"Yeah I'm just going to jog on a treadmill, I'm going to get PROPER TONED!"

This is what I used to hear and see ALL the time when I worked for a certain large commercial gym in Wakefield.

"Yeah, I'm just going to do loads of cardio, that will work."

I didn't do a single piece of steady-state cardio for the Novice Yorkshire, and I won't be doing any for the Britains.

I don't see it so much now, because we don't encourage it at our new home, but it is certainly a common thing for people looking to lose weight, (whether it is for something as public as a bodybuilding show, or just to drop a couple of pounds to look nicer in a dress) to hammer STEADY-STATE CARDIO.

No! No! NO!

Okay, if you like running...I ain't going to stop you, but as I said in a facebook post earlier:

"Steady-state cardio is about as effective for achieving that 'toned' look as screwing for virginity."

All you are going to do is burn off what muscle you do have, see fat loss for maybe a couple of weeks, see a plateau, then people tend to either give up or lower their calories. Again more weight loss occurs (again, mostly muscle) and the cycle continues until the person inevitably eats normally again prompting massive weight gain because the bodies metabolism is holding on to every single calorie like the devil because:

IT DOESN'T WANT TO DIE.

This has ruined many a person's body image and their relationship with food and exercise. Starve, lose weight, pile on weight, hate yourself, starve, pile back on weight, feel terrible, binge and repeat. Year after year.

Sound familiar?

Steady-state cardio is just going to slow your metabolism even further if it is the staple part of your exercise program, but more importantly IT'S SO BORING!

Make your cardio as short and intense as possible.

Yeah, I know you feel bad because for some reason you think 10 minutes isn't enough.

But it is.

If you do it right.

Here's part of my cardio workout from today: Tyre Cardio!

I've got a feeling that link won't work so here's a breakdown of what I did:

• 5 Tyre flips
• 5 Tyre slams each side
• 5 Tyre slams in the middle
• Press-up in each tyre groove
• Tyre flip and jump through
• x2 Circuits
• 1 Min rest
• Repeat x2 more times

After this I was extremely tyred....
Yup. Tyre jokes. It's been a long day!

Have fun and plan ahead, or even better attend well-planned classes such as bootcamps, boxing and circuits.

(Definitely a coincidence that I mention just those classes, it isn't that my company and me take these classes...oh wait it isn't a coincidence at all.)

PUSH CARS AROUND!

FLIP THINGS OVER!

 And stop walking uphill, every time you walk uphill on a treadmill something cute and furry dies.
Horribly.
In a blender.
Seriously, now you know that, you're pretty much beyond redemption if you carry on really...

You have been warned!

By Chris Kershaw
Who isn't responsible for the death of any cute animals.