Do you still believe the Earth is flat???

My guess is you probably don't believe the Earth is flat; I'm sure you know the Earth is round (I sure hope so anyway)

 My point is this: If you believe that we as humans are constantly progressing and discovering better ways of doing things, then why do you still stick with a cardio routine that is based on long out-dated research that has repeatedly been proven to be flawed thinking?

Here's what I mean:

If your goal is to have low body fat, flat 6-pack abs, and a tight butt then you need to train like the people who look that way.

Think about the athletes who look that way: sprinters, basketball players, volleyball players, tennis players. NONE of those athletes do low intensity "fat burn" cardio for 60 minutes on an eliptical machine. NONE of those athletes go for long runs that take 45 minutes, an hour, or even longer. They train using high intensity, short duration bursts of activity. They sprint, then take a short rest, then sprint again.

Picture to opposite ends of the spectrum: a world championship sprinter and a marathon runner.

When you picture a sprinter, (doesn't matter---male or female) those guys are so ripped you could use their bodies as an anatomy chart for a high school biology class. Ultra low  body fat, tight six pack abs, ripped arms and legs...these guys are seriously impressive athletes.

Then picture a marthon runner. Skinny, not much muscle, almost emaciated looking right? Looks like the wind might blow them over???

Which one is going to get the underwear model deal? Exactly. The sprinter. Or tennis player. Or beach volleyball player. Not the marathoner.

When you train like a sprinter your body gets a major metablism boost for several hours (even up to a full day or more) due to the recovery process from the high intensity intervals. This burns extra fat calories after the workout and turns your body into a calorie burning furnace which leads to low body fat! Lean and mean!

When you train like a distance runner, (by that I mean low to moderate intensity for a long duration) you get no metablism boost after the workout. You burn less calories during the workout. And if that weren't enough, your body may actually begin breaking down muscle tissue to make you a more efficient runner. Why?

The body is smart and it knows that muscle is inefficient for long distance training so its goal is to break down that extra muscle tissue because it's easier to supply a small muscle with oxygen than a large one. This can actually slow your metabolism down and make you gain fat!

Think about this one: If keeping your heart rate low and burning fat during the workout made sense, then sitting in a chair all day would be the ultimate fat-burn solution! (sorry but it's not)

Bottom line is this: Train like a sprinter. It burns more TOTAL calories during the workout, burns more FAT calories after the workout, and takes LESS TIME! If you're still being sucked in by the "fat-burn mode" you're falling behind on results and your workout is WAY out of date.

Now I'm not knocking distance running---it's great exercise and good for your health and if you enjoy just "going for a run" that's great, there's nothing wrong with that. Also, a long, slow run is great for a "light" day as high intensity interval workouts should only be done about 3 days per week. Also, if you are brand new to exercise those easy paced runs are a great way to build up to high intensity interval training.

BUT...if you want to maximize your time, effort, and fat burning results, you NEED to be doing high intensity interval training workouts. Lose the "fat burn," long, slow cardio and forget about monitoring your heart rate; it's wasting a lot of your time and effort if your goal is to burn fat.