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Originally Posted by Jodi
One thing I do on days I don't lift, is go to the gym and spend about 40-45 minutes doing cardio on the treadmill. It's not steady-state, but more interval workouts. I love doing either Cardio Coach or Itrain workouts from my Ipod. You get put through sprints, hill-climbs, etc. They are not true HIIT workouts, but they seem (to me) pretty close.
But, the one aspect from the book that has always stuck in my head is that long cardio can perhaps hamper your progress. I have always had the mind-set with cardio that more is better....but, with my lack of progress with losing the weight I'm wondering if maybe this may be holding me back.
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What you're doing is fine. You're adding interval variations that you enjoy on non-lifting days. That's a good thing as long as your recovery can handle it (not getting weaker in the gym would be good evidence that you're recovering sufficiently).
If you go back and reread NR4W p. 23 to about the end of that chapter, the argument is for strength training instead of endurance training for better body composition. Many women are using
only endurance training and they are not reaching their goals. So Lou explains metabolic perturbation (also known as afterburn, turbulence, and metabolic disturbance), which is created with anaerobic training like lifting and intervals (the harder the intervals the greater the effect). Lou also writes (p. 27):
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Now, if you actually enjoy endurance exercise, and would miss it if you couldn't do any, we don't want to discourage you from that. But Alwyn has come up with a unique way of making it more effective.
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Then he goes into the intervals first followed by steady-state protocol.
Alwyn taught us in his
The Hierarchy of Fat Loss article that the most effective activities
for fat loss are, in order:
1. Metabolic Resistance Training
2. High Intensity Anaerobic Interval Training
3. High Intensity Aerobic Interval Training
4. Steady State High Intensity Aerobic Training
5. Steady State Low Intensity Aerobic Training
Jodi, I'd place the cardio you described into category 3, aerobic interval training.
Just about the whole of NR4W is focused on convincing you that metabolic resistance training really is number one on that list. And if you have time limitations (is there anybody who doesn't?), then choosing from the top down is the smartest and fastest way to reach your fat loss goals.
But there are other reasons to do easier types of cardio (4 and 5 on that list). Some people find them very uplifting emotionally. Someone was talking about walking their dog. That's #5 on that list, but it's a nice part of your day. Maybe everything you're doing in a day isn't focused on your fat loss goals? And that's ok.
And since someone mentioned cardiovascular health, I want to add (without elaboration and links) that you can improve your cardiovascular health with
any of the above training modalities, not just endurance training.