What's the Best Cardio Workout?

What's the best cardio?

There's those people who like to brag about the fact that they're lean without doing cardio. Good for them, they have great genetics. Not all of us are that blessed, and some of us would like the extra benefits of cardio which include improved cardiovascular, better endurance, and higher metabolism.

Cons of cardio? Some can be tough on your joints, and increased fatigue can lead some to eat way more which not only to the point of negating the calorie burn but to the point that they gain fat.

With that being said, I'll always promote LISS (Low Intensity Steady State) Cardio over HITT (High Intensity Interval Training). But if you want to sprint and/or do Tabata I won't get in your way. Your body might, though.

Also, all cardio exercises are based off of 60 minute sessions so cut it in half if you're only doing 30.

Jogging

Accessibility: A
Injury Free: F
Functionality: A
Calories Burned: 398-557


Many people say jogging is the easiest to do because all you need is a pair of shoes.

Let me counter this, you need a really, really good pair of shock absorbent shoes. And they're not cheap.

On top of that most of the people jogging don't have the range of motion to be jogging and are usually overweight which is increasing the impact of an already high impact exercise.

Combine that with the fact that many go too hard, too fast because of a new years resolution or summer time coming up.

If you look in a runners magazine it's filled to the brim with joint pain relief and chiropractic advertisements. That should tell you everything right there.

Even the top runners that don't get injured look emaciated and weak. Definitely not the body I'm going for.

Running is amazing at burning calories and some get what's called runners high, but most end up with runners knee.

If you love running and heed my advice than go for it.

Swimming

Accessibility: B
Injury Free: B
Functionality: A
Calories Burned: 493-704

Swimming is easy on the joints and can even build muscles.

But you need access to a body of water, and when winter comes around it better be an indoor pool. And a lot of indoor pools get crowded quick, so make sure you show up at a good time.

Also, you need great technique if you hope to knock out some consistent laps. On top of that you need a good pair of goggles that doesn't fog up all the time, doesn't leak water, and isn't so tight it hurts and leaves a mark for the next few hours.

Outdoor Cycling

Accessibility: A
Injury Free: C
Functionality: B
Calories Burned: 650

Biking is fun and easy on the joints. You can exlore a trail or get to know parts of town you never see all while burning calories.

It can also be annoying with cars seeming like they want to run you over and lot's of places not being bike friendly.

Make sure the bike height is correct as it can tear up your knees if not enough distance.

The other problem with outdoor biking is coasting. NO COASTING!

Stationary Bikes

Accessibility: B
Injury Free: B
Functionality: C
Calories Burned: 567

No coasting here. Set your goal or speed and you're on your way.

Biggest problem is how boring it gets. Hopefully you'll have a tv or excitiing audio book to listen to while you're doing it.

Recumbent Bike

Accessibility: B
Injury Free: A
Functionality: D
Calories Burned: 567

Pregnant, overweight, back problems, high blood pressure, joint issues, if you got problems than the recumbent bike should be the answer.

Rowing

Accessibility: C
Injury Free: B
Functionality: A
Calories Burned: 510, but you won't last that long so let's say 255 for 30 minutes

Rowing destroys the calories more than any other cardio workout. Not hard to see why, since you not only work every muscle in your body, you also stretch them as well, all while keeping it low impact.

Only issue is it's so strenuous that people don't do it long enough to burn enough calories.

Tom Venuto suggests that you incorporate it into a circuit. 15 minutes of rowing, 15 minutes of running, with 15 minutes of cycling, or however you choose.

Walking

Accessibility: A
Injury Free: A
Functionality: A
Calories Burned: 415

Low impact, great to explore, take the dog on a walk, what more could you want. More calories burned? Can't have it all.

Just remember you need to be going at a BRISK pace. Don't walk like somebody lost at a Home Depot, walk like a UPS Driver 2 days before Christmas.

Elliptical

Accessibility: A
Injury Free: B
Functionality: F
Calories Burned: 500

My personal favorite form of cardio.

