Cardio Equipment Lies

I hate to burst your cardio queen bubble, but that faithful piece of cardio of equipment lies to you like Tiger lied to Elin--consistently and creatively.

Jump on any piece of cardio equipment and there are an array of numbers that dance on the screen providing feedback about your current performance. See speed, distance, resistance, incline, heart rate and calories as examples.

As far as speed, resistance or incline goes, you’re pretty safe. Most of the time those numbers are at least close to accurate. It’s near heart rate and calories that thing get very hazy.

The fact is cardio equipment drastically over estimates how many calories a person burns. Even if you put in your weight, age and wear a heart rate monitor. By drastically, I’m talking no less than 250 to 500 calories per session. Back away from the stale donut in the office break room.

I know fitness devotes who live their life to hit that magic number of calories burned. They run or climb or ellipse their way to see that magic number on the screen and then BEEP hit the big red stop button and call it an accomplishment. Well kids, it ain’t.

Let’s frame this conversation and dispel some myths. One pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories. That means to lose a pound—just one--of fat a week you need to be in deficient 500 calories per day. Each. Day. Of. The. Week. Sadly, most folks significantly under estimate how many calories they take in and OVER estimate how many calories they put out. This is how the battle of the bulge is lost.

So, my love, when you hardly break a sweat on the elliptical and that darling piece of equipment states you burned 500 calories in 30 minutes, quite bluntly, you didn’t.

To determine how many calories you are actually burning during a cardio workout, you need to determine your basal metabolic rate or BMR. Your BMR is the minimum caloric requirement needed to sustain life in a resting individual. There are lots of intense mathematical formulas you could use to determine this, but if you didn’t pass advanced algebra, I wouldn’t try your hand at the Harris-Bennett formula. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris-Benedict_equation)

In addition to it being mind bending math, the equation does not take into account body composition, a measure of the percentages of muscle and fat composing your body. It is therefore less accurate if you have a non-typical amount of muscle. This is because muscle burns calories, while fat does not. Therefore, a person with an above average amount of muscle will have a higher BMR or RMR than calculated; a person with a below average amount of muscle will have a lower BMR or RMR than calculated.

Stay with me gang.

There is a better way to determine if you are working "hard enough" to reach your weight loss goals. Ready for it? Go breathless. That's right, work hard enough for short bursts or intervals to literally be breathless. A workout would look like this:

• Pick a piece of cardio equipment that works for you based on level, interest and injury.
• Then do a 5 minute warm-up with your "target effort" being a 5/6 on a scale of 1-10 for rate of perceived exertion.
• At minute 6, kick up your target effort level to a 7/8 and sustain that level from 0:30 seconds to 1:30 seconds.
• You'll know you are working hard enough if by the end of the work interval you are breathless.
• Recover for 2 minutes at level 6
• Repeat for 5 intervals
• Cool-down for 5 minutes
• Rate of perceived exertion: 1-10 1=couch surfing (very easy) 10=wind surfing with 10 foot waves (very hard)

If weight loss is your goal, than think of programming your cardio exercise by these two criteria; variety and intensity. Interval training (period of hard work/breathless to periods of recovery) has been proven to burn more calories through the after burn effect. So, the next time you jump on your beloved stairmaster, resist the urge to go the same speed, distance and time you always have. Shake things up and add the breathless concept to your workout. The benefit: more fun, more calories and more effect.

Now, go get 'em tiger.

8 Minute Buns

The Making of a Fitness Buff

It was the summer of 1984 and the Olympics were being held in sunny L.A. I was half a world away, firmly planted in front of the TV, completely mesmerized by the track events. Carl Lewis was busy being super human and inspiring the world with his speed and athleticism. I remember how race after race he would cross the line for first. And then, time after time, he would climb atop the medal stand with the US flag waving, star spangled banner playing, wearing his gold medal.

During commercial breaks, I would beg my mom to come outside and time me as I ran laps around our house. There I was, four years old, lined up on the invisible starting line in front of our house. On my mom's countdown I would shoot off the line with imaginary Carl Lewis just in front of me. As we rounded the corner towards the finish line, I would leave my imaginary competition in the dust and finish breathless, back where I started. At the finish line, my mom would shout out my race time. Each time, heaving with exhaustion, tiny hands on tiny knees, I would shout back, "I can do it faster!"

In true Olympic form, after every race, I would climb up to the top of the stairs on my front porch for the "medal ceremony." At my encouragement, my parents would join me singing the star spangled banner while I stood at attention, hand over heart, imagining the waving flag.

And thus it began; the love for running until my lungs burned, only to want to run again--faster this time. The thrill of dusting the competition on the final corner of the home stretch. The honor of topping the medal stand.

When did you start making fitness a part of your life? When was there a time that you exceeded your own limits and expectations? Can you remember a time you stood on top of the medal stand and felt so incredibly proud of yourself?

Take a minute to remember that life is all about celebrating your successes big and small and remembering what inspires you.

So today, I'd like to thank Carl Lewis for being faster than a speeding bullet. I'd like to thank my parents who always stood up to sing their support. And finally I'd like to tip my hat to genetics. I mean seriously, what four year old runs laps for faster and faster times?! That is definitely genetic.