Visual Impact Cardio

Visual Impact Cardio

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by Rusty Moore

Copyright Notice No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without expressed written, dated and signed permission from the author. All copyrights are reserved.

Disclaimer and/or Legal Notices The information provided in this book is for educational purposes only. I am not a doctor and this is not meant to be taken as medical advice. The information provided in this book is based upon my experiences as well as my interpretations of the current research available. The advice and tips given in this course are meant for healthy adults only. You should consult your physician to insure the tips given in this course are appropriate for your individual circumstances. If you have any health issues or pre-existing conditions, please consult with your physician before implementing any of the information provided in this course. This product is for informational purposes only and the author does not accept any responsibilities for any liabilities or damages, real or perceived, resulting from the use of this information.

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Table of Contents Introduction: Losing Body Fat as a “Skill” 5 Once you have mastered the skill of losing body fat, getting lean will never be a problem again. Routines are nice...fat loss mastery is better. Chapter 1: Calories Burned After Exercise Don't Amount to Much 8 I critique 2 studies quoted most often in favor of brief intense exercise: The Tremblay Study and Tabata Study. A 3rd study examines how little calories we actually burn after an intense exercise session. Chapter 2: Focus on Calories Burned During the Workout Since the afterburn effect (EPOC) is less than what we have been led to believe, the calories burned during the workout is what matters most.

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Chapter 3: Calories Burned: Intervals Vs Steady State 19 How to figure out how many calories intervals burn compared to steady state cardio. Using the concept of “Average Intensity Level” to increase or decrease the amount of total calories burned during interval training. Chapter 4: A 1 Page Interval Training Summary 23 Like “lecture notes” or “cliff notes” from my detailed chapter 5 teachings. The stuff covered here will be on the test...so no skimming :) Chapter 5: How Interval Training Actually Works 24 A detailed explanation of how interval training works. Why it makes sense to use a mix of intervals along with steady state cardio for the fastest results. Chapter 6: Calorie Deficit, Calories Burned, & Fat Loss 34 A prolonged calorie deficit always leads to weight loss, but that weight can come from muscle glycogen, body fat, or muscle tissue. How to ensure a portion of that weight loss comes from body fat. Chapter 7: Burning Stubborn Body Fat 39 Stubborn body fat is more sensitive to insulin, less sensitive to adrenaline, and has poor blood flow compared to normal body fat. Why diet alone makes it near impossible to lose this body fat. Visual Impact Cardio

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Chapter 8: Calories, Food, and Workout Timing 42 How to structure your meals and workouts to maximize fat loss. How tracking calories per week, is more effective than tracking calories per day for consistent ongoing fat loss. Chapter 9: Improving Popular Fat Loss Programs 50 Examining Kettlebells, Zumba, CrossFit, P90X and similar programs when it comes to fat loss. How to make these popular workouts even more effective at burning body fat. Chapter 10: Separating Fat Loss & Resistance Training When you only train in the high rep, low rest periods necessary for fat loss...you will never maximize the full potential of your muscles.

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Chapter 11: Visual Impact Cardio Preparation What can't be measured can't be improved. Crucial numbers we will be tracking throughout all of the fat loss programs.

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Chapter 12: The Beginner's Cycle 71 This 8 week cardio cycle is for pure beginners or for those who haven't trained for a while. This one is meant to get people ready for the next cycle. Chapter 13: The Intermediate Cycle 78 This is the 8 week progressive cardio cycle that is the core program of the course. Most people will get as lean as they want using this cycle. Chapter 14: The Advanced Cycle 85 This 8 week cycle is just for those who want to push the limits of intensity. It can be used for someone who wants to be “event ready”. Chapter 15: The Maintenance Plan 92 Now that you are in shape, here is what to do to stay that way, without living in the gym. A realistic approach to staying lean year-round. Chapter 16: Final Thoughts 96 Some suggestions on how to tweak these routines, scientific references, and all the various links to my other courses, blog, Facebook page, etc. Visual Impact Cardio

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Introduction Losing Body Fat as a “Skill” The purpose of this ecourse is to teach you one thing: to master the skill of losing body fat. Yes...I'm claiming that getting lean is a skill that you will be able develop.

Much like basketball or any other sport, there are fundamentals that will make you successful. Before I teach you the plays, I need you to know exactly how fat storage and fat loss works (the fundamentals). Unlike generic, rehashed fat loss courses...this won't be boring. I typically know within 5-6 pages if a fitness book has “game changing” information. My guess is that less than 10% bring anything new to the table. The books and courses that I consider “game changers” typically venture into a subject at a higher level. My first cardio & fat loss course was NOT a “Game Changer”.

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My first fat loss course, Treadmill Ninja Master, was released in 2009. I've received tons of testimonials about how well it worked for people. I'm proud of it and still believe it was worth every penny. ...but NOT a game changer.  It didn't go deep enough into the subject of fat loss.  It didn't teach you how to track cardio progression.  It didn't allow for enough flexibility. This has bothered the heck out of me! I would rather create 3-4 fitness courses that change the game for people, then have 10+ courses that just list routines. An analogy for ya:

It is easy to create a book full of recipes, but much harder to create a course teaching someone how to become a master chef.

A master chef is someone who has an in depth understanding of food and cooking. They can make great tasting dishes regardless of the kitchen or cooking utensils. They can work off of recipes or create an amazing dish just from their knowledge of cooking. Visual Impact Cardio

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Too many Recipe Followers and not enough Master Chefs in the Gym! As you can probably tell...I'm doing my best to sell you on the idea of understanding fat loss. It's tempting to go straight to the routines. The problem with jumping to the routines is that you will become just another recipe follower. What I'm going to show you.               

Why brief workouts can only take you so far. Calories burned during a workout are what matter most. The specific type of training that maximizes calorie burn. Using “Average Intensity Level” to measure the intensity and effectiveness of your interval session. How interval training works. Explained in detail, but in simple terms. When to focus on maximum calorie burn. When to just target body fat directly. How to structure your diet for max fat loss and the least pain. Why diet alone won't help you burn stubborn body fat. Tracking calories per week allows you to lose weight while socializing. How to get more out of any popular fat loss program. Why I recommend separating resistance and fat loss workouts. Preparation for the cardio routines to maximize fat loss. Some seriously effective cardio fat loss routines. Final comments with a few tips on how to tweak these routines.

Honestly...You will get as lean as you desire if you understand the principles laid out in this course, use the routines and make adjustments along the way. Excited for you :)

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Chapter 1 The Calories Burned After Exercise Don't Amount to Much I believe the single biggest reason that people are having a tough time getting lean these days is that they rely too heavily on the “afterburn effect”.

Ever hear something like this? “Interval training, burns many more calories and MUCH more fat after the session is over compared to regular cardio.” The big pitch about HIIT, Circuit Training, Metabolic Resistance Training, etc...is the calories burned after the workout session. A lot of this is backed by two studies: The Tabata & The Tremblay Study. Tabata Study[1]: Moderate 60 minute cardio was compared to 7-8 sets of intense intervals consisting of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds rest. Each of these routines were both performed 5 days per week for 6 weeks.

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Tremblay Study[2]: This is the one “showing” that intense interval training burns “9 times more fat” than slow and steady cardio. People who suggest that brief intense exercise is the way to go, love to refer to these two studies. Let's take a closer look at each study...

The Tabata Study So let's begin by pointing out something minor about this study. The Tabata Study did NOT track fat loss!

ZZZZZZZIIIP (cue record scratch for effect) I'll say it again---> The Tabata Study did NOT track fat loss. This is a minor detail that is probably good to know about a study referred to so often (especially when used to argue that brief workouts burn more body fat). The Tabata Study Tracked VO2 Max Performance. Think of VO2 max as “aerobic capacity”. I like this definition:

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VO2 Max is the highest rate of oxygen consumption attainable during maximal or exhaustive exercise. As you increase intensity of an exercise you use more and more oxygen. There is a point where you can increase the intensity of an exercise without increasing the amount of oxygen you use.

The graph is showing a point where the rate of oxygen consumption does not increase, even when the exercise intensity is increased. This point is considered to be 100% of VO2 max. As you become more aerobically fit, your VO2 max increases. Someone who is out of shape typically has a low VO2 max. They can get “out of breath” walking up a flight of stairs. In fact, I've seen people who reach their VO2 max pushing a cart in a grocery store. The Tabata Study Was Done at 170% of VO2 Max. It is possible to train at over 100% of VO2 Max. If you look at the graph above...I marked off along the Exercise Intensity line, where 100% of VO2 Max was reached. Any Exercise Intensity past that point, is over 100% of VO2 Max. Make sense? Visual Impact Cardio

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170% of VO2 Max is Extremely Tough to Duplicate. Training at 100% of VO2 max gets your heart rate up to roughly 90%-100% of your max heart rate. Lets say you are 30 years old and your max heart rate is roughly 190 beats per minute (using the MHR = 220 – Age equation). ...to get to 100% VO2 Max, you must train at an intensity that gets your heart rate up to 170 beats per minute. This isn't an exact science...just a rough estimate. Let's say you can reach 100% of VO2 Max cycling at level 13. To reach 170% VO2 max, you have to train with 70% more intensity than what it took to get to 100% VO2 Max. That is the equivalent of cycling at level 22. I don't even think most exercise bikes can be adjusted to that level. The main point is that many people who believe they are doing Tabata intervals...are probably doing something much less intense. Tabata intervals increase VO2 Max, but what about burning fat? This type of workout is so brutal, it would be good to know if it actually was effective at burning body fat. USA Today posted an article in June 2010, which found that fit people produce more glycerol after a workout, compared to someone with a low VO2 max. Glycerol levels are an indicator of fat breakdown. So those with a higher VO2 max, burned more body fat even when performing low level activities (the study had subjects walk for 10 minutes on a treadmill). Having a high VO2 max is an advantage when trying to get lean. Tabata's are one way to increase VO2 Max, but they may not even be the best way to do it. Even in the Tabata study...the “regular aerobic group” wound up with a higher VO2 max than the Tabata Protocol group.

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Note: The intense interval group did experience a bigger improvement in VO2 max...I just wanted to show the graph from the study to show that many types of training improve VO2 max. ...but what about the “Afterburn Effect” of intense intervals? I'm glad you asked :) This will lead us to the much quoted Tremblay Study. This is the one people are referring to when they say... “interval training is 9 time more effective than regular cardio”.

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The Tremblay Study The most quoted study supporting High Intensity Interval Training? Yep...but check this out ----> The HIIT group lost an average of 0.2 pounds in 15 weeks!

ZIP, ZIP, ZIIIIP...ZIP Da, ZIP, ZIIIIP (We need a DJ for This One) ZIIIIP... “Cuz baby tonight, the DJ got us falling in love again! So dance, dance...Like its the last, last night...of your life, life....Don't get you right.” -USHER Yes, 1/5th of a pound of weight loss in 15 weeks! Here's something else you might find amusing. The steady state group lost more weight than the HIIT group. How can they claim HIIT is 9 times more effective? They are comparing skin fold measurements. The HIIT group had 3 times the drop in skin-fold measurements. They only trained 1/3 as long as the steady state group. Thus...it is 9 times more efficient. Or is it? A (possible) error in the calf skin-fold measurement. Visual Impact Cardio

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All the skin-fold measurements in both groups went down, except one. The skin-fold calf measurements of the steady state group went up. I have to believe there was a simple error in measurement going on. I'm not sure it is possible to drop body fat from your entire body, but gain fat in your calves! I'd like to thank both Christian Finn and Tom Venuto. They were the first, as far as I know, to point out the flaws in this study. If you take away the skin-fold difference from the calf area, the results of the HIIT vs the steady state group are quite similar. So let's talk more about the afterburn effect of intervals.

The EPOC Study Afterburn (EPOC) is MUCH less than we have been led to believe. Here's a “game changing” paper for you: Effects of exercise intensity and duration on the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption [3]. This paper examined all the various studies on EPOC and came to this conclusion: “...the earlier research optimism regarding an important role for the EPOC in weight loss is generally unfounded...The role of exercise in the maintenance of body mass is therefore predominantly mediated via the cumulative effect of the energy expenditure during the actual exercise.” How many calories are burned after an exercise session? This paper came to these conclusions:  EPOC = 6-15% of the calories burned during the actual exercise.  Steady state cardio averages close to 7% EPOC.  Intense intervals can approach 14% EPOC. Visual Impact Cardio

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What this means in calories burned? If you hop on an Elliptical for an hour and burn 700 calories, by training at a moderate pace you will also burn an additional 49 calories after the workout is over (7% of 700). What if you performed intense intervals on a treadmill for 30 minutes and burned 400 calories? You will also burn an additional 56 calories after the workout is over (14% of 400).

