Transcription
In today's video, I'm going to discuss the specifics of how to set up a cardio plan to lose belly fat, to lose lower back fat, to lose any fat that you want to lose. Maybe you don't want to look as shredded as I get on the screen. Maybe you just want to get the physique that you're after, and I'm going to explain exactly how to set up your cardio, the reasons behind it. And I'm going to start right now.
Hey guys, this is Paul Rivelia from Pro Physique. And today, I'm in my gym and I want to explain to you the idea of using cardio for fat loss. The first thing you have to understand about fat loss is it's, it's essentially the window of 24 hours that determines if you're going to lose body fat. Cardio is a tool that allows you to create a caloric deficit along with your diet, your daily routine, all the things that go into a caloric deficit. So you cannot simply just do cardio and expect to lose weight if you're not paying attention to your nutrition.
The reason being is certain types of cardio are actually going to increase your hunger. And there's lots of research that actually shows that if you do certain types of cardio well, you're going to end up eating more to compensate for that energy. So I want to talk to you about my favorite form of fat loss, the fat loss that I used for my last contest prep that I did. That's the only thing that I used cardio-wise to get to this lean right here. So I'll put some pictures and videos up here. And as a coach, it's my favorite tool. And when I talk about steady-state cardio, and specifically, I even have my treadmill right there. I want to talk about how you use a treadmill, the right ways to use a treadmill for you to reach your goals. Because a lot of people hear the term cardio, they hear the term walking, and they have a conception in their head of what it's about, but you'd be way wrong.
Okay, so what happens when we do cardio? So when you move, your body begins breaking down things for fuel. What we prefer to break down for fuel, in most cases, is body fat. Right? When you're envisioning yourself doing some cardiovascular exercises, you're like, "Great, I'm breaking down body fat for fuel." But not so fast. Our body is always breaking down fat, and it is always reaccumulating fat. It's always storing and losing, always. You cannot stop these processes, right guys? So I want you to understand that concept because that will help you understand better why we do things a certain way, why I do things a certain way as a coach. The concept of fat loss is about creating a position where your body is storing less than it is taking in. Okay? It is storing less than it is burning. Okay? So you're able to at the end of the day, lose that body fat. Because even when you're doing cardiovascular exercise, your body is going to liberate fat for fuel, but it can be reabsorbed very easily.
Let's talk about how fat loss works when doing cardio. Now, our body is going to use fuel for energy to accomplish tasks. The type of activity that you do is going to determine the primary fuel source, never 100%, but the primary fuel source. So if I were to take off in a dead sprint down the street here, as fast as I could go, I could last, whatever, 30 seconds, a minute running at full speed. The primary fuel source for that activity is carbohydrate-based. Okay? It creates an oxygen debt. And there's been a lot made about high-intensity cardio, and for good reason, it's got its place. However, the energy deficit and the oxygen deficit that you create during a sprint can actually backfire. First of all, you're not using fat as the primary fuel source. Okay? So if you overcompensate with eating more, you can end up not losing any body fat if that's your goal. However, the lower the intensity of the activity, the higher the use of fat for your primary fuel source. Did the light bulb just go off? Because it did for me years ago when I learned this.
So before I explain exactly how we're going to use cardio, I want you to understand that you need to have a baseline knowledge of your daily caloric intake, your averages, and your daily activity. Because you burn calories not just when you're doing cardio, you burn calories all throughout the day. In fact, if you look at the amount of calories we burn throughout the day, we burn a lot more through non-exercise activity than we do through exercise activity. Meaning people who are typically in very good shape year-round are physically active. And I'm not a big believer in severely restricting calories to lose weight because it's a short return. You're going to lose weight initially, but what happens is eventually, you're not going to be able to keep up with the low-calorie approach. Your body is going to adapt, you're going to start restricting your movements, energy conservation is going to happen. So I'd rather we take an approach where we understand the balance between how many calories we're taking in and how much movement we're doing.
All right guys, so for this next demonstration, I'm gonna risk my life. I'm literally standing on my treadmill. It's a NordicTrack Elite 4700, I think it's called. A lot of people ask, it's been a great model. I've had it at my house for a couple years now, never had a problem with it. So what I'm going to explain to you is how I use this NordicTrack walking treadmill. Now, why do I use a walking treadmill? Well, I start my cardio by walking outside. You want to start with the least amount of cardio to lose weight, right? You don't want to start out doing a ton of cardio because you only have to go up from there, assuming this is your primary form of movement. Now, I'm pretty sedentary. I sit at my desk, I work, I go home. Yes, I'll run around and play with my kids, but certain times of the year when I'm busy, I end up working 12, 13, 14 hours a day. This is my primary movement throughout the day. I don't get a lot of steps. If you're tracking steps, great. If you have a spin bike, great. If you have an elliptical, great. If you love to go for your walks with your friends, great. Just understand that where we start is going to kind of allow us to progress from there. When you walk outside, it can be difficult to progress and increase calories. The really the two main things you can do is walk at a more brisk pace and then jog, or you could actually get into longer distances, but that's where time becomes a factor. This is why, and I say it all the time, I love the treadmill.
