Steady State Cardio vs Anaerobic Workouts

Okay, yes long distance runner’s aren’t exactly high in body fat but what about lean muscles mass? No much of that either – simply because they use both fat AND muscle for fuel. The issue – lower muscles mass means a slower metabolic rate which makes your fat loss journey a whole later harder! Put it this way – 2kg of muscle burns an extra 100 calories per day so if you loos 2kg of muscles that 100 less calories burnt!

Running is a go-to option for many people, its inexpensive and available to everyone (not equipment other then shoes required!). But aerobic exercise can also increase cortisol levels (stress hormone) meaning you store fat and have been linked to lower testosterone levels in men. 

Anaerobic workouts are, also available to everyone, inexpensive AND quicker. You might be working harder but you finish your work out in half the time!

In fact according to Poliquin unless you’re training for an endurance event “you shouldn’t be doing any steady-state aerobic training because it will compromise your body composition gains.”

So look at anaerobic style training (think interval training, resistance circuits and HIIT) and resistance work for fat loss. Anaerobic training helps to speed up the metabolism and maintain all that lean muscle mass you’ve been working on. While long distance cardio will decrease fat loss it will also decrease muscle mass and include fat storing when done in large amounts.

References:

By Alex Carson
Full Article: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/distance-dilemma-running-and-fat-loss.html 

http://www.charlespoliquin.com/Blog/tabid/130/EntryId/1107/Tip-321-Strength-Train-and-Avoid-Steady-State-Cardio-to-Gain-Muscle.aspx

https://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/728/The_(Many)_Negatives_of_Aerobic_Training.aspx