A lot of people talk shit about the elliptical, but it's a secret calorie assassin. It doesn't look like you're doing much, it doesn't even feel like you're doing much, but you are. And it's extremely low impact.

So let's see a safe cardio workout, that burns calories while requiring less energy to do so, while I can listen to my audio books or podcasts.

The more people hate it, the more openings on the elliptical for you. Let them hate.

Note: Although, I kind of hate it now because I get Plantar Fasciitis when I do it too much.

Stair Climber

Accessibility: A
Injury Free: B
Functionality: A
Calories Burned: 650

Why do you see so many pro bodybuilders using the stair climber? Because it works.

Why do you think fat people take the elevator. Stairs are a workout. And this one is effective and easy on the joints.

This workout is a calorie killer, and works out your entire lower body at the same time.

While it's low impact, if you got knee issues it could aggravate them.

Also, don't be the dumb dumb that cranks it all the way up and hangs off the rail the whole time. Holding the rails makes it a waste of time.

Sprints

Accessibility: A
Injury Free: F
Functionality: A
Calories Burned: 465, this is based off only doing 30 minutes. Which is the most you should do.

The Icon of HITT training. Kills calories quickly builds muscle as well. But if you're lifting 3-4 times a week already do you really want to kill your body doing this as well.

Something's going to give sooner or later, I promise you that. That's why I advocate LISS.

Martial Arts or Boxing

Accessibility: A
Injury Free: F
Functionality: A
Calories Burned: 816

Learn how to fight while burning calories. What's the point of looking like a lean and strong bad ass if you can't do anything with it?

Basketball

Accessibility: A
Injury Free: F
Functionality: A
Calories Burned: 558 Half Court, 747 Full Court... you won't be playing Full Court trololol

Great at burning a calories, but there's a lot of standing around that most don't take into account.

Not to mention how much people get injured playing. It's a lot.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The most important thing is to stay consistent so that's going to mean doing the cardio you enjoy doing. That's the one you'll keep doing. Just be sure not to injure yourself, as it can easily happen. That ultimately the best cardio option.

There are other cardio choices out there, I'll maybe go over those in the future. This should be enough to hold you over until then.

4 Differences in Training and Diet: Men VS Women

1) Strength

Most women typically have very weak upper body strength.

Push ups, Pull ups, and other body weight upper body workouts are very tough for most women. But that doesn't mean it should be.

I've had many women become able to do many pull ups and even one arms push ups, it just takes work.

In contrast most men only care about upper body strength "How much ya Bench?!".  Something about Baby Boomers and Gen. X'ers that don't realize they have chicken legs.


The leap from 5 lbs in dumbbells is a moderate change for a man, but a be all end all for women. I'll have a girl press 20 lbs for for 12 reps easily, I add 5 lbs and they struggle to get 1.

Women will often benefit from having transitional weights in between. Only problem is most gyms don't carry the 12 lb and 17.5 lb dumbbells. So make sure if you're a woman to have the kinds of weights available for yourself.

2) Hormones

Women are often scared to lift, because they think they'll get too bulky and look like Chyna from the WWF. But they can't because of the lack of testosterone.



The women that you've seen that are bulky are doing just that, injecting testosterone and possibly other things into their body. And once again, scaring women from lifting weights.

Women will also have higher body fat than men due to hormones as well. That's why 10% is considered excellent body fat for most men, and 18% is considered high tier for women.

So much easier being a guy, I know.

3) Body Fat

Men put almost all their weight gain is their stomach. Usually getting the dreaded beer gut, even when not drinking. Even at lower levels of body fat, men will still have a tiny pudge until they get down to the single digits of body fat.

Men also put fat on their chest, which can be good if you can't afford a sex change.



Women put on fat in their thighs, arms, and now seen more frequently...stomach.

I've seen women with flat stomachs, but put all their body fat in their legs. It's weird how it can work.

