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Cardio Rebranded | Why Every New Fitness Trend Is Just the Same Old Cardio | Mind Pump 2957

Make strength training your primary exercise if your goal is fat loss or a more sculpted physique, then add low-stress movement rather than piling on hard cardio. Today, schedule a 10-minute walk after one meal and attach it to the meal you already eat. This habit-stacking approach improves daily ac

31m

Summary published by , updated .

Mind Pump Show

Key Takeaway

Make strength training your primary exercise if your goal is fat loss or a more sculpted physique, then add low-stress movement rather than piling on hard cardio. Today, schedule a 10-minute walk after one meal and attach it to the meal you already eat. This habit-stacking approach improves daily activity and can support blood-sugar management without draining recovery resources needed for effective strength workouts.

Episode Overview

The Mind Pump hosts argue that many viral fitness trends—from rucking and Zone 2 to boutique circuit classes—are simply cardio repackaged with better branding. They distinguish training for endurance performance from training for body-composition goals, advocating strength training as the foundation for aesthetics and easy-to-sustain walking for daily activity. They also emphasize choosing exercise you genuinely enjoy so consistency can drive long-term results.

Key Insights

Match the Tool to the Goal

Cardio is valuable for endurance, stamina, and general health, but the hosts argue it is not the most efficient primary tool for changing body composition. For fat loss and a more sculpted look, prioritize strength training, which helps retain or build muscle while dieting.

Don’t Confuse Hard Work With Effective Work

High-intensity classes, rucking, and weighted circuits can feel demanding because they elevate heart rate and create sweat, but that does not make them optimal for every goal. If your objective is aesthetic change, excessive cardio can compete with recovery and strength-training performance.

Walking Is Powerful Because It Is Repeatable

The hosts favor walking because it is low impact, low stress, and easy to layer on top of a strength routine. They note that the biggest activity benefits appear around 7,000 to 8,000 daily steps, rather than requiring an arbitrary 10,000-step target.

Use Post-Meal Walks to Build a Durable Habit

A 10- to 15-minute walk after meals can support digestion and blood-sugar control. More importantly, connecting the walk to breakfast, lunch, or dinner makes it easier to repeat than setting a vague goal to walk for 30 minutes sometime during the day.

Train for the Sport You Actually Want to Do

Rucking, HYROX, OrangeTheory, F45, and similar formats can be worthwhile when you enjoy their community or are specifically preparing for their performance demands. The hosts’ point is not that these activities are bad, but that they should not be mistaken for the most direct route to a physique goal.

Frameworks or Models

Habit Stacking for Post-Meal Walking

1. Identify an existing daily behavior, such as breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 2. Attach a short 10-minute walk immediately after that behavior. 3. Repeat after one or more meals so the existing meal routine becomes the cue for movement.

Cardio Goal-Matching Formula

1. Decide whether your primary goal is body composition, general daily activity, or endurance performance. 2. For body composition, put most training resources into strength training and add easy movement such as steps. 3. For endurance, balance dedicated cardio with enough strength training to maintain a baseline. 4. Select modes you enjoy enough to perform consistently.

Notable Quotes

"The activity didn't change. It was the marketing."

— Sal DiStefano

"The vast majority of people that are doing lots of cardio or doing the workouts we're going to talk about the rebranded cardio are not really interested in lots of endurance and stamina."

— Sal DiStefano

"The real benefit of walking post-meals is you're doing what's called habit stacking."

— Sal DiStefano

"If you want to exercise to look a particular way and you want to you don't want to waste time in other words you want an effective efficient way of exercise to accomplish a body composition goal? Then high rocks is not the best way to exercise."

— Sal DiStefano

"The one you enjoy is the one that you're gonna do the most, which is always gonna be the most effective, okay? Period, end of story."

— Sal DiStefano

Action Items

  • 1
    Schedule one post-meal walk

    Pick the meal you eat most consistently and walk for 10 minutes immediately afterward. Keep the pace comfortable enough that you can repeat it daily.

  • 2
    Set a realistic movement floor

    Track your steps for one week, then gradually move toward a daily average of 7,000 to 8,000 steps. Add walking breaks or a short treadmill session only as needed.

  • 3
    Make strength training the anchor

    If physique change is your main goal, schedule your strength sessions first each week. Treat additional cardio as a supplement to daily activity or a specific endurance goal, not as a substitute for resistance training.