I'm not saying that intervals are useless. They are just one component of a strategic fat loss plan. In my opinion, calories burned after you workout don't amount to enough to be worth considering. My advice is to pay attention to what is happening during your workout. No need to even consider EPOC anymore. So when you hear the common speech given by personal trainers to their clients about the afterburn effect, you can simply smile :) Visual Impact Cardio

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Chapter 2 Focusing on Calories Burned During the Workout What happens during your workout is what matters most...but what intensity of training burns calories at the fastest rate? Training at (or above) your lactate threshold is the fastest way to burn calories and deplete glycogen in your muscles. In this chapter I will explain lactic acid in a bit more detail.

It is important to point out that there is a time element involved to activate lactic acid. The effort has to be intense enough for a long enough period of time for lactic acid to accumulate in the muscles. How long you do an activity often dictates the energy system that is used.    

Less than 30 seconds...mainly Anaerobic (Shot Put, Golf Swing) 30-45 seconds...Anaerobic + Lactic Acid (200-400m Sprints) 45 seconds - 3 min...Aerobic + LA (400-800m sprints) 3 min+...mainly Aerobic (jogging long distances and walking)

How do short intervals like Tabata work the Lactic Acid system?

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It would seem that 20 seconds of effort would be almost 100% Anaerobic. The key lies in “Anaerobic Recovery”. The 10 seconds of recovery don't allow the anaerobic system to recover all the way. When only a percentage of anaerobic power is available, the energy must come from another source (lactic acid in this case). ...but I don't think Tabata gets the job done all the way. The issue I have with Tabata is that there simply isn't enough time to burn off a lot of glycogen. It is efficient...and does burn a decent amount of glycogen in a short period of time...but you could empty out your glycogen reserves so much more if you simply devoted more time to it. The 800 meter pace is the ideal intensity to burn glycogen. I believe that a work interval with the time and intensity level close to an 800 meter race is the most effective way to burn glycogen. Your max 800 meter race pace represents lactic acid hell. I think the 800 meter pace is significant because it also is the pace that pushes a bit over VO2 max. If I was to setup the most brutal interval known to man, it wouldn't be Tabata. It would be 800m of sprinting alternated with 1 min of walking. This type of interval would accomplish a maximum amount of glycogen depletion as well as increase VO2 max. As discussed earlier, an increase in VO2 max helps you burn more calories regardless of what activity you do. How to perform an 800 meter style interval with another exercise? Any activity that you can do at a level that challenges you at the 2-3 minute mark will work. It should get a bit rough towards the 2-3 minute mark. 2 minutes of work – 1 minute of recovery: This pushes the lactic acid hard. It works well if you can do an exercise that really challenges you to hit 2 minutes. This protocol can increase the pump in a muscle, so it tends to add a bit of size in some individuals. This is good if you want to add mass, but not so good if you are tying to slim down. This won't be much of an issue on a Visual Impact Cardio

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treadmill. The pump happens a bit more on an exercise bike.

3 minutes of work – 2 minute of recovery: This one is a little less painful and better if you are avoiding muscle mass increase. This will burn glycogen at a slightly slower rate, so it is best to increase the time a bit when doing this interval. This one also increases VO2 Max a little more and is less taxing on the system. Steady state @ slightly below your 800 meter pace: This is training right at your lactate threshold for an extended period of time. It is also an extremely efficient way to burn glycogen. Why do intervals at all? In the next chapter I will discuss a way to measure how effective an interval session is at burning glycogen. I call it “average intensity level”. When trying to burn maximum calories, you will want this number to be close to your lactate threshold intensity level of steady state cardio. This will all make more sense after reading the next few pages.

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Chapter 3 Calories Burned: Intervals vs Steady State It is easy to figure out roughly how many calories are burned during steady state cardio. Things get trickier when intervals come into the picture. Here is a way to figure out calories burned, compared to steady state cardio, as well as a concept I call “Average Intensity Level”.

Here's one way to figure out how many calories are burned. I'll use a real world example of a favorite HIIT (high intensity interval training) session that I've used for years on a treadmill. The interval session it setup as follows.    

90 seconds of walking alternated with 30 seconds of sprinting. Walking speed of 3.5 MPH Average sprinting speed of 10 MPH I alternate between walking and sprinting for 20 minutes.

Note: The walking speed is set the same for each interval. With the sprinting portion I do the first sprint at 8MPH and the last one at 12MPH. The “average” sprinting speed winds up being 10MPH. Visual Impact Cardio

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10 intervals of slow and 10 intervals of sprinting in 20 minutes. Since each walking portion is 90 seconds and each sprinting session is 30 seconds...it takes 2 minutes to complete each cycle. So that is 10 total cycles in 20 minutes. With me so far? 15 (total) minutes walking  Walking at 3.5MPH burns around 330 calories per hour.  15 minutes is .25 of an hour (15 divided by 60).  Walking for 15 minutes at 3.5MPH burns 82.5 calories (330 X .25). 5 (total) minutes sprinting  Sprinting at 10MPH burns around 1,400 calories per hour.  5 minutes is .08 of an hour (5 divided by 60).  Sprinting for 5 minutes at 10MPH burns 112 calories (1,400 X .08) Total: My 20 minutes HIIT session burns about 200 calories. Note: The calories burned as an estimate for a 190 pound person.

You could walk (or slow jog) at a speed of a little more than 5 MPH on a treadmill to burn 200 calories in 20 minutes. So this 20 minutes at 5 MPH is equivalent, as far as calories burned, to the 20 minute HIIT workout. Visual Impact Cardio

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Average Intensity Level The “Average Intensity Level” is a number I'm going to recommend you use when comparing an interval session to a steady state cardio session. An interval session on a treadmill with an average intensity level of 5 will burn about the same amount of calories as a steady jog at 5 MPH. Figuring Out Average Intensity Level for Any Interval. [(Walking Intensity x A) + (Sprinting Intensity x B)] Divided by C A = Walking interval time in minutes. B = Sprinting interval time in minutes. C =A+B

Example: Elliptical at level 12 for 2 minutes...at level 15 for 3 min. [(12 x 2) + (15 x 3)] Divided by 5 [24 + 45] Divided by 5 69 divided by 5 = 13.8 Note: The interval above would have the same effect as doing steady state cardio at level 13.8 on that same elliptical. Here's what happens when I drop the recovery (level 12) down to 1 minute. Visual Impact Cardio

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[(12 x 1) + (15 x 3)] Divided by 4 [12 + 45] Divided by 4 57 divided by 4 = 14.25 See how the average intensity level went up? As you shorten the recovery period of an interval session, you increase the Average Intensity Level. Why intervals feel so much harder than the Average Intensity Number? Remember, when you do intervals you typically spend a time near or above your lactate threshold level. This causes a bit of discomfort, but over time increases your lactate threshold. Training in the range of lactate threshold is the fastest way to deplete glycogen from your muscles. Some of this lactate threshold training should be done with intervals...and some of this done with steady state cardio. The problem with lactate threshold training? If you do this type of training too often or for too long of periods, there is a strong chance you will lose muscle. The best fat loss routine will have you push the edge of your lactate threshold...then back off and rely on other energy systems when you are in a fully carb depleted state. So why not just do steady state cardio at the lactate threshold level? With intervals you wind up spending a bit of time above your lactate threshold...which will improve it. That is just one of the added benefits of interval training. In the next chapter I'll discuss quite a few more benefits and explain the process behind how interval training works.

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Chapter 4 A 1 Page Interval Training Summary For those who don't care about the exact studies and exactly how interval training works, this is a 1 page “Cliff Notes” style summary. This is also a good page to come back to for a reminder of the benefits of interval training. Releases Free Fatty Acids from Fat Cells: Intervals release fat from the fat cells, but aren't ideal for using fat for fuel. Low intensity cardio is opposite... great at burning up the fatty acids. Together they make a lovely couple :) Depletes Muscle Glycogen: Intense exercise (like intervals) use muscle glycogen for fuel. When muscle glycogen is low, the body tends to burn fat for fuel. It makes sense to be depleted (some of the time) to lose body fat. Improves VO2 Max: Intervals, done properly, are the fastest way to improve VO2 max (aerobic capacity). People with a higher VO2 max burn more body fat, even when doing low intensity activity, than people with lower levels. Increases Lactate Threshold: Lactate threshold is the point where lactic acid is pouring in faster than it can be removed by the blood. By increasing this threshold, you can train with more intensity for longer periods of time. Improves Your Cardiovascular System: During the relief periods of intervals, your heart beat slows down faster than blood flow. The heart pumps more blood per beat. This improves the stroke volume of your heart. Increases HGH Release: HGH blunts the effects or cortisol. Cortisol causes fat gain and muscle breakdown, so slowing down these effects are a good thing. The direct fat burning effects of HGH are likely less than we have been led to believe, but nonetheless this does help when losing body fat is the goal. Okay...the next chapter is a bit heavy and goes deep into each of these points above. Some of you will skim, which is okay, but just makes sure and remember the benefits of intervals listed on this summary page.

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Chapter 5 How Interval Training Actually Works In this chapter we will go into detail about how interval training works. This is for those people who really want to understand the reasons for including interval training and not just doing steady state cardio all the time.

When I use the term interval training...I'm talking about all forms of interval training, not just cardio machines. So weights, body weight circuits, kettlebell circuits, some types of CrossFit, etc. Some key points about intense interval training.  Intense intervals...Release Free Fatty Acids from the Fat cells.  Intense intervals...Deplete Muscle Glycogen.  Intense intervals...Improve VO2 Max.  Intense intervals...Improve Anaerobic System.  Intense intervals...Increase Lactate Threshold.  Intense intervals...Improve Your Cardiovascular System.  Intense intervals...Increase HGH Release Note: Please don't fall asleep on me. I will try not to go deeper than necessary...but each point will be backed by scientific studies for those who want to geek-out. Visual Impact Cardio

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Intervals Release Free Fatty Acids from Fat Cells If you bought my first cardio course you probably remember this chart:

I created this chart largely based upon a paper titled, Fat Metabolism in Exercise[4]. My entire strategy of “Performing Intense Intervals followed by Low Intensity Cardio” was based upon the findings of this research. Let's dig deeper this time around, into this research.  High intensity exercise releases free fatty acids. Quote: “During higher intensity exercise, triglyceride within the muscle can also be hydrolyzed to release fatty acids for subsequent direct oxidation.”  Intense exercise is not efficient for burning (oxidizing) fat. Quote: “At higher intensity exercise, stimulation of glycogen breakdown and glycolysis cause increased pyruvate entry into the TCA cycle for oxidation, and as a consequence the inhibition of fatty acid oxidation by limiting their transport into the mitochondria.”  Low intensity exercise is efficient for burning (oxidizing) fat. Quote: “During low intensity exercise, glycogen breakdown and thus glycolysis is not markedly stimulated, so the increased availability of fatty acids allows their oxidation to serve as the predominant energy source.” Any intense interval training will do the job of releasing fatty acids from the fat cells. I prefer High Intensity Interval Training on a cardio machine, but Visual Impact Cardio

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things like CrossFit, Tabata Protocol, Barbell Complexes, Circuit Training, all do the trick for releasing fat from the fat cells. Tip: Make sure and follow up these fat releasing activities with low intensity, low level cardio...to burn that body fat. If there is one mistake I've made the past few years, it is relying too much on this HIIT + Steady State combo. It works and will help you get about as lean as you desire, but there are ways to include other intensity levels that will help you hit your goals a bit quicker than just that one method alone.

Intervals Deplete Muscle Glycogen Ever watch professional soccer? Can you remember the last time you saw a pudgy professional soccer player?

