You’ve probably heard that to lose weight and achieve a strong, disease-proof body, you need to do some sort of monotonous aerobic or cardio exercise for at least an hour, four days a week.

Not true! Here’s why…

Long duration exercises like aerobics and long-distance running do more harm than good. The best way to lose fat, build muscle, strengthen your heart and lungs, and add years to your life is with short duration, high intensity exercises.

You see, typical cardio and aerobic exercises not only put you at risk for repetitive motion injuries, they also force your heart and lungs to shrink. When you don’t challenge your heart and lungs, they get used to the routine and don’t have to work as hard. That makes your heart and lungs less resistant to stress. And if your heart can’t handle stress, you are more likely to drop dead of a heart attack.

What’s more, these exercise routines don’t make you lean and strong. When you burn fat, your body gets the signal to store more fat. People that train at low to medium intensity for long periods have a much higher body fat percentage and less muscle than people who train for strength with short duration, high intensity, interval-type exercises.

A recent study showed that the muscles of marathon runners actually shrink. When the muscle biopsies of seven marathon runners were analyzed, researchers found their muscle fiber size had decreased and atrophied.¹

Working out in short bursts of high intensity exercise will burn glycogen stored in muscles as fuel rather than fat. This then teaches your body to store more energy in the muscles and not as fat. This process helps you burn fat and get lean.

A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that men and women who exercised at a higher intensity had lower blood pressure, lower triglycerides, higher HDL (good cholesterol) and less body fat.²

Short bursts of high intensity exercise can also help you exceed your aerobic capacity, which increases your lung volume. Why is lung volume so important? According to the famous Framingham Heart Study, lung capacity is the best predictor of longevity and absence of disease.

When you push yourself to where you need to stop and pant, as with high intensity exercises such as a 50-yard sprint or a good set of calisthenics, you are asking your lungs to provide more oxygen than they are able to at that time. This response signals your body to increase your lung volume.

You see, as you age, you lose lung capacity. By the time you are 70, you will have lost 50% of your lung capacity. If you stick with high intensity, short duration exercise, you can prevent this from happening. But if you run marathons or do hour-long aerobics classes, you will make this loss even worse.

So don’t worry about spending hours upon hours doing boring cardio routines when all you really need is 10 to 20 minutes a day to strengthen your heart and lungs, and get a lean, disease-free body.

Here are some tips for making the most of your 10 to 20 minutes. Keep in mind that you want to work at a pace that gives your heart and lungs a challenge. You want to break a sweat, but not so intense that you can’t finish at least 10 minutes.

• Run sprints or walk briskly on the treadmill at a high intensity for one minute. Then follow up with a period of recovery. During recovery just slow down to an easy pace to give your body a chance to rest and recover. Then repeat 5 times. You can do this on a stationary bike, elliptical machine or even with a jump rope. Try a different one each day.

• Get outdoors for a change of scenery:
  • Measure off streets for running sprints – 25 yards, 50 yards, 100 yards, etc.
  • To step it up a notch, find streets with steep inclines. This is good for both biking and running.
  • Use hiking trails in local parks.
  • Staircases can be a good challenge.   Use the stairs in your own home or even the stairs in an empty sports arena.
  • If biking or running is difficult for you, just walk down the sidewalk. Time yourself and see how long it takes to get down the block.
• Try some calisthenics. They are the best exercises for building strength. Squats are my favorite for really getting the heart pumping. You may remember them from your days in gym class. Here are a couple of variations.
  • Traditional Squats — With your feet shoulder-width apart, squat as far as possible. Bring your arms forward, parallel to the floor. Return to a standing position. Repeat.
  • Squat Thrusts — This is not only good for building lower body strength, but it’s good for strengthening the entire body.  Stand with your feet together. Squat down and place your hands on the floor next to your feet. Quickly jump and bring your feet backwards into a push-up position; then jump bringing feet back between your hands and stand up.

    To make it even more intense, add a jump after you stand up. Jump upward as high as you can while simultaneously extending your arms over your head. After landing, return to your original squatting position.

If you are stuck for ideas, remember this: Focus on short periods of exertion and follow up with some recovery time. Get into a rhythm. When your heart rate gets up and comes back down, that’s all you need.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

References

1. Trappe S, et al. J Appl Physiol, 101:721-727, 2006.
2. Williams P. Arch Intern Med. 1998; 158-237-245.

[Ed. Note: My PACE Program can teach you how to strengthen your heart, pump up your lungs, and burn fat in less than 20 minutes a day, 3 times a week. You can even ditch your gym membership. You won’t need it. Go here now to find out more about this revolutionary exercise program.

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