Eat less and Only Cardio = six pack?

Well if you care about the way you look you gotta get yourself in the gym once in a while. Add to this your will of getting those packs visible, cardio alone isn't going to take you far. Often my friends ask me 'I don't want to get any big, I just want to lose fat!, why should I lift?'. The question at first glance may seem quite reasonable, though in real terms carries no sense at all.In this post I will make a sincere effort to explain why and how.

The 'only cardio' and 'less food' path towards fat loss might work pretty well at first, especially if you are getting up from the couch for the first time, you don't have to wait very long to see your progress stall and frustration building up. Well the reason here is that the human body is indeed an intelligence machine that has all the important features of modern day technology. The point I am trying to play up here is feedback. By feedback, I mean the adaptation your body does in response to your new cardio and diet regime by slowing down your metabolism. This indirectly means, you will maintain your weight (which is actually a little less than your starting weight) and would not loose any more. This is further aggravated by lean body-weight loss in case you are one of those people believing in 'more is better' and going all the way up with cardio. This further lowers the body metabolism and weight loss becomes more difficult to continue. Surprisingly, this is the time when  you take either of the two pathways.

Option-1. "I did all the right things, I am not progressing ..&@$%&*@.! I will eat everything and enjoy life!' 

Result - You gain weight (fat) quickly now as your metabolism is lower than when you started and end up heavier than before.

Option-2. "I have to do more, I will run 8 kms instead of 6, I will eat salads only!" 

Result - You loose weight with your new 'aggressive only cardio' routine , (notice i said weight and not fat), where your metabolism slows further down since you carry lesser lean mass (muscle) . Consequently you hit a similar roadblock somewhere down the line with even less will to go forward. This time around you either choose option-1 above or continue in the vicious circle by going for option-2!

Keep in mind, weight loss is not going to lead you to your elusive goal of getting the packs. It is fat loss which will. Losing fat and minimum lean mass requires a proper combination of cardio and the missing component, which is 'weight lifting'. More on this in my later posts. Adios !