If you have been following me for any time, you probably notice that I don’t do a lot of traditional cardio.
My two main modes of training…
- Lifting weights for building strength and dense muscle
- Walking for overall health and fat loss
The problem with prolonged traditional cardio like jogging or bicycling is that it turns you into a less powerful athlete.
I realize that most of us aren’t elite athletes.
But one of the things that makes an athlete elite are Fast Twitch muscle fibers.
Supposedly, Michael Jordan had a vertical leap of 48″.
This is God-like!
Some sources estimate that the only person in NBA history with a higher vertical leap was Wilt Chamberlain.They didn’t test it as well back then, so can’t really verify.
MJ had a high percentage of fast-twitch fibers.
Prolonged cardio like jogging reduces your fast-twitch muscle fibers.
This is why you will never see an Olympic athlete who excels at both the 100-meter race as well as the 1500 meter race.
You can either train to be a sprinter -OR- a marathon runner.
I think most guys would rather have the physique of a sprinter.
Elite sprinters train explosively.
Training in the moderate-intensity range slows them down.
An Olympic sprinting coach (can’t remember who) said something close to this quote:
“Your highs are too low, and your lows are too high.”
What he meant by this is when you sprint and train hard, give it your all… but when you are doing moderate training keep it to a low walking-level intensity.
You don’t want to spend too much time in the middle ground.
Jogging for long periods would be a bad idea for an elite sprinter.
This type of training is also bad if you want a ripped Hollywood Physique.
Jogging is too low of an intensity to create a positive muscular adaption… and too high for losing fat because it interferes with your resistance training.
That sprinting coach summed up jogging perfectly with his quote…
“Your highs are too low, and your lows are too high.”
When you hit the gym the efforts need to be focused and intense.
You need to lift with aggression for best results.
Your body can only deliver this level of intensity for 30-40 seconds max.
You also need to rest in between sets and also make sure to not do too many sets.
Once you are done, it is time to recover.
- Adding jogging intensity cardio will at this point will just mess with your fast-twitch muscle fibers.
- Adding too many extra exercises will also mess with potential gains.
The reason I’m able to bench 315 pounds for reps is that my workouts focus on the athletic type 2 fast twitch muscle fibers.
I don’t add tons of extra sets and reps.
You want to get stronger in “key lifts” without adding too much extra.
Adding too many unneeded sets and reps of other exercises is similar to Usain Bolt jogging for 10 miles after his sprint workout.
It’s a bad idea.
Most workout programs have the flaw of sending mixed signals to the body.
Almost every program I used in the past had this “Mixed Signals” issue.
My Movie Star Body program trains the powerful fast-twitch muscle fibers with just the right amount of volume.
These fibers are what give my muscles a dense and chiseled look.
It’s a really fun way to train as well.
I made the mistake of adding too much extra work on top of the key lifts. This gave me a slightly puffy weaker physique.
The extra lifts weakened and softened my muscles.
Once I focused on fast-twitch training… followed by the ideal amount of recovery… it changed the game for me.
The key is you have to do just the right amount.
Movie Star Body is the workout plan that will help you awaken your powerful fast-twitch muscle fibers.
If you feel flabby or have hit a sticking point?
This is the program that will help you bust through that plateau.
Greg O’Gallagher
P.S.
You might be curious about fat loss.
A lot of people recommend extended steady-state cardio for fat loss.
The ironic thing is that elite sprinters are ripped without doing this type of cardio.
Well…
Recent research is finding is that training fast twitch fibers with spriting or lifting weights explosively MOST LIKELY burns a lot more calories than previously thought.
It’s easy to track calories burned from Aerobic training but…
There isn’t a reliable way to measure calorie-burn from lifting weights.
What we do know is that fast-twitch fiber dominant athletes are almost always ripped.
WAY more than the typical jogger.
My advice is to train these muscle fibers properly and then dial in your diet.
Follow the Movie Star Body program to a “T”…
Our training and diet program is proven to melt fat while adding dense muscle to your body.
No need to weaken yourself with traditional cardio.