Here's what's not different though. Women often want to know how to get rid of their "Teachers Arms", men want to know how they can get rid of their breasts and love handles, there's no workout that does it. It's all body fat. Get your body fat down low enough from diet and exercise and it all goes away.




Also there's just some times in the month, women shouldn't weigh or measure body fat.

4) Health at the cost of Fashion

Women wear these things called high heels, that may look great but shorten the Achilles tendon.

Much stretching, and foam rolling is necessary. And obviously, women should be careful about how often they wear them as well.

Men don't have this problem with sacrificing health for fashion, they do often however have a problem with fashion in general.

FINAL THOUGHT

Now I could  list all types of little nuances between the way men and women can or should train, but ultimately it's trivial.

However, it won't stop thousands of "Fitness Gurus" from trying to market it that way, because that's where the money is.

These are some of the only things I thought that were worth mentioning, the main thing is to stop making excuses and just workout and diet whether you're a man, woman, or even a canine quadruped.

Supplements That Actually Work

My typical review of supplements

Now I'm sure you're used to me trashing supplement companies by now. So let's change things up and actually promote the few useful supplements there are out there.

Multivitamins

You should get all your vitamins and minerals from a well balanced diet, but most of you won't do that so take a multivitamin.

For those few of you that do eat a very well balanced diet, a multivitamin won't hurt. Just in case you're somehow missing out on something.

Fish Oils

I could sit here and type all the amazing benefits of fish oils but University of Maryland Medical Center already did that for me. So I shall copy and paste.

– Improving cholesterol levels
– Lowering blood pressure
– Reducing the risk of heart disease
– Ditto for diabetes
– Managing arthritis symptoms
– Preventing osteoporosis
– Reducing the risk of – depression
– bipolar disorder
– schizophrenia
– ADHD
– cognitive decline
– muscular degeneration
– asthma
– breast, prostate and colon cancers

Udo's 3-6-9 Oil Blend is a great supplement to get the correct amount of each.

Caffeine

Why take a pre-workout when you can just drink black coffee? Unless you hate the taste of coffee, just remember that the only thing in the pre-workout making you go crazy is the caffeine. All the rest is a bunch of bullshit and flavorings used to make it not taste as bad and for marketing hype.

Really, it's that hard for you to handle some caffeine?

Creatine

If you're looking to get strong, put on more muscle, believe or not there's a supplement that actually does that.

Creatine is something your body provides naturally, taking creatine gives you more of that. Kind of like a guy injecting Testosterone, except a) you don't inject anything b) it's not a steroid.

Mark Mcguire said he was just on Creatine. It's good but not that good.

And you don't go back to looking like this when you get off creatine.

For the naysayers, Creatine is one of the most studied supplements out there that has no proven long or short term side effects .

Best of all it's cheap. Just buy the basic Creatine Monohydrate, don't let the sales guy try to talk you into the more expensive kind. They'll tell you they put  ground up dinosaur bones if it helps sell it, but  again it's all marketing hype. The supplement companies do that because they can't make any money off basic inexpensive creatine.

I've used it, and I know it works. If you're thinking about it, try it. Nothing to lose except 20 bucks.

Protein Powder

It's a supplement, not food. If you can't get enough protein into your body with normal foods, use this. Most people struggle with getting enough protein into their diets, so I understand. You should still focus on getting it naturally though.

Don't go crazy buying near $100 canisters of powder. Don't buy cheap either. Some of the the more expensive ones will taste better, mix easier, and have more protein per scoop which makes it easier to mix into foods if you're trying to make something like a protein pancake. If they could just figure out how to not make me dig through for the scooper.

There's a hack.

Bars can be good, but again use them rarely. They can have a lot of fat, sugar, and carbs with them as well.

Only use supplements 1-2 times a day MAX!

Also, most people are lactose intolerant and whey contains dairy... be prepared for possible protein farts.

Vitamin D

Great for bone density, fighting cancer, etc.. You get it from both the sun and food.

