Cardio Query for Beth/T25 Review!

Madeline wrote up this awesome blog about 2 weeks ago now and it took me awhile to make sure I had a good answer that was supported by research and did a job responding to her really thoughtful query.   Check out her awesome video acquisition reviews and great questions regarding interval training.

So, this week I decided to start a new workout program : T25 by Beachbody (FYI - I found it on Ebay for about $70 less).

I have really loved Beachbody products. I like TurboFire by Chalene Johnson, and I tried Insanity with ShaunT, but it was WAY too much plyometric. It was very painful for me, however, I LOVED ShaunT. His motivation is excellent.

The reviews of T25 basically said that T25 is similar to Insanity, but more manageable. ShaunT is again the instructor, so I wanted to give it a shot.

The calendar consists of two 5 week periods: Alpha and Beta. The Alpha is the "foundation" period and the Beta just gets harder.

This is the Alpha calendar:

I started out yesterday doing the first workout: Cardio. It was TOUGH! It was 25 minutes of non-stop movement - squats, jumping jacks, etc. Unlike Insanity, there is a person doing modifications. I tried to do the primary exercise, but I followed the modification when I couldn't handle the full exercise.

I do not plan on following this calendar. I think most of these workouts are cardio, and for real weight loss, you need to mix cardio with weight lifting/training (right, Beth?). If I find these workouts are cardio AND strength, maybe I will try to follow the calendar.

Here is my question for Trainer Beth:

Lately, I have been doing tabata/HIIT style cardio. Tabata is 20 seconds of full out effort and 10 seconds rest for 4 minute periods. HIIT is usually 1 minute full exercise and 1 minute off.

The exercise people in my tabata/HIIT videos say you need the rest in between intense cardio because it gives you somewhere to go - it lets you build. If you go full out without stopping, you don't get as much of a workout because you are not giving yourself time to recover.

T25 does NOT follow this idea. It's 25 minutes of full out cardio and a 3 minute cool down video after. After about 10 minutes of non-stop cardio in the Alpha Cardio video, ShaunT did a slightly less intense exercise, and I finally caught my breath and felt like I did MUCH better for the remainder of the video.

Here's my Beth question: which is better? Or maybe a better way to put it: what are the benefits of each? Is it better to go full out with little rests in between? Or is it better to just go full out for a period of time? Is one better for weight loss?

Help!!!

I'll keep reviewing T25 and let you all know what I think!

FIRST, thank you Madeline, for the really awesome question!

The short answer they are both goodies.  Interval training, working hard, and than easing off, increases muscle mass at a rate much superior to that of steady state cardiovascular exercise.  GOing at a high intensity is also good but at some point your lactic acid might slow you down.

SECONDLY (is this good grammar?), Shaun T is and has been is amazing shape his whoooolllllllleeeeeee life.  And he is probably well trained and all his muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints have been living in a healthy body for a long time.  My point being his body is pretty efficient at high efforts.  

A ten minute all out effort is plausible for him.  That is probably on the long end for some of us to maintain a high level of effort.  Usually between 3-10 minutes is the ceiling on efforts that are in a range of 70-80 percent of our max heart rate.  When you work out in this range, you would feel pretty breathless like you don't want to talk, or can't because the air is not available.

A long high effort interval is usually limited by the build up of lactate from the break down of lactic acid in the muscle.  The limiter will most likely be that system of freeing up energy in the muscles to keep them going, which requires a LOT of OXYGEN.  Which is why you feel like your butt is getting a good kicking.  You are utilizing oxygen to feed the system that helps shuttle energy at this level of intensity.  

LASTLY, besides the physiologic portion of this effort, there is the can-your-body-tolerate-the-intensity-of-this-training factor.  Madeline, I  like that you pointed out how much your body can tolerate plyometrics which is the term for jump training or anything where your foot leaves the ground like jumping jacks, split jumps, jump squats.  It is a very explosive movement and can take a few days to recover and repair. 

So another component is how your fleshy parts heal, I know I am kinda a slow healer from new and  big efforts.  One or two sessions of big multi-joint exercise a week is plenty for me.  I can still go out and do other moderate and lower effort sessions and feel healthy and strong.  For others, you may need more or less sessions depending on your rate of healing.

So yes, intervals (whether 30 seconds or ten minutes) beat steady state every time for creating more muscle but your own physiology and recovery will be a trumping factor here of how much and how hard you can go on those intervals.

Resistance training and interval training are important tools in weight loss.  Some steady state cardio is okay, and does continue to develop tendons, muscles, and ligaments, and it definitely burns calories too.  The big daddy of all is your fuel or diet that is helping everything along.