The Best Evidence-Based Cardio Routine For Optimal Fat-loss 📖

Cardio seems to be the area of confusion for most people when it comes to optimal fat loss. 🧐.

Although cardio is by no means necessary to burn fat given that we are already creating a calorie deficit through our nutrition, it is definitely still a good idea to incorporate cardio into our training program. 🏃🏻‍♂️

Apart from the obvious cardiovascular health benefits cardio provides, it can very well also expedite the rate of our fat loss process especially if we are sedentary for most part of the day. 🪑

Instead of entirely focusing on energy deficit by consuming lesser food, incorporating some cardio will allow us to have the flexibility of eating a little bit more while dieting. This will indirectly help us to adhere to our diet in the long term. 🙌🏻

It is extremely important to also focus on retaining as much lean muscle mass as possible throughout the fat loss process. This is essential to avoid developing a “skinny-fat” physique during our fat loss journey. 💪🏻

Do you know that the more cardio an individual performs and the longer the duration of each session, the more it interferes with muscle size and strength gains? 😨

This is summarised in a 2011 meta-analysis also known as the interference effect. There are also specific forms of cardio that are better than others at retaining muscle mass while maximising fat loss.👨‍🏫

We can then deduce that more is not better and not all cardio exercises are created equally. Hence, it is important that we set up our cardio routine appropriately to achieve optimal fat loss. 

Here are the 2 main types of cardio protocols: ↙️

1.     HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training): 1-2x per week, 10-20 minutes/session 

HIIT is basically a cardio protocol in which we alternate between short periods of almost all-out effort with longer periods of rest between sets. For example, going back and forth between 30 seconds of fast cycling with 60 seconds of slow recovery cycling. 🚴‍♂️

HIIT has been proven to be superior at improving VO2 max and enable us to burn more calories in a shorter period of time when compared to LISS (Low-intensity steady state cardio). 📈

The same 2011 meta analysis also mentioned that HIIT interferes less with muscle size and strength gains as compared to LISS, hence HIIT is likely to be the better option over extended amounts of steady state cardio. 👍🏻

Running, Cycling or Rowing are the few viable exercise modalities for HIIT where they do mimic common strength training exercises and have been proven to be effective in maintaining strength during dieting. 🏋️

2.     LISS (Low-Intensity Steady State): 1-3x per week, 20-40minutes/session 

As we all know that HIIT is pretty taxing physically and therefore cannot be performed often, we can also incorporate low intensity steady state cardio into our training program. ☺️

LISS cardio exercises such as brisk walking, light cycling or even slow jogs do not cause much muscle damage and can actually expedite our recovery process from the strength training in the gym. 🚶

Ideally, we should also perform our cardio session on a separate day from our strength training session to avoid interfering with the performance in the gym. 👌🏻

Avoid doing more than 3 cardio sessions per week as it is very likely to start interfering with our recovery from the strength training session in the gym, which should always be our main priority during the fat loss journey. ✍🏻

Ultimately, we should choose what we enjoy the most and the one that we can stay consistent with it to achieve the best possible results. 🤛🏻

Always remember that although cardio is an effective fat burning tool to use, we must prioritise our nutrition and strength trainings in the gym first. If not, cardio can often do more harm than good! 😉

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For those looking to gain muscle & lose fat while simultaneously getting leaner & stronger in the process, do schedule your complimentary personal training consultation to explore the possibilities of working together & providing you valuable takeaways that you will find it beneficial to get started! 📧