Soccer is a great example of high intensity interval training (HIIT). In the paper Energy Demands in Competitive Soccer[5], it was shown that soccer players cover on average 10km or 6.3 miles. They also explain that only 8-18% of that is done at maximum speed. So it is basically a long Visual Impact Cardio

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drawn-out interval training session. Soccer is the ultimate example of a glycogen depleting sport. A quote from that same paper: “Because of a high energy yield most players have empty muscle glycogen stores at the end of the game.” Note: Glycogen can be depleted with long steady cardio as well. I'll explain later when to include that as a way to deplete glycogen vs interval training. In the study Muscle Glycogen and Diet in Elite Soccer Players[6], they found that the participating soccer players had a challenge to get back to a “normal resting level of glycogen”, before the next match. They simply had a hard time consuming enough carbs to refill the glycogen in the muscles.

Being depleted of glycogen gives you “wiggle room” in your diet. You have probably heard the importance of the post-workout meal. Typically the advice is to eat a large meal as soon as your workout is over to restore the lost glycogen in your muscles. ...and that the nutrients of that meal won't get stored as body fat, because the calories are going to be used to refill the carb-depleted muscles. Visual Impact Cardio

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If losing body fat is your goal, don't purposely try to refill the glycogen in your muscles after your workout. I recommend keeping in a slight glycogen depleted state. This way if you do cheat a bit, those calories are much less likely to get stored as body fat. ...more to come later about the benefits of avoiding large post-workout meals. How intense does the training need to be to burn glycogen? Anything under 70% of your maximum heart rate (MHR) is not going to burn much glycogen. Training at this low intensity will come into play, but not for burning glycogen. Any activity that gets your heart rate up to between 70-90% of your MHR is a good number to shoot for. A 30 year old with a MHR of 190 would want to perform an activity that keeps an average heart rate of 133 to 171. Why not do an activity that puts you over 90% of MHR? This is where interval training comes in. Interval training allows you to get into the 90%+ MHR zone...providing maximum glycogen depletion...for short bursts. If you do large bursts of 90%+ MHR you do risk the chance of muscle loss. There is a place for that type of training as well, which will be discussed in a bit. I'll explain Lactate Threshold Intervals in a later chapter...which is a way to ensure maximum glycogen depletion in the least amount of time. You don't want to deplete glycogen with lactate threshold intervals every workout. Again, this is just a tool you will use at the proper time.

Intervals Improve VO2 Max As discussed in the section on the Tabata study, various types of intervals improve your VO2 max. In fact tough intervals are perhaps the fastest way to improve in this area. Visual Impact Cardio

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Cyclists in the Tour De France have an incredible VO2 Max. This can be improved with prolonged cardio done at a reasonably intense level, or with intervals. So how do intervals improve VO2 max? The simple explanation is that with intervals you have periods of time where you are venturing above 100% VO2 max. During the rest periods you are below 100% VO2 max. Spending a certain portion of time at or above 100% VO2 max is what improves it. Think of it as a kind of progressive resistance that improves your aerobic capacity (VO2 max). What type of interval improves VO2 max the most? Here is a study with a title that says it all: Aerobic High-Intensity Intervals Improve VO2 Max More Than Moderate Training[7]. This study found that longer, aerobic style intervals, were more effective than steady cardio. Quote: “ High-aerobic intensity endurance interval training is significantly more effective than performing the same total work at either lactate threshold or at 70% HRmax, in improving VO2max.” This study used 4 minutes of intense training, alternated with 3 minutes of active rest. I have found through various sources, that the intense part of the Visual Impact Cardio

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interval can vary between 2 to 5 minutes when aiming to improve VO2 Max. Again...you will want to improve your VO2 Max. The higher it is, the more body fat you will burn even during lower intensity exercise.

Intervals Increase Lactate Threshold Here's an easy way to think about lactic acid. It is produced as a way to use glycogen from your muscles as fuel versus oxygen for fuel (which is aerobic). If the effort is intense enough, for a long enough period of time, lactic acid accumulates in your muscles. ...as lactic acid accumulates, there is typically a burn felt in the muscle. If you can feel a slight burn that is constant it means that lactic acid is being produced, but also being flushed out of the muscles. So what is the Lactate Threshold? Lactate Threshold is the point where Lactic Acid is being produced faster than it is being removed from the blood. Another good way to think of it? The maximum intensity at which steady state exercise can be maintained. Here are some estimated heart rates to reach lactate threshold as explained by the paper, Explanation of Lactate Threshold and VO2 Max[8].  The Lactate Threshold for Males: 165-180 BPM  The Lactate Threshold for Females: 175-185 BPM You can only train above your lactate threshold for brief periods of time. As lactic acid accumulates in the muscle cells, it creates an acidic environment. When it becomes too acidic, the body has a hard time using glucose for energy. What this means is the muscle begins to shut down a bit. Visual Impact Cardio

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...this is one reason why athletes can't sprint at 100 meter speed, in an 800 meter race. If you are familiar with track and field, you know that 800 meter races hurt. This distance tests the lactate threshold to the max! So why would we want to increase our lactate threshold? ...because we will be able to train at higher levels aerobically, burning more calories with less perceived discomfort. By increasing our lactate threshold through interval training, we will be able to push harder and burn more calories with steady state cardio.

Intervals Improve Your Cardiovascular System When I first began to train, I always assumed that anything that dealt with weights was good for the muscles...and anything that involved jogging, walking, or biking was good for the heart.

I was definitely wrong. You can work the heart as well as improve the aerobic system with brief intense intervals using weights, body weight, a barbell, etc. Visual Impact Cardio

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Intervals improve the maximal stroke volume of the heart. There's a paper from 1972 called, Stroke Volume During Recovery from Supine Bicycle Exercise[9], that explains how this works. The interesting thing is that the heart gets strengthened during the recovery phase of the interval session. Quote: “It is during this phase that the heart rate declines at a proportionally greater rate than the return of blood to the heart, resulting in a brief increase in stroke volume (SV), or the amount of blood that the heart pumps with each beat.” I'll break this process down into bullet points:     

The intense portion of the interval increases the heart beat. The intense portion of the interval increases blood flow. During recovery the heart rate slows down. During recovery blood flow slows down. …but the heart rate slows down at a faster rate than the blood flow, during the recovery phase. There is a brief period of time where the heart pumps more blood with each beat.

This repeated peak stroke volume improves the heart over time. The heart will eventually be able to pump more blood with each beat when needed. Intervals are more effective than continuous exercise for improving stroke volume of the heart. Quote: “Since SV is highest not during exercise but during the recovery period, and since interval training has many recovery periods, the SV reaches its highest level many times. By comparison, continuous training has only one recovery period, immediately after the workout is over. Over time, repeatedly attaining peak SV values from interval training provides a much greater stimulus for improving maximum SV and the capacity of the oxygentransport system than continuous training does.” Visual Impact Cardio

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Intervals Increase HGH Release Any intense exercise will release HGH, as long as insulin levels aren't too high. Intervals do increase HGH levels, but I'm now convinced that HGH is not a big factor in losing body fat. For years I believed this was a key mechanism behind the effectiveness of intervals. I was wrong. I still believe that HGH release is important, but for a different reason. A study titled, Effects of Cortisol and Growth Hormone on Lipolysis in Human Adipose Tissue[10], explains that HGH blunts the effects of cortisol. Quote: “Thus, cortisol and GH have opposite effects on the basal lipolytic activity in human adipose tissue in vitro as well as on the sensitivity to catecholamines, GH being the lipolytic and cortisol the antilipolytic agent.” Another study titled, Hormonal control of regional fat distribution, came to a similar conclusion. Quote: “In summary, cortisol in the presence of insulin exerts powerful lipid accumulating effects, and these are abolished by GH which inhibits lipid accumulation and also activates lipid mobilization.” In simple terms? Cortisol is a hormone that causes fat gain and muscle breakdown. HGH stops cortisol from doing undesirable things to your body. HGH is more of an insurance policy against excessive muscle breakdown and fat gain caused by cortisol. It no doubt helps when getting lean, but maybe not as much as what many have been led to believe in the past. The good news is that the type of training I recommend is going to boost HGH. So you will get the side benefit of increased HGH, which certainly isn't a bad thing. Visual Impact Cardio

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Chapter 6 Calorie Deficit, Calorie Burning, & Fat Loss If you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight. This is the “calories in vs calories out” principle. It works every time, but not always the way people want it to work.

A calorie deficit always creates weight loss, but not always body fat loss. When you are in a calorie deficit, the body begins to use stored energy in your body. It would be cool if the body used your stored body fat as fuel right away, but that typically isn't the case. Here is where the body pulls fuel from when in a calorie deficit.  The glycogen (sugars) stored in your muscles.  The fat in your fat cells.  The actual muscle tissue itself. The body almost always uses glycogen for fuel before body fat. If you have ever lost 4-5 pounds in the first couple days of a diet, most likely this is simply the loss of stored glycogen (and water) in your muscles. On the Visual Impact Cardio

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flip side, if you have gained 4-5 pounds back after a few days of cheating, this is simply your body refilling the lost glycogen in your muscle cells. Tip: Don't be too optimistic about quick weight loss...or too frustrated by fast weight gain over a 2-3 day period. What you are experiencing is the emptying and refilling of glycogen in your muscle cells. What happens once glycogen is depleted? After glycogen is depleted from the system, the body will either use fat for fuel or muscle tissue. The more excess fat available, the more likely the body is going to use fat for fuel. The less fat available the more likely the body will use muscle tissue for fuel. An overweight person can stay in a strong calorie deficit for long periods of time, but a lean person needs to be a little more cautious. A lot of people simply don't ever create a strong enough deficit to ever tap into losing body fat. Their diet and workout plan has them hanging out in the glycogen zone.

Note: This is an overly simplified way of looking at fat loss. It is still possible to burn fat with glycogen in the system. Lower glycogen levels just make fat loss a lot more predictable. Visual Impact Cardio

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Other people get it right for the first few days of the week, burn glycogen, then tap into their body fat...but then blow it on the weekend. I like the idea of having a loose weekend, but only if the week was setup properly. The chart below shows the ideal situation for fat loss in my opinion.

This chart shows someone who aggressively burns glycogen early in the week to get into the right zone to burn body fat. They continue to push the envelope hard to burn body fat for fuel, but then allows themselves higher calorie days on the weekends.

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So why not just continue to push hard through the weekend?



I want this to be a lifestyle not a “diet”. I do recommend some pretty aggressive 6-8 week approaches in the in my Men's and Women's courses. These work for event preparation...but not something anyone would want to maintain long-term. A lifestyle approach is one that works well and is possible to maintain without feeling deprived.

 This allows you to socialize. Along the same line as the point above. Most people like to go out to eat on the weekends, camping, BBQ's, clubbing, etc. You should be able to do all that and still get lean.  Keeps your hormones in check. The one complaint that a small percentage of men have following one of the aggressive diet plans I have outlined in Visual Impact Muscle Building is that they lose their sex drive. Many women find that long term aggressive dieting makes them irritable. We can avoid this by consuming higher calories on the weekends.  To avoid muscle loss. No doubt that you can lose a large amount of weight continuing on in a strong glycogen depleted state. The problem is that there is risk of losing muscle tissue for fuel when this is done for too long. Not a huge risk, but a risk nonetheless. Visual Impact Cardio

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I really do like this fat loss model the best. Here's that image again.

I'll explain in detail what is happening day-to-day. Monday: You are in a carb-loaded state after the weekend, well rested and ready for a tough workout. Since your muscles are fully loaded with glycogen, your cardio workout will focus 100% on glycogen depletion. Tuesday: Your glycogen levels have gone up a bit from the low point right after your Monday workout. This is due to the meals eaten after the Monday workout. Today we will again focus on full glycogen depletion. Wednesday: Now that you are fully depleted of glycogen you will switch up the cardio to focus on fat burning. It may or may not be steady state cardio (to be discussed later). Thursday: Most likely today you will do prolonged cardio at a low speed or HIIT with a low average intensity level. Friday: This can be low to moderate cardio aimed at burning fat for fuel -orthe intensity can be pushed to create a large deficit before the weekend. The glycogen begins climbing Friday, due to going out to eat, to a movie, etc. Saturday and Sunday: Enjoy your weekend, live life, eat the foods you like, etc. Life is short, so don't miss out on the fun :) Visual Impact Cardio

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Chapter 7 Burning Stubborn Body Fat The last chapter discussed fat loss in general. In this chapter I want to explain what additional steps you need to take to target stubborn body fat. Specifically, what happens when your glycogen levels are low.