The sun? Yes, for dog owners have you ever noticed how your dog likes to just lay around and sun bathe? That's for vitamin D. Though they can't actually absorb it that way because of their fur, which is why you'll see them licking their body to absorb it orally... wait, I'm way off point now.



Vegans definitely need this supplement as it's mostly found in meat and dairy based foods.

Final Thought

So now you see why I rarely recommend supplements. These few that actually work are optional or are used to supplement something you should be getting naturally,

But I do recommend the ones mentioned because a) They actually work b) They're cheap c) Most people need them as most peoples diets are terrible d) and Fish Oil is just too good not to take.

As much as I hate doing self promotion, if you like this blog be sure to subscribe, share, comment, like, any of that stuff. I appreciate it.

6 EASY Steps to Getting your Dream Body

Step 1)  Keep Away from Processed Foods

You hear it all the time. Why? Because it's true.

Processed foods don't make you fat because they're processed, but it doesn't help.

Processed foods are NOT FILLING.

Top that off with the fact that they contain a massive amount of calories compared to natural foods.

They lack the nutrients that real foods have as well.

The closer it comes to the original source, the better it is typically.



Think Potatoes VS Mashed Potatoes VS Potato Wedges VS Potato Chips, it just gets more and more processed, less filling, way more calories, and devoid of nutrients.

Processed Foods you can give up and lose weight quickly would be:

Soda
Chips
Any Snack Foods that are meant for you to just keep eating while sitting idle
Frozen Foods like Chicken Nuggets and Hungry Man
Fries

Found this on some random blog. Summed up a typical bad diet perfectly.

Step 2) Eat Real Foods

Oatmeal, Sweet Potatoes, Brown Rice, Red Potatoes, Whole Fruit, Whole Vegetables, Lean Meats, are all real food.



Which means the opposite of earlier.

1) They're all extremely filling. It's very difficult to overeat on grilled chicken and apples.
2) They're low calorie. You'll be surprised how hard it is to hit your caloric goal when you eat real foods. You'll often end up eating less because it's so hard to get it all down.
3) They're full of all the nutrients that the people taking all those vitamins lack.

Eat the foods you like. If you don't like any of the foods I just named, don't eat them. Eat the ones you do like. There's plenty out there.

If you don't like Cottage cheese, don't eat it. If you love Tuna, eat that.

Step 3) Read Food Labels

Most people would be shocked if they read what they ate. It's often willful ignorance. You don't want to know how bad it is, just like you don't want to know how your hot dog was made, or that your clothes were made in a sweatshop. So people turn a blind eye.



But there's no room for that if you want better shape and live a healthier life.

When you start seeing how much fat, and carbs are in the foods you were eating you'll start making better choices...hopefully.

You'll realize that nuts and peanut butter are actually horrible sources of protein, and that chips are way more fattening than you thought.



You'll seek out foods that are high in protein, low in fat, and portion your carbs better.

Step 4) Use a Food Scale and Measuring Cups

Food scales and cups are cheap. Plus what's the point of reading food labels if you're not going to measure out the portion sizes.



Once you do it long enough you'll be able to eyeball it moving forward.

I still measure because I'm OCD, but that's me.

Also, a scale is always more accurate than a cup, in case you want to be extra careful.

And it's definitely easier to measure peanut butter with.

Step 5) Track Calories

Since you've gone this far why not use that fancy yet simple, and most importantly FREE app on your smartphone or computer.

Back in the day of yore you had to log it with pen and paper. And have all the food labels on you.



Now you can get it all done on your phone in under 3 minutes.

Now you have in plain sight what you're eating, how much, and what percentage of protein, carbs, and fat.

We now have the answer to why you're losing or not losing fat/ building or not building muscle.

If you're not getting enough of something, eat more of it. If you're eating too much of it, scale it back.

It helps you plan your day, and learn from your past mistakes.

Step 6) Stick the same Meals

They've done studies on athletes that stay in the best shape later on in life and they had one thing in common.

