Hey Ross x how much cardio and what type of cardio do you do to keep so trim and how do you stop yourself loosing muscle at the same time since I don’t want to look like Nicole Ritchie? Lots love Rach x

Firstly Rachel…good for you not wanting to loose any muscle, I know too many girls who avoid weights like the plague in fear that they will look like Arnie in a wig, haha. They don’t understand weight training is anaerobic and thus a great way to increase your basal metabolic rate i.e. the rate at which you burn calories. Women simply aren’t going to develop 20 inch guns from doing bicep curls since they lack the hormones (testosterone) but they will develop some nicely shaped arms.
 Anyway I digress, back to your original point, I get asked this question a lot and to be honest there is no best way to do cardio, it all depends on your goals and current state. So rather than me telling you what cardio to do, I think its best I educate you on some principles so you can take control of your own work outs x read on….

Science of fat loss:

The breakdown of fats in your body is called lipolysis. The enzyme in the body that is responsible for lipolysis is called lipase. Lipase turns fats, or triglycerides, into three unbound fatty acids (FFA) and one glycerol molecule. So pretty much all you need to know by now is that lipase, the breakdown of fats, is caused partly by cardio. Mobilization is the breakdown of triglycerides into glycerol and FFA's for energy. So basically you can think of mobilization as breaking down fat in your body for future possible use. Oxidation is the point at which the fatty acids that were mobilized were actually burned. Fats that were mobilized for possible use do not have to be burned and can be converted back into new triglycerides.

The other fat is called intramuscular triglycerides. Intramuscular triglycerides are droplets of triglycerides that are stored inside the muscle fiber. This places fat closer to the site of energy production in the muscle fiber and therefore allows intramuscular fat to be utilized at a slightly higher rate than adipose tissue (stored body fat). This fat is the kind that is burned during High intensity work outs

Low intensity work outs and their affect on fat loss: (30% max Hear rate)
 -There is greater mobilisation of triglycerides

-There is greater oxidisation of Free unbound fatty acids

-More molecules of glycerol and Free unbound fatty acids are formed

-The majority of the calories burned come from fat (no lost muscle)

The advantage of low intensity cardio is that more of the calories that you burn are coming from fat and not other sources. (Ideal for people wanting to keep muscle mass)

High intensity work outs and their affect on fat loss: (75% max Heart Rate)
-There is less mobilisation of triglycerides

-There is less oxidisation of Free unbound fatty acids

-Less molecules of glycerol and Free unbound fatty acids are formed

-Burns more intramuscular triglycerides

-More calories are burned however not all the calories come from Fat and there may be some muscle mass lost

The advantage of doing high intensity cardio is that you burn much more calories than low intensity cardio and you burn more fat in the same period of time. (Ideal for people who’s sole aim is to reduce body fat)

 I personally, will vary my cardio work outs depending on my goals, and now hopefully you will be able to do the same after reading this x
Happy training Rach
Ross x