I wasn’t planning on writing about this today, but I have had a few questions on this lately and to top it off one of my best friends from high school called me today asking me about this.  And I just know that so many “mommies” out there looking to lose the “baby weight” are wasting precious time on cardio and not getting the incredible benefits of “resistance or weight training”.

What is it?

Cardio.

A friend told me this week that her and all her friends are “skinny”, and all they do is CARDIO.  But they are not LEAN, and they want to be LEANER.

My other friend called me today saying she was losing body fat, but was feeling “scrawny”!

What do I do?  they said.

I will tell you what not to do……..  DON’T “JUST” DO CARDIO!  My friend, you can do cardio every single day for one hour and still not get that “LEAN & TONED” look you desire.

There is such a huge misconception on cardio and it’s benefit.

CARDIO is AEROBIC EXERCISE, and by definition, aerobic exercise is physical activity that intends to use the oxygen system.  Aerobic means “”with oxygen”.  Aerobic exercise or cardio is exercise performed at moderate levels of intensity for an extended period of time.

No where in the above definition does it say, aerobic exercise (cardio) builds muscle.

Resistance Exercise, on the other hand, is what sculpts and tones the body by building lean muscle.  By definition according to Wikipedia, resistance training is a form of strength training in which each effort is performed against a specific opposing force generated by resistance.

According to the American Sports Medicine Institute, the goal of resistance training is to “gradually and progressively overload the musco-skeletal system so it gets stronger. “  Research shows that regular resistance training will strengthen and tone muscle and increase bone mass.

I don’t know about you, but I personally don’t think that “skinny” is HOT! I think a HOT BOD, is one that is toned, but with some meat on the body, and curves. So if all you do is cardio and you feel “skinny” and “scrawny”, it’s time to hit the weights my friend.  Just because someone is skinny doesn’t mean they are LEAN.

When I got my first job as a personal trainer I did an assessment on this one client that weighed 90lbs.  Her body fat came out to 30%.  I got so nervous!  I was for sure doing this wrong.  I did it over and over, always getting the same number.

I finally got the courage to tell my boss.  I said, “what am I doing wrong, this skinny girls body fat comes out to 30%, there is no way”.  That is when I got my first lesson on fat vs. muscle.

This poor girl was skinny but had no muscle in her body.  She was skinny but not LEAN & TONED.

To understand how lifting weights (resistance exercise) helps build lean and toned muscle, and doesn’t get you BIG, check out my blog on “DOES RESITSTANCE EXERCISE MAKE YOU BIG”. You may have to scroll down a lot as it was written a while ago.

So, what should you do to get LEANER AND MORE TONED?

Resistance exercise (weights), and a moderate amount of cardio.  Make sure that all your cardio workouts are interval training.  To get great interval cardio workouts, check out my colleague Bryan Francis Blog.  Also, check out his blog on “cardio queens”.

Also, make sure you read this article on how WEIGHT TRAINING BURNS MORE CALORIES WHEN THE WORKOUT IS OVER THAN CARDIO. Click here:  EPOC

How much cardio should you do?

It all depends on where you are at and what your goal is.  But if you feel that you are a “skinny” person looking to get more toned.  I would cut the cardio in half and make sure to hit the weights 3 times per week. Start with 20 minutes of hard-core intervals 3 times per week.  Yes, don’t die, you are not supposed to do an hour of cardio every single day to have a lean and toned body.

As for my friend who said she lost weight but felt scrawnier.  What happened?

She probably LOST MUSCLE, which means her body fat actually went up, even though the number on the scale possibly went down.  When you lose muscle there’s only one of 2 things that could happen:

• You are not eating enough
• You are doing too much cardio

So figure out which one you are doing and do something about it.

My hope is that you will incorporate resistance training into your exercise regimen and though you may really enjoy cardio, cut it in half.  I promise you will look leaner and more toned.

For some great tips on when you should do cardio, check my colleague Greg Avedon’s Blog.