Yes I would agree. This is also covered in the article I linked to below, I would check it out. Also covered is the idea of quickly getting huge and ripped both at the same time. Not going to happen. If you seriously want to lose the fat you are probably going to have to give up some muscle no matter what in the meantime.
Here is the section on cardio from the article:
| QUOTE | Do cardiovascular exercise.
While many people focus on cardiovascular exercise while avoiding weight training, there are others who do the opposite. Among certain groups of people, there are many myths about how cardiovascular exercise is bad for you, detrimental to someone trying to increase or maintain muscle mass, etc. These arguments usually reference data from studies on endurance athletes. Doing cardiovascular exercise does not mean running an ultramarathon. In fact, cardiovascular exercise of pretty much any reasonable intensity or duration is of benefit. While it is more likely that lean mass will be sacrified than with weight training, there is still a preferential loss of fat over muscle with physical activity. Additionally, epidemiological studies indicate that cardiovascular exercise is inversely correlated with the development of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) independently of body fat level. VAT is associated with a higher incidence of health problems, as well as an unsightly midsection.
The question then becomes which type of cardiovascular exercise is ideal for fat burning. As covered above, it is obviously not long-term endurance exercise, because although this causes a significant increase in caloric expenditure, a large amount comes from lean mass. There is another piece of misleading advice that you will commonly hear in this respect. Many will say that low intensity cardio (walking or light jogging) is best for weight loss because this is the "fat burning range" – a greater proportion of the calories burned comes from fat as opposed to alternative fuel sources such as glycogen. This may appear reasonable at first, but it really ignores the bigger picture. It is important to look at both calories burned during and after exercise, as exercise at a high enough intensity will lead to a longer-lasting increase in metabolic rate after exercise. Second, utilization of glycogen as opposed to fat during exercise is not necessarily a bad thing, as restoring the glycogen will still require calories. Also, if you look at it from the perspective of burning the most calories possible in the shortest period of time, the higher intensity, the better.
The ideal type of cardio for fat loss is short, high-intensity workouts, and this is supported by clinical studies. This causes the most calories to be burned in a given period of time and causes a greater increase in metabolic rate for a longer period of time after exercise. Additionally, the longer a cardio session is (especially after one hour), the more likely it is that loss of lean mass will occur, especially on a low calorie diet. This isn't to say that longer lasting, lower intensity cardiovascular exercise is bad, just that it is not the optimal way to lose fat. It is still good for your health, if kept within reason – definitely not something to avoid. |
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