  • 4
    Audit your fitness trend

    Before adopting a class, challenge, or cardio protocol, write down whether your real objective is endurance performance, social enjoyment, general activity, or body composition. Choose the method that directly serves that objective.

Full Transcript

Transcript of Cardio Rebranded | Why Every New Fitness Trend Is Just the Same Old Cardio | Mind Pump 2957 from Mind Pump Show. Auto-generated from episode audio; may contain minor errors.

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Mind Pump with your hosts, Sal DiStefano, Adam Schafer, and Justin Andrews. You just found the most downloaded health, fitness, and entertainment podcast in history. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode, we talk about how cardio got rebranded and how you fell for it. We break it down for you. Now, this episode is brought to you by a sponsor, Rho Nutrition. So check this out. Supplements are great. They can be great. Part of the problem is how you absorb them. Are they bioavailable? Do they survive the digestion process?

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Plus we have a diet guide for free and a supplement guide for free. So if you want all that, go to mapsabsandbutt.com and then use the code launch for the discount and the free stuff. Here comes the show. All right, real quick. If you love us like we love you, why not show up by rocking one of our shirts, hats, mugs, or training gear over at mindpumpstore.com. I'm talking right now, hit pause, head on over to mindpumpstore.com. That's it. Enjoy the rest of the show. Cardio got rebranded and yeah, a lot of you fell for it.

Look, uh, fitness just discovered walking and running again, but they gave it a new logo. Uh, this year it was the weighted backpack. Last year it was a treadmill, you know, 12, three 30. The year before it was zone two, the activity didn't change. It was the marketing. We're going to talk all about this right now. Let's get to it. Oh, the team was sharing some of these that I was so unaware of. There's a ton of these on Tik TOK that I didn't even know this existed.

I know that we're not, uh, surfing through Tik TOK very, at least I'm not. So when, uh, Eli was listing these off, I'm like, what? That's a thing. I didn't even know that was a thing. Are you aware of all these different trends? No. And I have, we have some of them written down and I was not aware. Yeah. So we'll talk about them, but I think it's important. We got to really set the stage here. First off, there's nothing wrong with cardio. Okay. So cardiovascular training is really good at building endurance and stamina.

Um, it's a tool. It's good for your heart health. It's a form of exercise that does it. And all forms of exercise done appropriately will improve your health, uh, in comparison to not doing any activity. So there's nothing wrong with cardio, but the vast majority of people that are doing lots of cardio or doing the workouts we're going to talk about the rebranded cardio are not really interested in lots of endurance and stamina. Now there's athletes out there, they train for runs, they train for sports.

They are really after endurance. That makes up a very small sliver of a percentage of the group of the large group of people that are doing these types of workouts. The vast majority of people, large percentage of the, of the, the people that do this probably 95% plus, and you watching probably follow, uh, in this category, you do this for aesthetic changes. You're doing this for things like fat loss. You're doing this because you want to change the way that you look. Uh, and cardio is not the best, most effective form of exercise for doing that.

Uh, but it promises to, and it makes you sweat and it's hard. And what they did is they took cardio and they changed it around here and there, uh, to convince you that this is going to burn more body fat. This is going to give you better, like visual results, better results on the scale type of deal. So that's what we're kind of going to talk about. I'd say there's even a lot of people, cause I have quite a few people in my own personal circle that would say things like, uh, they want a stamina and endurance too, but then their primary goal is still aesthetics.

So I think that's the thing that you have to make clear. Cause there's this idea of like, well, I want, I want it, I want endurance and I want stamina too. Uh, but they're still utilizing it thinking it's a good, it's a good way to do both is what they think. I think, okay, well, I mean, I want endurance and stamina and I also want a six pack abs or I want to get shredded or whatever the thing is that they're saying. Uh, and so they're using that modality, uh, in order to do try to accomplish both when they're there, it's a tool and it's not the most appropriate tool for each one of those goals.

No. And I'll say this, I'll add to that, Adam. Um, if I can effectively communicate with actual data and experience that yes, you want to change the way you look, you want to get leaner, you want to get more sculpted. There are better, way more effective ways of exercise for that. Do you still want to do the cardio? And they'll say, no, actually, it's really the aesthetic that I'm looking for. I do want to get in better shape, but you can do that with a more effective forms of exercise, especially when you consider the aesthetic.