Once you have done the hard work to deplete your glycogen, you are now in the fat burning zone. The goal now is to do a lot of low level activity. Get outside, go shopping, walk around town, etc. It is all going to use fat for fuel. Try not to blow it once you are in the fat burning zone. It takes a bit of work and time to be depleted of glycogen, so don't waste that effort by eating a large amount of calories. You can still eat carbs now, but keep it on the moderate side. I actually prefer to eat low carb during the day and allow myself a bit more carbs at night...while maintaining a calorie deficit. I'll talk more about diet in a later chapter. Speaking of diet...Why not just eat low-carb and skip the cardio? Some genetically blessed people can burn all the fat they want and get lean Visual Impact Cardio

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without cardio. All it takes is a calorie deficit created through diet and within a few months they have great muscle definition and low body fat. These same people have even fat distribution over their entire body. They lose as much fat as they need through diet alone and get systematically leaner with very few trouble spots. When they diet they tend to use body fat for fuel with little muscle loss. Must be nice! Most of us have stubborn body fat areas & reach fat loss plateaus. Following the advice of someone who is genetically blessed when it comes to losing body fat, makes sense if you are genetically blessed in the same way. Most of us, including myself, have many trouble spots and stop well short of our fat loss goals with diet alone. More about stubborn body fat.  Stubborn body fat...has less blood flow than normal fat.  Stubborn body fat...is more sensitive to insulin than normal fat.  Stubborn body fat...is less sensitive to adrenaline than normal fat. Here's another point in favor of cardio done in a fasted state. To access stubborn body fat, we want more blood flow and low insulin levels. Insulin level essentially slows down or blocks any fat loss from happening. This is especially true when it comes to stubborn body fat. Why training in a fasted state is ideal. When you are in a fasted state, your adrenaline levels increase. Fasting also lowers insulin. This covers 2 of the problems with stubborn body fat. Poor blood flow is going to be taken care of through exercise. What about lean individuals who eat before working out? Well...those lean individuals probably have very little stubborn body fat. They also have a more ideal insulin response to eating. Visual Impact Cardio

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Let's talk about Adrenaline and Noradrenaline. Adrenaline and noradrenaline help release free fatty acids into the bloodstream. Adrenaline and noradrenaline are activated by either fasting -orexercise. The biggest increase happens with fasted exercise. Even small amounts of insulin blunt the effects of Adrenaline. Do everything in your power to make sure that insulin is low and adrenaline and noradrenaline is high before exercising. This will give you the best shot at tapping into your stubborn body fat areas.

100-200mg of caffeine, taken roughly 30 minutes before training, will increase the adrenaline response to exercise. The side benefit is that it will also give you energy to push a bit harder during your workout. This amount of caffeine is equivalent to a medium or large cup of coffee. If insulin is high from eating, then the coffee won't be as effective. If you eat and drink coffee or ad anything to your coffee...you are less likely to release body fat from your stubborn fat cells. Let's discuss diet and food in more detail. Visual Impact Cardio

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Chapter 8 Calories, Food, and Workout Timing This is the diet chapter, if you hadn't guessed already. I'm trying to avoid the word “diet” (although I've mentioned it two times in this opening paragraph already...doh!). I've always been hesitant to give exact meal plans. I simply don't believe in forcing you to eat anything you don't want to eat.

Let's talk about carbs first. You can definitely eat carbs on a daily basis and get as lean as you desire. I believe that you will get your fastest fat loss results if you have 2 small low carb meals and just one higher carb, higher calorie meal. The lower carb meals will allow your body to continue to use mainly fat for fuel. The higher carb and higher calorie meal will allow you to live a little. The best time to eat your largest meal of the day? A lot of this depends upon your preferences. What is your favorite meal of the day? Mine is dinner. I work all day and will drink 2 protein shakes while sipping on green tea. This doesn't feel strict, because my energy stays constant throughout the day. No insulin spikes, blood sugar crashes, etc. Visual Impact Cardio

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You can eat a big dinner containing carbs and successfully lose body fat. Let me pull up that fat loss chart again and give you a few scenarios...

1) Biggest meal at night...train in the morning. Glycogen levels get depleted in the morning. You stay in a glycogen depleted state and burn fat all day, because your meals are low calorie and low carb. Fat loss slows down (for the most part) after eating dinner. 2) Biggest meal in morning...after training in the morning. This works too. Your workout depletes a lot of glycogen, so eating a big meal will just replenish some glycogen but won't add body fat. Once the body burns off the calories from your post workout meal, it will tap into body fat for energy the rest of the day. This will continue as long as your lunch and dinner are low-cal low-carb. 3) Biggest meal in morning...train in the evening. This is my least favorite workout and eating combo, but it still works. Glycogen levels rise in the morning after breakfast, but get lower and lower throughout the day. As long as the lunch was low-cal, low-carb...the workout will do the job of getting you into the fat burning zone. You will continue to use fat for fuel until breakfast the following morning if your dinner is small. Visual Impact Cardio

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4) Biggest meal at night...after training in the evening. I used this method for years and recommend this approach for people who can't force themselves to get up and train before work. Your dinner meal will just partially replenish glycogen burned from your evening workout. You will access body fat for fuel the following day as long as your breakfast and lunch or low-cal, low-carb. You will continue to burn fat until dinner.

Some people prefer breakfast. Honestly...it doesn't make a difference. My suggestion is to just to focus on one of those 4 strategies above, Monday through Thursday. Just one larger meal and keep the rest of the meals small and low carb to allow the body to use some of your stored body fat for fuel. The most common mistake I see is when someone has a large postworkout meal and another large meal at some other point in the day. So why not low carb for all meals throughout the day? Going low carb all day works, but just makes this a tougher plan to follow long-term. I have done the day in and day out low carb plan and it drove me mad. My work suffered, I was slightly crabby and less social. Low carb all the time works for some, but not everybody. Again...the choice is yours. The big question I consistently get is...“how many calories per day”? Visual Impact Cardio

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Let's use a common way to figure out how many calories per day to eat to hit a certain weight. This is just a decent starting point, it could be more or less than this, because individuals do vary a bit. Goal Weight in Pounds x (hours working out per week + 9.5) = Calories So lets say we are tying to figure out the calories per day for a woman who wants to get down to 125 pounds and trains 5 hours per week. 125 (pounds) x 14.5 (hours she trains plus 9.5) = 1,812 calories per day. This woman would need to eat roughly 1,812 calories per day to hit that weight. This is just an estimate and doesn't take into account how fast she wants to drop this weight, how tall she is, how old she is, etc. There are a couple of problems with eating the same amount each day.  You are never able to go out to eat and socialize without cutting back.  You don't maximize the fat loss window on your workout days. Tracking calories per week solves this problem completely! A big breakthrough happened when I started coaching people to track calories per week...instead of calories per day. In my opinion, this is a “game changer” for a lot of people. A big paradigm shift! If we know that the woman in the example above can lose weight off of 1,800 calories per day. Then she has 12,600 calories to work with over the course of a week. Here's an example of how she could set that up.       

Monday: 1,200 calories Tuesday: 1,200 calories Wednesday: 1,500 calories Thursday: 1,500 calories Friday: 2,000 calories Saturday: 3,000 calories Sunday: 2,200

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Eating in a stronger deficit on her workout days...makes her workouts more effective at depleting glycogen and burning body fat. She will lose more body fat over the course of the week.

Eating more on Friday night as well as Saturday and Sunday...allows her to socialize and also resets her leptin levels. It is insurance against metabolic slowdown and more than anything makes her diet easier to follow long-term. Some Examples of Low Carb Low Cal Meals:      

Chicken breast and broccoli. Salad with tuna or chicken. Beef or chicken stir fry. Chicken or beef bulgogi (Korean) Small omlette with salsa. Protein shake.

My recommendation is to try and keep these low cal meals under 300 calories. I typically make a 3 egg omlette with salsa, eat a small portion of leftovers from the night before, or make a protein shake. While working I will almost always just drink a Ready-to-Drink protein shake. The one I'm drinking now has 30g of protein, 160 calories, and 3g of carbs. What about Intermittent Fasting? Visual Impact Cardio

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I first experimented with intermittent fasting about 5 years ago. At that time, there was a book that received publicity called The Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmekler. This diet laid out a plan based around eating one meal per day at night. One meal per day was a pretty radical concept 5 years ago! I gave it a shot, and found that I could easily maintain my weight even if I ate a big meal at night. Ori was right about the fact that you didn't have to eat every few hours to keep your metabolism high. I did his diet for about 6 months. It felt a little bit too much on the fringe for me to want to follow long-term...plus the large dinners gave me digestion problems. Shortly after that, Brad Pilon came out with “Eat Stop Eat”. Brad's approach was much more doable in my opinion. Fast until dinner 1-2 times per week. Instead of a huge dinner as recommended by Ori in the Warrior Diet, dinners were kept moderate in calories. The idea was to just eat 1/3 of your normal calories on those fasting days to create a large deficit. My thoughts on Intermittent Fasting today?  The one meal per day approach works best on overweight individuals.  Those with less than 15 pounds to lose do best with Eat Stop Eat.  People who get cranky when they go without food should avoid this method altogether. You can get as lean as you desire without using Intermittent Fasting. I like to simply use it as a tool every so often when I know I have a few higher calorie days coming up. I'll do an Eat Stop Eat style fast a day or two before Thanksgiving, before the Superbowl, etc. I will also do it once per week during the summer, since I don't get into the gym as often. My advice for Friday is to eat strictly until dinner. Friday nights are not the time to follow a strict diet. Seriously...I think Visual Impact Cardio

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attempting to follow a diet that makes you stick to a 400-500 calorie dinner on Friday night is bound to fail. The only exception is perhaps someone who is getting ready for a photo shoot...or something along those lines. Almost everything is fine in moderation. I'm a big fan of beer, but realize that some people reading this don't drink alcohol or prefer wine, etc. The point is, that it is fine to enjoy these things in moderation.

I swear, they put something special into that first Friday beer. Is it just me, or does it taste better than any other beer served that week? My whole body (and brain) relaxes after just 4-5 sips of that first Friday beer. It is magical :) So how do you figure out calories? My Fitness Pal is the coolest website and app I've ever seen when it comes to tracking calories. It has a crazy database of food and food brands. For example, I found out the calories from this dinner I eat from time to time. 1 Chicken Casita Burrito (Taco Time): 490 calories 1 Mothership Wit Beer (New Belgium Brewing): 155 calories 17 Haribo Gummi Bears: 140 calories Visual Impact Cardio

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That would be around an 800 calorie dinner. A lot of the time I simply have a blended protein shake (300 calories) for breakfast after my workout, another lower calorie shake (160 calories) for lunch. Adding in my 800 calorie dinner makes it a 1,200 calorie day. This is actually one of my stricter days. Note: For health reasons I don't eat gummi bears every day. I wish they were a health food, but they aren't. I try and limit this to 1-2 times per week. As far as dinner goes...sometimes it is pure organic healthy type of foods, other times it isn't. The Taco Time drive thru sometimes gets visited on the way home when I don't feel like cooking. The trick...is to avoid “calorie land mines” on your lower calorie days.

Liquid calories need to be watched closely. I've seen brands of apple juice that exceed 250 calories a glass, while an apple has around 60-80 calories. If you like to enjoy a beer or wine with your dinner, you won't be able to eat as much food. Again, My Fitness Pal is a great free tool to use. Don't make diet more complicated than it needs to be. Try to go into your workout in a somewhat fasted state. Setup your eating schedule to have a prolonged period where you are using fat for fuel. You do this by limiting higher calorie, high carb meals. Relax on the weekends and eat higher calorie foods, without eating everything in sight. Visual Impact Cardio

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Chapter 9 Improving Popular Fat Loss Programs Before I get into the detailed fat loss routine in this course, I wanted to discuss other popular fat loss programs. All of these are great approaches to getting in shape, but there are ways to make them even more effective.