They eat pretty much the same thing most of the time. I do it as well.

I'm not saying never deviate, but we all have our routines.

When you have a healthy routine, with foods you love to eat, why change it up all the time and confuse yourself.

It's decision and mental fatigue. You have enough things going on in your life without planning your meals every single day.



Just eat the way that works for you and stick with it. Then when you have a cheat meal or random food every once and while and it won't effect you that badly.

As I say all the time, we are what we CONSISTENTLY DO... Did I just quote myself.

FINAL THOUGHT

You don't want to change. You might think you do, but your brain and body don't want to. They love routines. They want you to stick to the same house, job, relationship. TV shows, foods, and even route to work. You can't depend on motivation, you MUST FORM HABITS the same way you have habits now. You just need to replace them with better ones.



The best way to do that is not let yourself know it's happening. By making these baby steps you can do it slowly, without as much resistance. As you keep seeing results you'll be driven to make the next steps and keep building off that momentum.

5 Worst Excuses

1) I Don't Know What to Eat

We are currently living in the year 2016 and you still don't know what to eat?!

Yes, I realize there's a lot of bad info out there but that's still not an excuse.

You're following my blog and have my contact info, so there's no way you don't know what to eat by now.

Just to be nice here's a quick list from Tom Venuto of the 12 healthiest foods to eat.

Oatmeal (or other whole grain cooked cereals such as barley, wheat, rye, etc)

Yams (or sweet potatoes)

Potatoes (white or red)

Brown Rice

Whole wheat bread and 100% whole grain products

Vegetables

Fresh Fruit

Low fat & non fat dairy products (yogurt, cheese, milk, etc)

Chicken or turkey breast

Egg whites 

Lean red meat (top round, extra lean sirloin)

Fish and shellfish

2) This is Healthy Right?

No, no it's not. Not even close.

I see it all the time.

"I got this from Whole Foods so that's okay right?"

"These Wendy's Fries have sea salt on them so that's okay right?"

"These cheeseburger buns have sesame seeds so that's okay right?"

"This pizza was cooked in a brick oven so I can eat that right?"

I don't care how natural it is, how organic it is, or  if it's 300% whole wheat, if it doesn't fit your macros!

You know what's healthy, quit lying to yourself and rationalizing poor decisions.

3) There Was an Event

A birthday, a dinner invite, a guest, a wedding, a party, a holiday, a vacation, I DON'T CARE.

Unless you're a complete shut in, events will be happening around you all the time. If you give into every single one of them you'll never get anywhere.

I ate cake on my birthday, I ate pie on Christmas and Thanksgiving, I ate popcorn at the Alamo Drafthouse. Despite rumors I am an actual human being for the most part.



The thing is, I eat right all the rest of the time, so when an event comes around it doesn't mess me up. We are what we do consistently.

4) I Don't Have Time

You know how much time it takes to log calories. The way people complain about it you'd think you'd need a background in Excel spreadsheets and an accountant.

We're not doing taxes here!



It takes about 3-5 minutes on an app that does all the work for you.

If you don't have that time, I understand. Those Facebook updates aren't going to check themselves.

Oh, you don't have time to eat right either? You can't cook a  bunch of food in bulk and put it in Tupperware 1-2 times a week?

You can't eat healthier fast food?

Grilled chicken sandwich plain?

Chipotle bowl instead of a burrito?

Protein bar instead of a Snickers bar?

5) I've Tried Tracking and it Doesn't Work

Well, call up Charles Xavier and see if he's still accepting applicants to the X-Men Mutant Academy because you have powers that defy all research and logic.



This is pure science, if you're on a caloric deficit then you will lose weight.

I don't care if you have thyroid issues because that would only account for at most around 300 calories.

If you're tracking and not getting results, either 1 of 2 things is happening.

1) You're on a bad program and need to lower the calories, up protein, exercise more, etc.
2) You're not tracking correctly and eating way more than you think.