So we're going to start it up here and I'm going to show you how I get started. So let's just say I'm starting my typical cardio session. Now, what I like to do is wake up every morning, 5 o'clock, drive to the gym. I used to have a home gym, but right now we're doing some construction. So I basically just wake up, roll out of bed, and do my cardio. I start my walk. Now, the machine is gonna tell us how many calories we're burning, okay? So do those numbers really matter much to me? Not particularly, right? So I can bump up the speed very easily, and now I'm up to, you know, almost 300 calories an hour. Okay, what does that number mean to me? That simply represents the amount of effort I'm putting into my cardio session. So let's say, and this is exactly what I'm doing this week, I'm starting my cardio with five sessions, 30 minutes a day of walking. I also have a big screen TV right here and I have my phone, so I can accomplish some things, get some entertainment. And for me, cardio is enjoyable. Try to make your cardiovascular exercise, your daily routine, enjoyable. If it's something that does not excite you or doesn't bring you a little bit of pleasure, you're much less likely to do it.
Okay, so let's say I've been doing this cardio, which I've been doing this week, and I'm going to burn 200 calories per session. Does that mean I actually burned 200 calories? No. What that means is the machine, based on the equation it created, says, "Hey, you burned about 200 calories this session." The research, there's a study out of Stanford that showed that this can be as much as like 87% inaccurate. So if you're using your cardio machines to tell you to eat back more food, that's a mistake. Don't do that. Because again, we're trying to create a caloric deficit through the activity and through the tracking of our calories. So what I would suggest is you keep your diet exactly the same, maybe restrict a little bit, but then you use cardiovascular exercise, walking, something, bike riding, to create the deficit and help you along the way instead of just pulling out tons of calories.
So after one week of walking for 30 minutes, and you can hear I'm already starting to breathe a little deeper, that to me is a good sign. I also believe it's a good sign when my body temperature increases. Now, you're not going to get into a place walking at a casual pace where you're out of breath. Your body will actually adapt to that. But let's say after a week of walking for 30 minutes, burning 200 calories a session, I don't lose any weight. What do I do? Do I have to walk for an hour? No. I can still walk for 30 minutes. I can just increase the incline and increase the speed to where I'm burning 250 calories per session, 300 calories per session. It's all about how you want to manage it. I will at times get to get to places where I'm doing 60 minutes of cardio and I'll burn over 500 calories in that session. And in those sessions, I am sweating pretty heavily, but I can still have a conversation like this.
So let's bump it up and I'll show you what that looks like. So three incline, three speed, for me, this is about where I get pretty comfortable. I can do this for a while. 400 calories an hour, I'm strolling, no problem. And when I'm adapted to it, it can be a little bit mindless. I can just do it and I can put on my favorite show. I can watch some Narcos, some Witcher, whatever you guys are into. And I'm telling you now, I wake up excited to watch my shows because that's the only time I get to watch TV because my kids dominate television these days. All right, so now I'm at 400 calories and I can, I can do this. It's a little bit of effort, I'm strolling. But if I really want to get to 500 calories, now we're talking some work, right? So now I'm over 500 calories. I put the incline to five, speed to 3.3. Now, am I actually burning 500 calories? I don't care. The point is, is that the intensity is high enough that I can feel the difference. I know I'm burning more calories, so I'm going to help create the deficit. So along with a small adjustment to my nutrition and a small adjustment to my cardio, I keep the progress going throughout the diet phase. There you go.
So when does cardio on the treadmill go from being low-intensity steady state, where the primary fuel source you're burning is fat, to moderate to high intensity? Well, it's all about those, those numbers, right? You can actually get to a place where you start jogging, and then you might start burning a little bit more carbohydrates as fuel, which is not a problem. Again, the whole big picture is what matters. But what I find is by doing this and gradually doing more cardio, more intensity, more incline, you see I'm a little bit out of breath. Recovery from this is fine. I can stop this within five minutes. It's like I did nothing at all. I feel great. I can go back to work. I actually have some appetite suppression. I actually have more energy. If I go outside and run some sprints or do something very high intensity, you take me a couple hours to recover. Literally, like I have to lay down sometimes, you know? So again, this is how I would progress it. I would progress it by, if you're at 30 minutes and you're burning 200 calories for the first week, I would probably bump it up to say 35 minutes and try to burn, I don't know, 250 calories, right? You can use those numbers as a guide to tell you how much activity you're doing. Now, I don't trust the numbers, like I said, I just use them as a guide to know, okay, I'm doing more than I was. Same thing with the diet. Whatever your calories are, if I take some away from that, I know I'm creating that deficit.
If you have questions below, guys, let me know. You know, I'm trying to help you guys. We're getting started with this transformation challenge January 15th. If you're not signed up, the links below. Let's go.