Forget about cardio!

There are lots of people out there, spending hours and hours on the treadmill. And the worse is: they don’t get in shape, they always look the same.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that cardio is good, getting your heart rate up and burning calories. But too much of it is bad for you, especially if you don’t eat enough. Because what happens is when you exercise, your body first burns carbs and then fat – which is exactly what we want. But once all the carbs and fats are burned, your body is going to burn the protein which will result in muscle loss.

Personally, I just started taking kickbox lessons two times a week, Tuesdays and Fridays. It’s the best cardio ever because you have a full body workout, throwing punches and kicks for an hour. And honestly, it’s so much fun to kick someone’s ass! I enjoy this cardio because I don’t get bored, time flies by and I build up good reflexes of self defense. On my other four training days, I do just 5 minutes of cardio to warm up and save my energy for the weight training. Sometimes I sit on the rowing machine, sometimes I run, sometimes I jump. You can even warm up using your own bodyweight with the TRX.

Girls often are in shock when they see my shredded body and learn that I don’t do cardio which was the case until recently. I tell them that they can get much quicker results with strength training than with running on the treadmill for hours. This is what most of the girls answer: “I don’t want to lift too much weight, because I don’t want to build up too much muscle.” They think that they will become even bigger arms and legs. But the truth is: If you want to slim down your arms and legs, you have to work with heavy weights. The muscle will grow and the fat will disappear. As an overall appearance, your body will look much more firm and you will be able to measure the results in centimeters soon.

I burned five kilograms of fat in just three months when I started working out with a professional three years ago. Instead, I put on lots of muscle which makes me heavier than ever. Measuring 1.72m I used to weigh 53 kg, now I am 56 kg. Maybe I am even more now, seriously I don’t know because I don’t weigh myself anymore since I can see how fit I am.