Kettlebell Training Kettlebells are an old-school piece of equipment that became popular again in the late 90's largely due to Pavel Tsatsouline. He recommends high rep kettlebell training, and not traditional cardio, to strip body fat off the body. Kettlebell intervals are more anaerobic than using a cardio machine. They deplete glycogen like a cardio machine, but use a combination of anaerobic energy and lactic acid (which burns glycogen). Typically most cardio machines use a combination of aerobic energy and lactic acid. One of the better tools for people short on time. The advantage kettlebells have over a lot of other training methods is that it is Visual Impact Cardio

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a true 2-for-1 workout. All of the muscles of the entire body get a great workout, while at the same time burning glycogen. Superb for releasing the fatty acids out of the fat cells. Back in chapter 4, I referenced a paper titled Fat Metabolism in Exercise[4]. The paper found that intense exercise was ideal for releasing the fatty acids from fat cells. The problem is that high intensity exercise, like kettlebell intervals, are not great at using body fat for fuel. Kettlebells are great for the heart. They increase the stroke volume of the heart during the recovery periods due to the heart rate slowing down quicker than the blood flow. So, the heart has to pump more blood per beat. A few challenges with Kettlebell training.  Burning the same amount of total calories with kettlebells is more intense than with moderate cardio. The body can become overtrained before someone burns an optimum amount of calories to hit their fat loss goals.  Since it has a strong anaerobic component, it can build more muscle mass than some people are after. A lot of kettlebell exercises target the hips, thighs, and butt. This can be good or a bad thing depending upon someone's goals.  It can interfere with other resistance training routines. How I would recommend using kettlebells for fat loss. Kettlebell intervals are tremendous for depleting muscle glycogen and increasing your lactate threshold. I would recommend kettlebell workouts after a weekend break...Monday and Tuesday would work well. This would be a great way to burn off a lot of those weekend calories and get into a glycogen depleted state. I'd just switch it up to low-to-moderate cardio on Wednesday and Thursday...and add in one more intense Friday session before the weekend. Visual Impact Cardio

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Zumba (Group Dance Aerobics)

Zumba is a popular dance fitness program created by Alberto Perez. It is a Latin dance inspired fat loss program. It works too...my little sister, who hates to workout, has lost 20+ pounds doing Zumba. Zumba dancing is almost the opposite of kettlebell intervals. The biggest strength of these types of dance classes is that they are low intensity and can be done long enough burn a lot of calories. There is very little risk for over-training and a lot of people have fun doing this type of routine. Dance classes are almost 100% aerobic. Remember, lower intensity aerobic exercise is great for burning free fatty acids for fuel[4]. The problem is that low intensity exercise is poor for releasing fatty acids out of the fat cells. How I would improve Zumba? I'd have the class do some sort of intense interval training close to or above lactate threshold for 10 minutes first. After the intervals, they would do their Zumba workout. Visual Impact Cardio

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CrossFit If you don't have a CrossFit gym in your town now, you probably will soon. This type of training has grown tremendously the past few years. I think I pass by at least 4 CrossFit gyms on the way to my office.

Say goodbye to glycogen! CrossFit pushes the limits of lactate threshold. The anaerobic system gets worked hard as well. The level of intensity is on par with the training of a high-level athlete. I am in awe of how hard some of these people train. The ideal workout for people with a competitive streak. I don't mean that in a bad way. A lot of people reach higher levels than normal when they are competing. CrossFit even has its own yearly competition called the CrossFit Games. Some of the CrossFit athletes are as impressive as paid professional athletes. Challenges with pushing the anaerobic and lactate envelope hard.  Overtraining is inevitable if every workout is pushed to the limits.  Injuries can occur if a breakdown in good form happens when getting fatigued during some of the more technical lifts. Visual Impact Cardio

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How I'd tweak CrossFit to make it better for fat loss. Do the intense interval types of CrossFit training on Monday and Tuesday to quickly deplete muscle glycogen. On Wednesday and Thursday focus on improving in specific exercises in the CrossFit gym, like power cleans, muscle ups, barbell snatch, etc. After the specific exercises on Wednesday & Thursday, do steady cardio on the Concept 2 Rowing Machine (most CrossFit Gyms have these). On Friday, perhaps one more glycogen depleting, lactic acid producing, CrossFit interval session.

P90X (Body Weight Circuit Training) Tony Hornton and his P90X products have helped millions of people. What I like about his product is that he doesn't promise that it will be easy. He lets people know in his advertising that it will be tough. P90X is done 6 days per week at home with minimal equipment. I'm going to focus on the body weight circuit aspect of it, because that is where it excels.

I really believe we need more exercise, not less. P90X was the first program that became hugely successful by selling people on the idea that they need to train harder and more often than their current program. Since the internet has become such a huge part of our lives, we are less active than we were 10-15 years ago. P90X succeeded in getting people Visual Impact Cardio

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active on a daily basis. Body weight circuit training teaches you the skill of training anywhere. Back in the winter of 2007, I had a job where I was required to work 6 days per week for a total of 55-60 hours per week. I had a 45 minute commute each way. So 65-70 hours per week was dedicated to my day job. On top of that, my blog Fitness Black Book was taking off. I was putting in at least 25 hours per week into my blog, since I used to answer every single comment back then. This left me with very little time to train.

At that time, I lived in a tiny 366 square foot apartment right across the lake from these houseboats on Lake Union in Seattle. Seriously...it was 18 feet by 18 feet. That was including the bathroom. Expensive little apartment too...it was $1,100 per month over 5 years ago. Killer location, though. Body weight circuit training was my only option at that time. I used a few Turbulence Training routines by Craig Ballantyne. These little 20 minute routines kept me lean when I literally had almost no time to train. I'm a big fan of body weight circuit training as a way to save time and stay in shape. A great way to train at home too. Visual Impact Cardio

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Body weight training for fat loss does have a few challenges. If you are doing a regular resistance training routine and you are using body weight circuits for fat loss...the circuits can mess with your resistance training goals. Also, it is hard to challenge your muscles in the lower rep ranges with body weight training if you aren't supplementing it with another form of resistance training. Making body weight training more effective for fat loss? Just like with CrossFit and kettlebells...I'd recommend the tougher stuff on Monday and Tuesday to deplete glycogen gained from the weekend. I would also recommend it on Friday, to get one final glycogen depleting and calorie burning push before the weekend. Wednesday and Thursday could be low intensity cardio like waking, jogging or riding a bike for 30-60 minutes. If time permits, a 20-30 minute walk after an intense body weight circuit works as well for burning a little more fat each workout. Here is a summary of some of these popular fat loss routines.  Intense lactate threshold intervals that also stress the anaerobic system (Kettlebells & CrossFit) are great at depleting glycogen, but can lead to over training if done too often.  Lower intensity aerobics like Zumba are great for using fat for fuel, but not great for releasing fatty acids out of the fat cells. A quick 5-10 minute interval routine done beforehand will solve this problem.  Body weight circuits and things like P90X are huge time savers because they can be done just about anywhere. I'd recommend saving the more intense body weight routines for Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. You can dial in any fat loss routine once you understand the principles. The main point is to race to empty out your muscle glycogen early in the week, back off a bit once you are depleted and switch to lower intensity exercise...and possibly add one more intense session right before the weekend. Visual Impact Cardio

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Chapter 10 Separating Your Fat Loss Routine from Your Resistance Training. Most of the popular fat loss routines from the last chapter are 2-for-1 type of workouts. The workouts are aimed at burning fat and working the muscle simultaneously. In my opinion you can get leaner with more muscle definition, by separating your fat loss workout from your resistance training. The downside of trying to work the muscles while burning body fat. It is hard to focus on things like progressive resistance when you are running out of breath. Low rep training is great for increasing density and improving muscle tone, but bad for fat loss and calorie burn. I have found the best solution is to separate your fat loss from your resistance training.

You will never reach your anaerobic potential with intervals. To become strong and gain muscle density, you need to do standard resistance training. I recommend specifically to do low rep training with a good amount of rest in between sets to increase the density of a muscle (make Visual Impact Cardio

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the muscle firmer). High rep training has the potential to add size and create a pump. Most high rep circuit type of training has the potential to add size and create a pump in the muscles. This can be a good thing, if you are after size...but many people are trying to avoid mass gains. I'm not saying that all circuit training will do this, there is just a potential for this to happen. When your resistance training is separate, you have more control.  Want density and tone along with size? Train 3-5 reps close to failure with a decent amount of training volume.  Want quick muscle mass gains? Train in the 8-15 rep range with short rest periods and focus on fatiguing the muscles with a high volume of sets and reps. Aim for the pump for vascular muscles.  Want muscle tone without size? Train in the 3-5 rep range, 2 reps short of failure. Rest a lot in between sets and avoid the pump. This high tension lifting creates firm muscles. Since you avoid failure, you are avoiding breakdown and muscle growth response. So you have heard that high reps tone muscles? High rep weight lifting will deplete glycogen and burn more calories than low rep lifting. If weight training was our only method of trying to burn body fat, then high reps would help a bit. Bodybuilders train in the 8-15 rep range when they want to look good for a show. This rep range creates a pump and builds more capillaries to the muscle. Great for large “veiny” muscles. ...and you have most likely heard that low reps build large muscles. Both low reps and high reps have the potential to build muscle when pushed to failure. The paper, Influence Of Muscle Contraction Intensity And Fatigue On Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS) Following Resistance Exercise[11], came to this conclusion... Visual Impact Cardio

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Quote “These findings support the notion that heavy and light training loads may elicit similar training-induced increases in muscle hypertrophy provided exercise is performed to maximal failure.” I cover this in my Women's course in detail...but for those who don't have Visual Impact for Women, I recommend low rep training short of failure. So why not high rep training short of failure? Because high reps have a tendency to create a pump...which can lead to vascular muscles. Let's talk about fat loss routines and why I recommend cardio machines.

Cardio machines give you complete control over intensity. The big knock on cardio machines is that they aren't as intense as things like resistance training circuits or kettlebells. I think that is their biggest strength! Things like Tabata and kettlebell circuits are great for depleting glycogen, but not as much for directly using fat for fuel. There's a ceiling to how many calories you can burn with intervals. The weakness of these popular brief intense routines is that the anaerobic and adrenal system gets fatigued at some point. You can't simply add more and Visual Impact Cardio

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more intense training to burn more calories. With cardio machines, you can increase time and reduce intensity. As the body gets fatigued, you can add time while reducing intensity to burn as many calories (or even more calories) than intense intervals. So you can target as much body fat as time will allow. It's easier to track VO2 Max, lactate threshold, etc. on a machine. It would be weird to lift weights in a gym without knowing the weight of what you were lifting. I'm so used to having the ability to track the variables on a cardio machine that it feels strange not having this ability. It is just a nice feeling knowing exactly what level to put a machine at to improve VO2 max, the ability to track your heart rate, etc. I would have a tough time doing it any other way.

I am a firm believer in using cardio machines. The following detailed routines are going to use cardio machines as an example, but the main point to remember is the principles behind the routines. Also...the machines I reference can be substituted for other machines. Visual Impact Cardio

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Chapter 11 Visual Impact Cardio Preparation My hope is by this point, that you have a crystal clear idea of what it will take to burn body fat. Once you know how fat loss works, and don't just simply follow routines, you will be able to lose body fat doing activities that are a blast.

...for instance, ever wonder why most surfers are lean?     

Many get up early in the morning to catch the best waves. They may grab a coffee on the way out, or a small breakfast. They burn a bit of glycogen paddling out past the shore break. Within a couple of hours they are in a glycogen depleted state. Then moderate to low level exercise for hours without eating...which is basically low level fat burning cardio in a glycogen depleted state.

Note: Even if these surfers came back and ate a lot of food, a portion of that simply goes into restoring glycogen. Someone who just sees them at night eating pizza and drinking a few beers, believes that they are blessed with a high metabolism.

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Step 1: Figuring Out Your Lactate Threshold No matter what level of experience you are at, you are going to want to figure out your lactate threshold on the cardio equipment you plan on using. This doesn't need to be difficult and doesn't even need to be exact.

How to estimate your lactate threshold level.      

Hop on treadmill, exercise bike, elliptical, etc. Exercise at a moderate pace for the first 5 minutes. Gradually increase the speed until it feels somewhat challenging. Maintain this speed for 20 minutes. At the 15-20 minute mark check your heart rate. Heart rate should be 165-180BPM (men) or 175-185BPM (women).

Was the level you chose the proper intensity? If your heart rate didn't come close to reaching those BPM's listed above, you are probably training below your lactate threshold. If you can barely reach the 20 minute mark because of pain and fatigue, you are above the lactate threshold level.