Final Thought

We live in an information age (Yes, I know the photo above is pure irony)

Which is sad for most people, because when you have all the available tools we run out of excuses, and get filled with guilt. Because, now you know without a doubt it's your FAULT.

Lack of information isn't peoples downfall, it's lack of adherence.

Will you be one of the few percent that actually can maintain, visualize your goals, and stay the course.

Or will you be like the rest and make excuses for your failure?

6 Ways to Avoid a Bad Personal Trainer

Things to Look for in a Good Trainer

Why would I as a trainer, give people advice for seeking another trainer.

1) Not everyone lives close enough to train with me.

2) I won't be doing this forever so you'll eventually have to find somebody else.

1) Find a Trainer that's Actually in Shape

Nothing worse than someone in worse shape than you  telling you how to do things.

Even if they're knowledgeable, they lack discipline and it's not inspiring.

But... just because a trainer is in shape, doesn't mean they're a good trainer.

Some just look that way easily because of great genetics. Have any friends like this?

Some take steroids to look that way. If your male trainer is extremely vascular, or unnaturally ripped and buff, than he's on roids.



If your female trainer sounds like James Earl Jones, then she's on roids.

Stay far away from them.

Train with someone that not only looks like a trainer, but trains like a trainer.

2) Don't Fall for Before and Afters

They're very misleading. It's more up to the client to get in good shape than the trainer.

When the client is willing to finally put in the work, than they will lose the weight easily by not eating whatever they come across and actually put some thought into their diet.

It's really mostly a numbers game. If you train a hundred clients, maybe 10-20 will actually lose a good amount of weight. and 1 or 2 will have a break though transformation.

Trust me, I've been doing this for 6 years.

You might ask why I put up before and afters then.

Because it works, and yes it does inspire people.

But it doesn't always mean the trainer is of high quality.

There are trainers that have taken my before and afters and used them on their websites despite not doing the work. There are even trainers that take an after and before and switch them around.

Buyer Beware.

3) Pseudo Science Madmen

A lot of trainers think they're nutritionists despite the fact they only know enough to be dangerous and don't know the first thing about actual science.

-The more over confident they are about things that aren't proven and backed up by scientists, the more you need to run away from them.

-If your trainer believes in juicing or detoxes run away immediately.

-If they speak dismissively of mainstream science, run away.

-If they think the government and big companies are purposely making us fat and sick, run away.



First of all trainers aren't legally allowed to give you nutrition advice unless they have a nutrition certification.

I give advice anyway, but it's mainstream education that's right out of the top books so it's nothing crazy or controversial.

Be like a 5 year old and question everything they say, then you'll really find out what they know.

4) They Don't Take Measurements

It helps you keep progress, it let's you know if the client is following the nutrition program, and if you need to lower or raise calories based on the results.

If they're not measuring, then you should take great MEASURES to distance yourselves from them.

5) The Session is all About Them

It's okay for a trainer to talk about themselves and their goals or whatever. Clients often want to know this stuff, as you're going to become friends as you'll spend a lot of time together.

But some trainers won't stop, they can't shut up about themselves.

Even when they're not talking they're on the phone or staring in the mirror.

6) Where's the Programming

"Today is the 300 workout. 300 of this, 300 of that, 300 everything because today's the 300 workout."

...Why? Did we decide to abandon proper programming in favor of themes?

"Today we're going to run, then we're going to jump a lot, then run some more."

All cardio? Yeah you'll be tired at the end, doesn't mean it was a good workout.

Any idiot could make you workout till you're tired, that's not a program though.

Believe it or not, there's actually successful trainers and gyms where all they do is cheer you on while you do cardio on a treadmill or elliptical.

Trainers should have you on a specific program, since it is PERSONAL training.

You have goals, and your programming should match that.

FINAL THOUGHT

Why would you waste your money or time on someone that's not going to get you results?

As often happens with everything from relationships to investing, people don't do their due diligence.

There's too many horror stories to name of bad trainers, the least you can do is make sure you don't fall victim to it.