So here's a few of these and I'm not even familiar. Can we have Doug look some of these others? I'm so curious. I never heard a cozy cardio. What is cozy? It sounds like if I had to guess, it sounds like you wake up, you wake up in your pajamas and you just go do a walk or something. I feel like that's what that would be. I think it's just walking. Is this a bunch of- You're partly right. So it's at home, low impact exercise that prioritizes comfort, a relaxed atmosphere and joyful movement over high intensity strain.

Oh, so this is- So it's like you set up your vibe, you light some candles, you dim the lights, you wear your pajamas. Your robe and slippers. Watch a movie while you're doing it. Sip on your latte. That's definitely alluring. That's definitely alluring and it's better than not moving at all. Is it a great form of exercise for changing body composition? It'd be interesting to see how many people actually adopted and do it. Putting your robe on or having your- That can't be very intense movement wise.

Oh, it's definitely not that. It's supposed to be cozy. All of these that are listed are more closely related to neat than they are cardio. It's just movement in general. I'm pro doing that. So if getting up in your robe and slippers and lighting some candles gets you to move more than just sitting and watching, but I would think that a lot of people would fancy this a good idea, but then in reality, it wouldn't be something they would adopt. Look, I could see how this would be a good first step.

So if somebody was listening and they're not doing any exercise at all, they're scared of working out or they have no experience with it, their lifestyle is extremely sedentary. Maybe they have a bad experience with workouts where they went too hard. I could see this being valuable. It's a good first step. You're getting up and you're moving. There's a self-care- Especially for that home body, getting them up and moving. It's great. It's good for health. But again, if you're looking for aesthetic changes, there are better, more effective ways of exercise, namely strength training.

Next one, Japanese walking. This one's funny. So it's three minute brisk walk, three minute easy walk, and then repeat this five times for 30 minutes. Why do they call it Japanese walking? You lived in Japan. Is this like a thing? Not that I'm aware of, but maybe it started there. I hope so. It's like a really light form of hit. So it's really just walking and you walk a little faster and then a little slower. Yeah. Is what you're doing. Walking's great. There's nothing wrong with walking.

Undulating your walking. Well-known as interval walking training. It's IWT. It's even got an acronym. Oh, that's why. It was developed by researchers at Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan. Okay. All right. I mean, I like it. So they're comparing it to just regular walking, which is cool. Actually breaks it up a little bit. It does. Good for health. It does. Makes sense. Good for health. So cool. That's cool. It is so crazy how they're branding. I know. I've not heard of these. There's the three, two, eight method.

Okay. This was three days of strength. Wait, wait, wait. The six, six, six walking challenge. Oh, I missed that one. Sorry. Let's go back. What is that? That's a demon? The walking challenge. Walk 60 minutes at 6am or 6pm with a six minute warmup and a six minute cool down. That's just somebody threw things together. Yeah. They're like. There's what's the, why? Why 6am? Well, I mean, that's when you start your day or end your day. So I can see value in that. Because I'm pro first thing in the morning when you wake up going for a walk or ending your day with a nice walk after probably dinner and stuff.

So. And you got a six minute warmup? Six would be before work. That part of it is kind of like. And a six minute. Okay. I mean. A lot more to the seven, seven, seven. That's very. Personally. It's very branding for sure. Does it make a difference when you walk? Not really. Maybe behaviorally there should be some differences. Warming up to walk. I don't think you necessarily need to warm up to walk, but okay. Maybe someone does. Cool down. I don't know. How do you cool down from walk?

Usually walking is the cool down. Yeah. That's not. So I guess the in between the six minute warmup and the six minute cool down, that time in between right there. So it's at 48 minutes. It's supposed to be brisk walking. Okay. Instead of the Japanese. So slow walking then brisk. Yes. And then slow. Yeah. But you're brisk walking for 48 minutes. So that's, this is a little bit more. I'd say this is getting closer to like a zone two type of. If you're brisk. I mean, look, I'm a fan of walking.

It's low risk, low risk of injury. Don't need to change your clothes and workout clothes. It's a great form of activity. It's not high stress. So even if you're doing it in a caloric deficit, we're not risking a lot. I'm a fan. Okay. All right. Then you have the three, two, eight method. That's three days of strength and Pilates, two days of sculpt and low impact and 8,000 steps a day. I want to know what this three days of strength and Pilates is. Is it strength Pilates?

No, three days of strength training. That's separate. Two days of Pilates or bar and then 8,000 steps per day. That's a lot. It is a lot. You actually don't need that at all. The average person would get phenomenal results with just the strength training or less strength training and then add the Pilates. Here's the deal. Like here's the benefits of doing things like Pilates. Physiologically, I mean, you might get some stability benefits. It's not really great at much else. If you like the social component, you like going because your friends go, that is a great value.