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Figure out your lactate threshold numbers for a variety of machines. It is a good idea to know your lactate threshold numbers (the level or speed) for any cardio machines you plan on using. Pay attention to things like incline and all of that as well. You will have these memorized after a while. For instance, I know I can reach lactate threshold on the elliptical in my gym at level 15 done at a 10 degree incline. Again...we need to know your Lactate Threshold number, because that represents the fastest rate you can burn calories with prolonged cardio. Some other things to note about your lactate threshold numbers. If you do decide to train many levels below your threshold, simply add more time to your cardio workout to burn a similar amount of calories. Your lactate threshold will also improve a bit over time. You can train above lactate threshold with intervals done a proper way. Introducing Lactate Threshold Intervals. Yay! You are going to love (hate) these. I actually think that intervals, in a lot of ways, are easier than training with steady state cardio near lactate threshold. Well I'm going to show you how to ensure that your intervals are burning calories like mad...and aren't easy at all :) Lactate Threshold Intervals = average intensity above lactate threshold. In the elliptical example above:  My lactate threshold is 15.  Using an interval with a 2-minutes of work at level 16...and a 1-minute recovery portion at level 14. Figuring out Average Intensity Level.  [(Walking Intensity x 1) + (Sprinting Intensity x 2)] Divided by 3  Average Intensity Level = 15.33 Note: The average intensity level is the number that will keep us honest. A true measure of how effective your interval session is for calorie burn. Visual Impact Cardio

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The Average Intensity Level Equation Again. [(Walking Intensity x A) + (Sprinting Intensity x B)] Divided by C A = Walking interval time in minutes. B = Sprinting interval time in minutes. C =A+B

Example: walking at level 12 for 2 minutes...sprinting level 15 for 3 min. [(12 x 2) + (15 x 3)] Divided by 5 [24 + 45] Divided by 5 69 divided by 5 = 13.8 Lactate threshold levels are close to VO2 max levels. We will work our VO2 max by simply extending the length of the work intervals. Lactate threshold vs VO2 max efforts. If 800 meter races push the limits of the lactic acid system, then the mile is what pushes the limits of VO2 max. I don't want to make this way too complex. The nice thing is that 2 to 3 minute intervals work both systems to a certain extent. Visual Impact Cardio

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Step 2: Weigh Yourself Every Morning M-F The cardio routine I'm going to lay out has very specific weekly goals. If you aren't tracking your weight, then you won't know if you are attaining these goals. Get in the habit of weighing yourself every morning (Mon-Fri).

You are going to track a weekly low for each week. Your goal is to beat that weekly low the following week. Typically this new weekly low will be on Thursday or Friday. The goal is to equal or get close to equal of your previous weekly low by Wednesday. Wednesday's number is important. Here is why... By Wednesday, your body should be depleted of glycogen due to Monday and Tuesday's calorie burning cardio sessions. If Wednesday's weight is substantially more than the previous week's weekly low, then a few things could be happening.  Monday and Tuesday's workouts didn't deplete all the muscle glycogen.  You have possibly gained a bit of body fat.  You may have gained a bit of muscle.

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The majority of the time, it is simply a matter of having a bit of glycogen left in the system. I would recommend a similar glycogen depletion workout like Monday and Tuesday's workout. Even if it is body fat, it makes sense to add in a rough max-calorie burning session. For those people who are still gaining muscle while dropping fat? The majority of people are not going to gain muscle while following this cardio and diet strategy. The exception is typically people who have been inactive for a long period of time or beginners. Someone with a few years of consistent training is probably not going to add muscle at this time. Get an inexpensive pair of body fat calipers if you believe that you have the potential to gain muscle on this fat loss program.

...instead of tracking weight each day, take and compare skin fold measurements each morning. This works well, but probably not necessary for most individuals. Focusing on an actual number will make you more disciplined. Today (Monday) I had my weigh in and came in at 197 pounds. Last week, my weekly low was 192. I have a good 5 pounds to drop before my Wednesday weigh in. Most weeks I only drop 4 pounds total after my Monday and Tuesday workout. This means, I will add 5-10 minutes to my cardio today and make sure my dinner is slightly smaller than normal. Tip: Make sure and use the same scale for each weigh in. Different scales Visual Impact Cardio

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will give you different readings. I use the one at my gym, because it is much nicer and more accurate than the one I have at home.

Step 3: Figure Out Your Weekly Calorie Goal I need to start off this chapter by saying that there isn't a super-accurate method of figuring out the optimum amount of calories to eat to lose weight. Here's the formula I showed earlier to give an estimate. Goal Weight in Pounds x (hours working out per week + 9.5) = Calories The problem is that this is just an estimate. For some people this equation seems to get the job done. Some people can get away with more calories and still lose weight. Others need to eat quite a bit less than this to lose weight.

I'll use a 180 pound man who wants to get to 165 as an example this time. 185 x (6 + 9.5) = 2,557 calories per day.

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...now I think that number is a bit high. I know for a fact most guys in this position would do better at a level lower than this. So I'll lower it down to 2,200 calories per day. That comes out to 15,400 per week. I am going to recommend 1,000-1,200 calories as the lowest “low days”. On Monday and Tuesday (possibly Wednesday), I'm going to recommend eating between 1,000-1,200 calories. It is certainly possible to eat less calories than this and lose fat quickly with minimal complications...but there is risk of mood swings, dropping testosterone levels, etc.       

Monday: 1,200 calories Tuesday: 1,200 calories Wednesday: 1,200 calories Thursday: 1,400 calories Friday: 2,000 calories Saturday: 4,000 calories Sunday: 3,000

There is no problem eating less than the weekly calorie goal. In this case this guy was aiming to hit 15,400 calories per week and wound up consuming 14,000 calories. The calories were never ridiculously low and were high enough on the weekend to replenish glycogen levels. If you are doing “Eat Stop Eat” style fasts 1-2 times per week it is fine to dip a little below the 1,000 calorie mark.

Step 4: Print the Visual Impact Cardio Journal Print out the journal. The routines are based on working within a percentage of your Lactate Threshold speeds...or aiming for a specific Average Intensity Level. This will make sense after reading the next chapter. For now, simply have it printed out and grab a pen.

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We are just about to the actual routines. I will explain a bit more behind the setup and then give you what you have been waiting for. You are going to love how well this works!

These routines are largely based on cardio machines. ...but there is certainly flexibility for running outside, at a track, at the beach, etc. The main point is that this is going to be progressive cardio, where we track specific intensity levels. The days that are the most crucial to track are going to be Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. There is more flexibility the rest of the week. The end of just “working out hard” to burn body fat. You are going to have performance goals to hit. You are going to weigh in every day during the week (minus the weekend). You will systematically and predictably burn body fat. You are going to progressively increase the intensity as you get in better shape. We are going to use a form of periodization in this program. Think of periodization as taking 3 steps forward and 1 step back. The reason you want to do this is give the body periods of active recovery so it can reach Visual Impact Cardio

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the next level of fitness. If you push hard nonstop, with ever increasing intensity, you will reach a sticking point. Backing off on intensity prepares the body to reach a new high the next time you push hard. Each cycle of fat loss will last 8 weeks. Some people will get as lean as they desire in 8 weeks. Others will need to go through a few cycles to reach their fat loss goals. I'm going to create cycles for a few different categories of people.  The Beginner's Cycle: For people who haven't trained in a few years or are new to exercise altogether.  The Intermediate Cycle: For those who are currently following a program and want to reach peak condition.  The Advanced Cycle: For people who are willing to devote a lot of time and effort to push their genetic limits.  The Maintenance Plan: For people who have reached peak condition and want to stay there. What to expect? If you have a lot of weight to lose...any good program that puts you in a consistent deficit will get the job done. The people who tend to get discouraged are those who have lost a bit of weight, but have been stuck for a while. This is the program that is going to help you lose body fat again. Expect to put in 4-5 days per week until you hit your goal. This works if you take it seriously and do the workout. You can get away with 4 days per week, but I wouldn't go lower than that. I know for a fact I can help you predictably get as lean as you want off of 4-5 days per week. If you only train 3 days per week, you may or may not reach hit your goals. The choice is yours.

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Chapter 12 The Beginner's Cycle For the first 2 weeks of this routine, you will be training 4 days per week. You are going to bump it up to 5 days per week after that. The goal here will be glycogen depletion and getting used to the cardio machines the first few weeks. I'll introduce lactate threshold intervals later in the program.

You will start well below lactate threshold in the beginning. My plan for you during the first few weeks is for you to get accustomed to training. I really want you to just get comfortable with the gym, comfortable working out, get familiar with the cardio machines, etc. Before you begin the program, figure out your lactate threshold levels. Spend a week before beginning the program and figure out what intensity level is challenging, but that you can keep up for 20+ minutes. This is explained in detail on page 62. Do this for each piece of cardio equipment you plan on using. Don't worry...this isn't the intensity you will be using every day. In the beginning you will be well below this level.

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Every visit to the gym will start with a weigh-in. You will weigh the most on Monday morning and the lowest on Friday morning. Wednesday's weight should match the low point of the previous week. This way new progress will be made Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Important: Get out a calculator and fill in all the fields in your Visual Impact Cardio Journal. This is going to help you get leaner week-by-week, systematically. In case you don't have a calculator, here is a conversion table for you. The white numbers are the actual levels you will train at when on your cardio machine.

LT=5 LT=6 LT=7 LT=8 LT=9 LT=10 LT=11 LT=12 LT=13 LT=14 LT=15

70% 3.5 4 5 5.5 6.5 7 7.5 8.5 9 10 10.5

75% 4 4.5 5 6 7 7.5 8 9 10 10.5 11

80% 4 5 5.5 6.5 7 8 8.5 9.5 10.5 11 12

85% 4.5 5 6 7 7.5 8.5 9 10 11 12 13

90% 4.5 5.5 6.5 7 8 9 10 11 11.5 12.5 13.5

95% 5 6 6.5 7.5 9 9.5 10.5 11.5 12 13 14

100% 105% 110% 5 5.5 5.5 6 6.5 6.5 7 7.5 8 8 8.5 9 9 9.5 10 10 10.5 11 11 11.5 12 12 12.5 13 13 13.5 14 14 14.5 15.5 15 15.5 16.5

Let's say level 11 is my lactate threshold (LT) on an exercise bike. If I want to train at 70% of my lactate threshold (LT)...then I would choose level 7.5 on the exercise bike. Warning: The routines look complex on paper, but are actually straight forward. Don't get overwhelmed by the numbers here. You are simply Visual Impact Cardio

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exercising at a level that is a percentage of your Lactate Threshold number.

Week 1 This week is just a break-in period. The workouts should be easy. Don't worry too much about results the first two weeks. You may or may not lose weight. We are simply prepping you for the remaining 6 weeks.     

Monday: 30 minutes @ 80% of LT Tuesday: 30 minutes @ 80% of LT Wednesday: OFF Thursday: 35 minutes @ 75% of LT Friday: 40 minutes @ 75% of LT

As the intensity drops later in the week, time is added to the workout. This is a common strategy used throughout this program. The reason for this is that intense exercise will burn glycogen quickly, but it can also lead to overtraining. You can burn the same amount of calories by simply training at a lower intensity for a longer period of time. So as the week progresses it makes sense to use this approach.

Week 2 This week isn't too much different than the first week. There is a slight increase in intensity on Monday and Tuesday. The last part of the week the intensity still stays pretty low, but the time is extended a bit.     

Monday: 30 minutes @ 85% of LT Tuesday: 30 minutes @ 85% of LT Wednesday: OFF Thursday: 40 minutes @ 75% of LT Friday: 45 minutes @ 75% of LT

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Week 3 This is the week where you should begin to notice a decent drop in weight. Training at 90% of your LT burns glycogen at a pretty decent rate. It won't feel really tough, but you will probably work up a sweat.     

Monday: 30 minutes @ 90% of LT Tuesday: 30 minutes @ 90% of LT Wednesday: Optional Day Thursday: 40 minutes @ 75% of LT Friday: 45 minutes @ 75% of LT

For your optional day, do the Tuesday glycogen depleting workout if you have a lot of energy. If you are worn out either skip today or do a lower intensity workout similar to the Thursday or Friday workout.

