardio, you do now! But HIIT is hill sprints, cycle sprints or similar, right?
Wrong! Let’s think outside the box for a minute!
The definition of HIIT is simply repeated short bouts of high-intensity exercise with short periods of low-intensity exercise or rest in between.
This means you can actually perform HIIT in the weights room! That’s exactly what we’ve done here with this 20-minute Muscle-Building Cardio workout.
This workout only utilises a couple of bits of equipment so you don’t waste time running around the gym, and as it only takes 20 minutes, you can be in and out of the gym in double-quick time.
Give it a go and let us know how you got on via Twitter (@TrainEatGain).
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20-Minute Muscle-Building Cardio Workout
Perform all exercises back to back with no rest in between. When you are done, take a 3-5 minute break then repeat the entire circuit for a total of 3 rounds.
- Dumbbell bench press – 30 reps
- Bodyweight squat – 30 reps
- Dumbbell bent over row – 30 reps
- Leg raise lying on bench – 30 reps
- Dumbbell shoulder press – 30 reps
- Bodyweight lunge – 30 reps
- Bench dips – 30 reps
- Ab crunch sitting on bench – 30 reps
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Want More?
This workout is taken from our Ultimate Cutting plan – our tried & tested fat loss plan. This plan is for those who are serious about fat loss. It has been used to great effect by hundreds of our clients — check out their Transformations to see how it could work for you.
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References
[1] Wilson, J.M., et al., Concurrent training: a meta-analysis examining interference of aerobic and resistance exercises. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association, 2012.