If you are anything like me, I wanted to know how to burn fat without cardio.

The thought of spending countless hours on the treadmill makes you cringe. Mindlessly moving without going anywhere sounds like what caged hamsters do on the wheel during scientific experiments, not what fit athletes do to increase performance! So ask yourself: “Why am I doing so much cardio?” If your response is “To increase my aerobic capacity for a marathon,” kudos to you, because that is the only answer I see fit. Most likely your answer was along the lines of “to burn fat” or “to get skinny.” If so, what I’m about to say may come as a shock.

Doing large amounts of cardio is the least efficient way to burn fat.

Aerobics and cardio-focused workouts arrived on the scene with a bang during the late 70’s. Fitness professionals latched on to the emerging science that showed cardiovascular exercise burns calories and fat. It sounds great: work at a low-medium intensity, log in your time, and you will burn calories and fat. Unfortunately, there is much more going on.

Yes, long duration low intensity cardio burns fat, but not in the best way. When your body is burning the fat during a workout, it actually sends a signal that it will need to keep a fat reserve for energy during the next workout. You put the time in, burn the calories and fat, all to signal to your body to store fat during the hours you’re not working out… not good.


Long duration low intensity aerobic exercise may also increase your health risk. Exercising only within your aerobic limit never improves your working capacity. Your heart and lungs become more efficient, but only within their current capacity. This may actually lead to a reduced reserve capacity. (Reserve capacity is used in times of high exertion, where your heart is required to pump faster.) Lowering the reserve capacity of your heart and lungs will increase your risk of a heart attack in addition to other problems that can result from inefficiently dealing with stressful situations.

Possible injury

Many popular aerobic exercises (running especially) impact your joints dramatically and can lead to injury. The human body wasn’t meant for years and years of repetitive joint movements. You’re actually wearing down your body instead of strengthening it.

Focusing solely on low intensity aerobics and cardio may also lead to injury due to muscle imbalances. Most cardio exercises work only the lower body. Neglecting the upper body exposes you to many injuries.


More muscle = less fat

Every pound of muscle you add requires an additional 40-50 calories to maintain. Adding 5 lbs of muscle will burn an additional 250 calories throughout the day, every day. If you were to eat exactly the same, your body would then be in a caloric deficit without eating less, and a caloric deficit leads to fat loss. Excessive low intensity cardio will decrease the overall amount of muscle mass, ultimately slowing down your metabolism.

When you are doing steady-state cardio, you are burning calories, but when you stop, so does the burning of the calories. In no way am I saying to stop doing cardio. What I am saying is don’t make cardiovascular exercise the only type of exercise you do. Someone once said “The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again expecting a different result.” This is what you are doing when you’re doing the same mindless cardio every day. Don’t believe me? Look at those that only do cardio and I guarantee they look the same as last year and will look the same next year.


So what is the best way to burn fat without cardio?

The most efficient way to burn fat without cardio is to focus on strength training/lifting weights and other types of anaerobic exercise. Anaerobic training not only burns fat as you are doing it, but also induces a higher post exercise oxygen consumption to repair the damage and to adapt to the demands you placed on the body. This adaption translates to a higher metabolic rate for up to 72 hours after training. Strength training will not only induce muscle growth, which in turn will burn more calories, but is an anaerobic activity as well.

If you want to do cardio, that is fine, just make it more efficient. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is far more superior to burn fat and build muscle, than slow steady state cardio. HIIT involves conducting an activity at a near-all-out effort for a period of time. Then it is followed by a rest period for a period of time, and then repeating this sequence. Example: 10 rounds of 1 min at a near-all-out effort, followed by 1 minute of rest.

The goal is to always challenge yourself and force your body to adapt. It’s as easy as adding more weight or switching up your weight lifting routine. You can continuously challenge yourself with HIIT by adding more rounds, decreasing your rest periods, or raising the resistance. The point is you should stop doing the same routine over and over. Challenge yourself, and start burning your fat more efficiently. I don’t know about you, but I for one want to burn fat without cardio.

If you need help pushing yourself, or simply don’t know what you’re doing and want help, Why To Fitness would love to help. Click here  today for a free consultation.