What “losing fat” could mean...
It could mean that you have:
- A few extra kgs, are looking at fat loss and body recomposition, to improve your body composition AKA maintain or increase and your muscle mass while losing fat to reach a different body balance between muscle and fat mass.
- Some more extra kgs that are affecting your health and generally the quality of your life and you want to finally let them go to improve these aspects.
- A competition ahead and need to trim a couple extra kgs to stay in a particular category to compete.
What I don't think "losing fat" means...
Losing fat definitely doesn’t mean:
- I saw my favorite instagrammer and he/she looks so shredded I want to look exactly like him/her.
- My friend told me that carbs are making me fat so I should avoid them to stay lean.
- I ate too much yesterday so today I’m going to punish myself on the treadmill.
- I’m scared of the weight going up on the scale, I secretly obsess over my body image, the foods that I eat and I’m never satisfied of how I look.
**Mental health plays an enormous role in many of the fat loss needs or desires. Having cleared that you have a balanced mindset, let’s move on.**
The common ground
The “what losing fat could mean” items all have a goal in mind and most of the time it’s a very SMART goal (read what is a S.M.A.R.T. goal HERE) and therefore there can be a plan-of-action behind to reach it, the items belonging to the other one are vague, fear/anxiety driven and can lead to a continuous spiral of dissatisfaction.
At the base of a fat loss journey, there is a solid pillar: a S.M.A.R.T. goal to reach so that we can be sure you’re heading in the right direction.
Once you have set that up, where do you put cardiovascular training or cardio in the equation? Is there such a thing as too much or too little? Do you need cardio for fat loss?
Different types of cardio for you to choose
Low Intensity Steady State Cardio or LISS: this is the equivalent of a nice walk, it’s easy on your joints, you can enjoy talking with friends and the panorama and you can do it anywhere, doesn’t necessarily need to be done in the gym where it can be very boring as the scenery never changes. You can do it every day with virtually zero risks.
Moderate Intensity Steady State Cardio or MISS: similar to the above but the pace is a bit higher, according to your fitness level it might not be super easy to talk with your friends, your HR goes a bit faster and you might break a sweat, can be done anywhere and when the duration is long enough can significantly improve your cardiovascular health. Can be done every day with no particular risks.
Higher Intensity Steady State Cardio or HISS: you get the drill, this time you’re pushing harder, talking is hard and your heart beats fast, breaking a sweat is very easy and this intensity is hard to keep for longer time and distance. You won’t probably be able to do it every day, but maybe 2 or 3 times a week according to your recovery.
High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT: ok, this is the hardest one. Brief time-based intervals of explosive cardio where you have to give your all followed by short breaks to recover, usually repeated for a specific amount of rounds, or until you can.
This, if done properly, is VERY taxing on your body to the point that every interval brings you one step closer to complete failure and…uhm…possible desire to vomit.
to help you understand, the right intensity here is at a “I might explode here and now” level
If you really hit the right intensity probably once a week is more than enough, you need to recover between every session and allow your body to adapt to the storm full of baseball bats that just hit it.
Do you need cardio for fat loss? Is it the best way to lose fat?
Cardio does burn calories but, it is not be the most efficient way to do it as the number of calories you burn during a cardio session doesn’t really matter that much in the big picture of fat loss.
Do you need cardio for fat loss? The answer is no. You ultimately need to be in calorie deficit to lose fat, and there is no way around it. It also doesn’t matter how many calories you might burn because:
You can run 10k a day and still be overeating and not lose fat. You can avoid cardio like you’d avoid stepping on dog poop, be in calorie deficit and still lose fat.
If your goal is to lose fat while building muscle thought, there is a catch: strength training and protein intake should still be the main staples of your plan as these would stimulate your muscle growth while you’re cutting calories to reduce fat. Cardio won’t be helping much in building muscles so strength training should still be the main.
Cardio has immense health benefits for you that can already develop with low intensity cardio multiple times a week so absolutely do it for your cardiovascular and mental health in relation to your goal.
Take me as an example: I lift weights because I want to increase my strength and my muscle mass, I keep my protein high during the day and I love biking and walking as a form of cardio for my heart health and endurance, not because of the very little calories I’d burn. It all depends on your goal
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