Week 4 You are now going to gradually introduce Lactate Threshold Intervals. You will want to do LT intervals to improve lactate threshold. The “average intensity level” equation works with percentages too. [(80 x 3) + (100 x 1)] Divided by 4 = 85 You are working at an intensity level equivalent to 85% of your LT. So in some ways it is less intense than last Monday's session which was done at 90% of your lactate threshold. Monday: 30 min LT Interval (3 min @ 80% LT + 1 min @ 100% LT) Tuesday: 30 minutes @ 90% of LT Wednesday: 30 minutes @ 75% of LT Thursday: 10 min HIIT (90 sec @ 70% LT + 30 sec @ 100% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 75% of LT  Friday: 45 minutes @ 75% of LT    

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This is the first week you will be using one of my favorite fat loss techniques.

On Thursday you will be using an easy variation of this workout. The HIIT has an average intensity level equivalent to 77% of LT. Intensity will be increased a bit as the program progresses.

Week 5 This week you are going to begin by using a lactate threshold interval that reaches an average intensity level of 95% of LT. On Tuesday you will do steady state cardio at 95% LT. You are going to feel this a bit! Monday: 30 min LT Interval (2 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 100% LT) Tuesday: 30 minutes @ 95% of LT Wednesday: Depends upon your weight (read below) Thursday: 10 min HIIT (60 sec @ 70% LT + 30 sec @ 100% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 45 minutes @ 75% of LT    

Wednesday's cardio workout will last 30 minutes. If your Wednesday's weight is equal to or less than last week's low, then train at 80% of LT. If you weigh more than last week's low, then train at 95% of LT. On Thursday you are doing the HIIT again followed by steady state cardio. Last week the recovery period was 90 seconds. This week you are shortening that recovery period down to 60 seconds. This takes us from an average intensity level of 77, up to an average intensity level of 80.

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Week 6 This week you will hit 100% of LT with the lactate threshold intervals. This will accelerate fat loss and prepare us for the final two weeks, which will be above 100% of LT. Monday: 30 min LT Interval (2 min @ 95% LT + 1 min @ 110% LT) Tuesday: 30 minutes @ 100% of LT Wednesday: Depends upon your weight (read below) Thursday: 10 min HIIT (30 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 110% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 45 minutes @ 80% of LT    

Wednesday's cardio workout will last 30 minutes. If your Wednesday's weight is equal to or less than last week's low, then train at 80% of LT. If you weigh more than last week's low, then train at 100% of LT. Last week's Thursday's HIIT workout was an average intensity level of 80. This week it is increased to 95. The recovery period is shorter and the speed has been increased for both the sprinting and recovery portion.

Week 7 Just two more week's to go. This week your lactate threshold intervals are going reach an average intensity level of 102.5% of LT. You are going to do these intervals on Monday and Tuesday this week. You are going to feel a bit of discomfort when training for 2 minutes at 110% LT.  Monday: 30 min LT Interval (2 min @ 95% LT + 2 min @ 110% LT)  Tuesday: 30 min LT Interval (2 min @ 95% LT + 2 min @ 110% LT)  Wednesday: 10 min HIIT (30 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 110% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Thursday: 10 min HIIT (30 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 110% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 45 minutes @ 80% of LT Visual Impact Cardio

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Wednesday and Thursday's HIIT will have an average intensity level of 95% of LT. So it is lower than Monday and Tuesday, which makes sense because we want to lower the intensity levels as it gets later in the week.

Week 8 For this final week, you are going to be reaching 105% average intensity level for your LT intervals. This time your recovery portion of the interval is shorter than the intense portion of the interval. This will feel like work, but will burn calories at a fast rate.  Monday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 95% LT + 2 min @ 110% LT)  Tuesday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 95% LT + 2 min @ 110% LT)  Wednesday: 10 min HIIT (30 sec @ 90% LT + 30 sec @ 110% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Thursday: 10 min HIIT (30 sec @ 90% LT + 30 sec @ 110% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 45 minutes @ 80% of LT As always....the average intensity level will be less on Wednesday and Thursday. The 10 minute HIIT sessions are 100% of LT...still rough, but not as hard as Monday and Tuesday. Congratulations! At this point you will have lost a significant amount of body fat. Your VO2 max will have improved, your lactate threshold is now higher, and your heart health will have improved. All great stuff! What to do next? If you are at your ideal weight, then move forward to the Maintenance Plan. If you want to lose even more body fat and take your physique to the next level, then you are ready for the Intermediate Cycle. Note: You will need to re-test to find your new baseline LT, before starting the Intermediate Cycle. Visual Impact Cardio

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Chapter 13 The Intermediate Cycle This is for people who have been consistently training for at least 3 months, or who have already gone through the Beginner's Cycle. This cycle will quickly get you lean. Depending upon how much weight you have to lose, you may need to repeat it 2-3 times. If you only have 5-10 pounds to lose, this should get the job done your very first time through.

The HIIT workouts will be more intense than the Beginner's Cycle. Although the average intensity level will still be lower than the lactate threshold intervals...the intense portion of the HIIT intervals will be pretty darn intense. The reason for this is that you are going to need to develop a little bit of anaerobic power. Why more anaerobic power? Your muscles are going to need to be strong enough to push hard as your LT increases. If your muscles are too weak, you won't have the ability to burn calories and glycogen at a rapid rate. Visual Impact Cardio

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Note: This shouldn't build size in your legs. If you are concerned with this, then simply avoid the exercise bike when doing this type of interval. Also...you will only be doing this type of interval later in the week, when glycogen levels are so low, that it shouldn't build a pump in the muscle at all. Every visit to the gym will start with a weigh-in. You will weigh the most on Monday morning and the lowest on Friday morning. Wednesday's weight should match the low point of the previous week. New lows will be reached Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Important: Get out a calculator and fill in all the fields in your Visual Impact Cardio Journal. This will help you get systematically leaner weekby-week. Here is a conversion table for you, in case you don't have a calculator handy.

LT=7 LT=8 LT=9 LT=10 LT=11 LT=12 LT=13 LT=14 LT=15 LT=16 LT=17

70% 5 5.5 6.5 7 7.5 8.5 9 10 10.5 11 12

80% 5.5 6.5 7 8 8.5 9.5 10.5 11 12 13 13.5

90% 6.5 7 8 9 10 11 11.5 12.5 13.5 14.5 15

95% 100% 105% 110% 115% 120% 6.5 7 7.5 8 8 8.5 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 9 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 10.5 11 11.5 12 12.5 13 11.5 12 12.5 13 13.5 14.5 12 13 13.5 14 15 15.5 13 14 14.5 15.5 16 17 14 15 15.5 16.5 17 18 15 16 17 18 18.5 19 16 17 18 19 19.5 20.5

Note: The beginner's cycle only went up to 105% of LT. This one will go to 120%, because we will need that for short intense HIIT bursts.

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Week 1 This week is just a break in period. This workout should feel pretty easy to you. Remember, it makes sense to gradually increase intensity. If you jump right into the most intense stuff, you will reach a sticking point. If you systematically increase intensity your body cooperates by adapting and improving each week.     

Monday: 30 minutes @ 90% of LT Tuesday: 30 minutes @ 90% of LT Wednesday: OFF Thursday: 40 minutes @ 75% of LT Friday: 45 minutes @ 75% of LT

As the intensity drops later in the week, time is added to the workout. This is a common strategy used throughout this program. The reason for this is that intense exercise will burn glycogen quickly, but it also can lead to overtraining. You can burn the same amount of calories, by simply training at a lower intensity for a longer period of time. So as the week progresses it makes sense to use this approach.

Week 2 On Monday you will be training at an average intensity level of 93% of your LT for the lactate threshold interval. The following day is steady state at 95% of your LT. Monday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 80% LT + 2 min @ 100% LT) Tuesday: 30 minutes @ 95% of LT Wednesday: OFF Thursday: 15 min HIIT (90 sec @ 75% LT + 30 sec @ 110% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 45 minutes @ 80% of LT    

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Wednesday will be a rest day, because Thursday will work shorter more intense intervals for the first time.

After the intense interval, you will follow up with low level cardio for 20 minutes. Feel free to increase the time to 30 minutes if you have the time. Friday will be low level cardio that just targets body fat. We could do the HIIT + low level cardio like Thursday, but that is probably too instense for this stage in the cycle. We will save that for week 5.

Week 3 This week, the average intensity level of your LT interval will be 100% of your LT. On Tuesday you will train using steady state cardio at 100% of your LT. You should work up a sweat here, but still nothing too crazy. Monday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 105% LT) Tuesday: 30 minutes @ 100% of LT Wednesday: Optional Day Thursday: 15 min HIIT (90 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 115% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 45 minutes @ 80% of LT    

Thursday's HIIT session has an average intensity level of 87% of your LT. So it is less taxing than Monday and Tuesday's workout...but works the anaerobic system harder. For your optional day, do the Tuesday glycogen depleting workout if you Visual Impact Cardio

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have a lot of energy. If you are worn out either skip today or do a lower intensity workout similar to Friday's workout.

Week 4 This week your average intensity level will be 103% of your LT. This is hard to do with steady state training so both Monday and Tuesday will be LT intervals. Wednesday, we will focus on further glycogen depletion and calorie burning but at a lower intensity level. Monday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 110% LT) Tuesday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 110% LT) Wednesday: 30 minutes @ 80% of LT Thursday: 15 min HIIT (90 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 115% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 45 minutes @ 75% of LT    

Since Monday and Tuesday were somewhat intense this week, you will do the same workouts on Thursday and Friday of last week.

Week 5 This time you will keep the LT intervals at an average intensity level of 103% of your LT, like last week, but increase the intensity of the workouts at the end of the week. Monday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 110% LT) Tuesday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 110% LT) Wednesday: 30 minutes @ 80% of LT Thursday: 15 min HIIT (90 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 15 min HIIT (90 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 80% of LT    

The HIIT intervals are now done on both Thursday and Friday at an average intensity level of 90% of your LT. Visual Impact Cardio

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Week 6 Time to push your LT intervals to an average intensity level of 105%. These are going to be pretty tough. You are actually going to take Wednesday off this week, just to ensure that you don't get overtrained. Monday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 3 min @ 110% LT) Tuesday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 3 min @ 110% LT) Wednesday: OFF Thursday: 15 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 15 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 80% of LT    

Thursday and Friday's HIIT session uses the same recovery and work speeds as last week, but the recovery time is reduced from 90 seconds down to 60 seconds. This increases the average intensity level from 90% to 93% LT.

Week 7 Just two more weeks to go. You are probably going to be a little worn down this week. Remember, this is the tough final stretch of the cycle. You won't increase the intensity of the LT intervals this week, but will be doing them for 45 minutes instead of 30 minutes.  Monday: 45 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 3 min @ 110% LT)  Tuesday: 45 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 3 min @ 110% LT)  Wednesday: 15 min HIIT (30 sec @ 85% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 80% of LT  Thursday: 15 min HIIT (30 sec @ 85% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 15 min HIIT (30 sec @ 85% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 85% of LT HIIT at an average intensity level of 102% for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Followed by 20 minutes of steady cardio. Visual Impact Cardio

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Week 8 For this final week, you will attempt to do the LT intervals for 60 minutes on Monday and Tuesday. Also Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's HIIT session will be pushed to 20 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of cardio instead of 20. ...yes this is excessive. You wouldn't be able to keep up this pace for long, but you only need to do this for one week. This is the final week, so push yourself to complete this rough schedule!  Monday: 60 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 3 min @ 110% LT)  Tuesday: 60 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 3 min @ 110% LT)  Wednesday: 20 min HIIT (30 sec @ 85% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Thursday: 20 min HIIT (30 sec @ 85% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 20 min HIIT (30 sec @ 85% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 85% of LT Congratulations! This one was probably a little bit rough. It is hard to push past your lactate threshold, but doing so burns calories at a fast rate.. No doubt your VO2 max has improved, your heart has a better stroke volume, and you are noticeably leaner. What if you still have weight to lose? You can simply repeat this cycle if you have more weight to lose. When you do it again, you will most likely have a higher lactate threshold. So test to see what your new baseline LT level is. Who is the Advanced Cycle for? You can get as lean as you desire with the Intermediate Cycle. The Advanced Cycle is for people who want to push the limits of fat loss. It requires quite a bit more time and effort than the intermediate cycle. If you are up to it, then move on to the next page :) Visual Impact Cardio

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Chapter 14 The Advanced Cycle I just about left this chapter out. In my opinion the Intermediate Cycle will get you about as lean as you desire. This cycle is for people who are already pretty lean, have lots of experience workout out, but want to maybe go for one hard push before a big event.

