By Shannon Clark

If you were to survey 100 members of the ‘fat loss crowd’, I’m willing to take a guess that at least 60% would state that in order to get best results, they should be pounding away on the treadmill with their fat loss cardio training program.

Cardio burns calories. Cardio burns fat. Cardio, therefore, should be your primary method to help torch that extra layer of ‘jiggle’ that’s currently residing around your stomach, right?

Not even close.

While fat loss cardio can help you burn calories and maybe burn off a bit of fat, the new thinking of fitness is moving as far away from fat loss cardio training as possible. In fact, you might even want to run away from it.

Here’s why.

1. Fat Loss Cardio is Boring. Ever been on a treadmill for a whole entire hour? (and doing cardio while watching your favorite TV show or reading a magazine does not count). It’s not fun. Boring. Dull. Torturous – all great ways to describe this.

2. Long Cardio Makes You Hungrier. While intense cardio training can kill the appetite for a while, when you go off and do a long ‘fat loss cardio’ workout, most people will actually become hungrier. Since sticking with your diet is the most important thing for weight loss, this is a big problem. A BIG one. If you go ahead and eat back all the calories that cardio just burned off, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. But let’s face the facts, it happens. Often.

3. Long Cardio Can Make You Lose Muscle. Potentially one of the biggest negative factors about long slow cardio is that it can actually start making you lose muscle mass. This is precisely opposite of what you’re going for.

4. Cardio Reduces Your Recovery. When you’re on a fat loss diet, your recovery is already going to be slightly reduced from what it normally is. If you throw in 5 cardio sessions a week, you’re really asking for it. Being able to recover between your weight lifting sessions is vital since it’s these that will help safeguard your muscle. If you aren’t recovery, say bye-bye to your muscle tissue. Again, it’s a strike against cardio.

For more great training information, visit Shannon’s site at www.fitnessuncovered.com