...think along the lines of photo shoot, movie role, wedding day etc. This routine isn't balanced and isn't meant to be done year round. This is two months of intense training. It isn't one that you can repeat like the other two cycles. If you do use it, get lean and then maintain it with a maintenance phase type of workout. This time it gets rough early on...and continues along that trend. The first week will be pretty easy for those who have just completed the intermediate cycle, but it gets pretty darn rough from there. Again...most people will get as lean as they want with the intermediate cycle. The intense part of HIIT will be pushed to the limits. Visual Impact Cardio

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You are going to need to push harder on the tough portions of HIIT to really ensure maximum release of fatty acids. Most people will get as lean as they want without doing this. It just takes an extra effort to force the body to burn off the last bits of stubborn body fat. Every visit to the gym will start with a weigh-in. You will weigh the most on Monday morning and the lowest on Friday morning. Wednesday's weight should match the low point of the previous week. New lows will be reached Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Important: Get out a calculator and fill in all the fields in your Visual Impact Cardio Journal. This will help you get systematically leaner weekby-week. Here is a conversion table for you, in case you don't have a calculator handy.

LT=7 LT=8 LT=9 LT=10 LT=11 LT=12 LT=13 LT=14 LT=15 LT=16 LT=17

70% 5 5.5 6.5 7 7.5 8.5 9 10 10.5 11 12

80% 5.5 6.5 7 8 8.5 9.5 10.5 11 12 13 13.5

90% 100% 110% 120% 6.5 7 8 8.5 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 9 10 11 12 10 11 12 13 11 12 13 14.5 11.5 13 14 15.5 12.5 14 15.5 17 13.5 15 16.5 18 14.5 16 18 19 15 17 19 20.5

125% 8.5 10 11 12.5 13.5 15 16 17.5 19 20 21

130% 9 10.5 11.5 13 14 15.5 17 18 19.5 21 22

135% 9.5 11 12 13.5 15 16 17.5 19 20 21.5 23

140% 10 11 12.5 14 15.5 17 18 19.5 21 22 24

Note: For some machines you may need to get creative to hit over 120% LT intensity levels. You can increase the angle of some machines, peddle at a faster speed, etc. Visual Impact Cardio

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Week 1 We are simply going to go for it this week. Someone at this advanced level has no problem with training at 100% LT. We will start the week off at 100% LT then spend Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday with HIIT + Steady State.  Monday: 30 minutes @ 100% of LT  Tuesday: 30 minutes @ 100% of LT  Wednesday: 15 min HIIT (90 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Thursday: 15 min HIIT (90 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 15 min HIIT (90 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT The HIIT sessions are going to be at an average intensity level of 90%. They are done for three days this week. Next week you will back off a bit on Wednesday. You will have a few moderate Wednesdays mixed in to prevent overtraining.

Week 2 This week you will start off with two days at an average intensity level of 103% of your LT. This is going to deplete glycogen at a fast rate. Wednesday will be easier than last week's Wednesday workout. Monday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 110% LT) Tuesday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 110% LT) Wednesday: 30-45 minutes @ 80% of LT Thursday: 15 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 15 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT    

Thursday and Friday we are reducing the recovery period which was 90 seconds last week, down to 60 this week. This will increase the average Visual Impact Cardio

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intensity level from 90% last week, to 93% this week.

Week 3 This week you will increase your average intensity level of your LT intervals to 105% of your LT. You will also been doing these LT intervals three days this week instead of 2. Any hint of glycogen and water retention should be gone by Wednesday at the latest. Monday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 3 min @ 110% LT) Tuesday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 3 min @ 110% LT) Wednesday:30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 3 min @ 110% LT) Thursday: 20 min HIIT (30 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 20 min HIIT (30 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT    

Thursday and Friday you are reducing the recovery period from 60 seconds down to 30 seconds. This will increase the average intensity level from 93% to 100%. Next week you will bump the recovery period back up to 90 seconds, but increase the intensity of the intense portion of the interval.

Week 4 This week you keep the same average intensity level of 105% for your LT intervals, but increase the speed of the intense portion of the intervals. This will serve to increase anaerobic power. Wednesday will be moderate, to avoid overtraining. Monday: 30 min LT Interval (2 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 120% LT) Tuesday: 30 min LT Interval (2 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 120% LT) Wednesday: 30-45 minutes @ 80% of LT Thursday: 15 min HIIT (90 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 15 min HIIT (90 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT)    

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Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT For Thursday and Friday's HIIT session, the average intensity level is down from 100% to 92.5%. Although the average intensity is lower, the top speed of the intense part of the interval is higher. This will work your anaerobic system harder and increase muscular endurance. It shouldn't add size because you are in a glycogen depleted state and it is still well short of failure.

Week 5 Last week the average intensity level of your LT intervals was 105%. This week we will increase it to 110%, by cutting the recovery portion time in half. Wednesday will be the HIIT + Steady State combo. This will work well because adding in another LT interval could result in muscle loss.  Monday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 120% LT) Followed by 15 minutes @ 90% of LT  Tuesday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 120% LT) Followed by 15 minutes @ 90% of LT  Wednesday: 15 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Thursday: 15 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 15 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT You are now adding in steady state cardio after LT intervals on Monday and Tuesday. For Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the average intensity level of HIIT is 96%. We probably won't go higher than that. I'll include an option to push harder in the following weeks if this doesn't feel tough enough to you.

Week 6 We will keep the LT interval to 110% average intensity level. The idea going forward will be to spend 60 minutes each day M-F dedicated to cardio. These Visual Impact Cardio

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last 3 weeks are going to burn away every last little bit of fat that you would like to get rid of. You will feel a bit worn down at times, but this rough part only lasts 3 weeks.  Monday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 95% of LT  Tuesday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 95% of LT  Wednesday: 15 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 45 minutes @ 80% of LT  Thursday: 15 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 45 minutes @ 80% of LT  Friday: 15 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 45 minutes @ 80% of LT Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday's HIIT session is set for 96%. If you are feeling up to it, you can reduce the recovery portion down to 30 seconds. This will put you at 105% average intensity level. Another alternative is to keep the recovery portion the same, but push the limits of the work session to 140%+ which will put you up over 100% average intensity level.

Week 7 Just two more week's to go. Just like last week, this will be an hour per day. The things we will change will be to increase the time spent doing LT intervals and decrease the time of steady state cardio. The steady cardio will also be a little more intense each day.  Monday: 40 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 120% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 100% of LT  Tuesday: 40 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 120% LT) Followed by 20 minutes @ 100% of LT  Wednesday: 20 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 40 minutes @ 90% of LT  Thursday: 20 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 40 minutes @ 90% of LT Visual Impact Cardio

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 Friday: 20 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 40 minutes @ 90% of LT Just like last week, feel free to increase the intensity of HIIT, by either decreasing the recovery portion or increasing the intensity of the work portion.

Week 8 For the final week you are going to attempt to do your LT intervals for 60 minutes straight. This is 60 minutes at an average intensity level of 110% of your LT. You will burn a lot of calories training for 60 minutes at this level!  Monday: 60 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 120% LT)  Tuesday: 60 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 120% LT)  Wednesday: 30 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 90% of LT  Thursday: 30 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 90% of LT  Friday: 30 min HIIT (60 sec @ 80% LT + 30 sec @ 130% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 90% of LT You can push the level of HIIT as hard as you want, but the time element alone of this week is going to burn a ton of calories and body fat. You really don't need to push much harder than what is outlined here. Congratulations! You should be dramatically leaner at this point. I wouldn't recommend doing this Advanced Cycle two times back-to-back. If you still have any body fat to lose, you should consider the intermediate cycle, and maybe tighten up your diet a touch. Your life shouldn't be spent training this much! I created these programs to quickly help you reach peak condition, but then maintain it with a much more balanced approach. Visual Impact Cardio

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Chapter 15 The Maintenance Plan The three cardio cycles I outlined in the past few chapters are not meant to be used year-round. My goal was to give you the quickest route to hit your fat loss goals and then a way to maintain that with a much more balanced approach.

Ideally, you will be in maintenance at least 9 months out of the year. Once you work hard to achieve your target weight and body fat percentage, it makes sense to maintain it. The problem is that a lot of people use the all-ornothing-approach. They are either killing themselves in the gym, or doing no form of exercise at all. You need to figure out what amount of exercise maintains your physique. I used to be able to maintain off of 3 short cardio sessions per week. Once I hit 35, those 3 brief sessions didn't quite do the trick. What I figured out was that 3 longer sessions per week worked -or- 4 medium sessions. So most of the time I simply do 3 sessions one week and 4 sessions the next. Visual Impact Cardio

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How do you figure out your maintenance level of exercise? Honestly...you just need to keep track of your weight. You don't need to weigh yourself daily or anything like that, just maybe 2 times per week. I recommend tracking your weight later in the week, after you have exercised a few times. I'll outline a few sample maintenance plans, just to give you ideas.

Sample Maintenance Plan 1 This is for someone who likes to workout Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week. Monday will be a 30 minute lactate threshold workout at 105% average intensity level. Wednesday will focus just on a steady calorie burn. Friday will be HIIT + Steady State Cardio.  Monday: 30 min LT Interval (1 min @ 90% LT + 2 min @ 120% LT)  Wednesday: 30 minutes @ 100% of LT  Friday: 15 min HIIT (30 sec @ 85% LT + 30 sec @ 120% LT) Followed by 30 minutes @ 80% of LT The average intensity level could be adjusted week to week. No need to push too hard. Monday and Wednesday's time could be increased after an extra high-calorie weekend, etc.

Sample Maintenance Plan 2 This would be a great summer time plan. Remember how I discussed body weight training in an earlier chapter? This is how you would do it in the summer.  Monday: 15 minute body weight interval + 20 minute jog outside.  Wednesday: 15 minute body weight interval + 20 minute jog outside.  Friday: 15 minute body weight interval + 30 minute walk outside.

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The 15 minutes could be body weight intervals, kettlebell intervals, etc. The key would be to do intense intervals of some sort followed by 20 minutes of jogging. The jogging would be a faster pace on Monday to burn glycogen...and a slower pace on Friday to target body fat.

Sample Maintenance Plan 3 This is one that my girlfriend likes to do and it works well for her. I like this one as well, because it is simple and works well.  Monday: 20 min jogging @ 100% LT. 15 min walking at 80% LT.  Wednesday: 20 min jogging @ 100% LT. 15 min walking at 80% LT.  Friday: 20 min jogging @ 100% LT. 15 min walking at 80% LT. This one works well on a treadmill. Just increase the jogging speed as you become more fit and your LT level increases. By the time the 20 minutes are up, there will be a lot of free fatty acids to burn with slower steady state cardio.

I recommend staying in maintenance until you gain 5 pounds. The key here is to compare apples to apples. Don't freak if you are 5 pounds more on Monday, after a high calorie weekend. Take a look at your Friday Visual Impact Cardio

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number when your muscles are at least partially depleted of glycogen. No need go through one of the cardio cycles if you gain 5 pounds. At this point, you should simply add a day to your current cardio routine. If that isn't possible due to your schedule, add an extra 10-15 minutes to the days you are currently training. Watch your calories a little closer as well. Consider doing the Intermediate Cycle if you gain 10 pounds. If you never get more than 10 pounds out from your target weight, you will never have to worry about becoming obese. You will get better and better at maintaining your ideal weight, but most people slip up from time to time. I slipped up this past winter. I like to stay at roughly 188 pounds. I'm ripped at 180, but my girlfriend thinks it makes my face look too lean. I've found that 188 is about ideal. I'm lean without looking like I live to train. This past winter my weight climbed to 198 pounds. I'm currently doing the Intermediate Cycle and I'm right at 191. I'm only 2 weeks in, so no doubt I'll hit my goal 6 weeks from now. Don't get too obsessed with all of this! I spent 10+ years trying to maintain 180 pounds and 6% body fat. Now I feel great at 8-10% body fat and 188-190 pounds. More importantly, I can drink beer, eat nachos, and I'm full of energy. My advice is to find a good “sweet spot”, where you feel great about yourself. No need to look like a swimsuit model