It really is like going because you enjoy it and there's friends. It's totally great. Does it develop a body like most people want? No, it doesn't. There's nothing special about it. It's actually less effective, far less effective than other forms of exercise for changing how your body looks. Yeah. Next one is Doug's favorite to do right here. The fart walk. Yeah. He's big on that one. I'm guessing it's the fart walk because it helps digestion. Yeah. Because you're walking. This one right after lunch. It's supposed to be 10 to 15 minutes.

We talk about this. We've been talking about this for a long time. We didn't call it the fart walk. To me, it doesn't sound very inviting or intriguing or interesting to do. Try to tell your friend to come. Interestingly, they granted it that way. We've been talking about a 10-minute walk post-meal, I think, is a great idea. So it is great for digestion. It's good for insulin sensitivity or blood sugar levels. It's really good for that. But here's the real benefit of walking post-meals is you're doing what's called habit stacking.

So behaviorally speaking, when you connect something to something that you're already doing, you're more likely to do it. In other words, if I say I'm going to walk 30 minutes a day, I'm less likely to be consistent than if I say I'm going to walk 10 minutes after breakfast, lunch, and dinner because I've attached it to the things that I already do. So that's why I recommend the fart walk. Yeah. I think there's other things too that I'm a really big fan of that. Typically, we are having meals with some companionship, whether it be the us four at work, just had a meal, and then we go for a walk together.

So an opportunity for phone-less conversation and dialogue. My wife and I do it post-meal. So it's a time for her and I to connect. And so I think there's a lot of benefits there. I mean, the habit stacking is a good reason why you'll be consistent with it. But then I think you can pair it with other things that I think are health-related with conversation and relationship. So this is one of my favorite of all the ones that we're talking about right now. And I think when we talk about consistency, that is the most important thing.

All these are creative and trendy and gone viral on TikTok, but the real thing is, which one of these will you implement into your life and keep forever? This is the most likely. The fart walk's always best outside. That's right. Retro walking. So that's walking backwards. I mean, it's good for you to do that, but also dangerous. I mean, I'm trying to think of all the clients I've trained and how many of them I feel confident with them going on a 15-minute backwards walk. Not very many.

I don't know too many people who want to do that. But what is this selling point? It flips the heel-to-toe pattern? I suppose, yeah. I mean, if you're dragging a sled backwards, you're going to get a similar component. But yeah, I mean, then you have load to consider, which too kind of helps with that. Oh, the idea is it burns more calories too. Moving in reverse requires shorter, more frequent strides. This biomechanically shift utilizes up to 40% more energy. Walk faster if you're trying to burn more.

But yeah, you might injure yourself because you're not seeing what's coming. Yeah, probably my least, maybe the least favorite here? Yep. 100% least favorite for me. Yeah. I'd say this one and the 666 walking because I think that's a- It's just random stuff that they slapped together. Yeah. I like the- There's no incline walking? I mean, that's my favorite. But see, they didn't brand it. They'd have to call it something weird. Yeah. Fair. Yeah. So, all right. All right. Then we have- Random walking. Yeah. And here's the deal.

Let's talk a little bit about zone two and how everybody talks about zone two cardio, what it does, what it doesn't do. So I recently read a post on zone two cardio. So zone two is kind of this moderate- Intensity of cardio, right? It's like that. It's what you would consider the traditional cardio. Like I'm on an elliptical I'm riding a bike. I'm not like going super hard. I'm also not going super super slow Yeah In between and I read this this it was it's like they totally rehashed old studies and we've covered that we used to cover this Back in the day used to be the fat burning zone.

That's right That's what someone brought up that the percentage of energy you burn from fatty acid Utilization or from fat burning is higher in zone two than other forms of cardio This is true If you burn a hundred calories in zone two more of it will come from fat Then if you burn 100 calories at a very high intensity But here's the difference high intensity burns so much more calories that you still burn more body fat. Yeah, that's what they don't Call for that. Yeah, isn't there a higher risk factor for somebody who is in a core deficit on a higher intensity?

Course zone two. Oh, I don't I don't mind just to me yeah, to me that's the the most I think we can get in the weeds with the Percentage of body fat being utilized at zone two versus high intensity when the big thing that people need to understand is that when you're in a caloric deficit and Then you push the body really hard you that you're you're sending a loud signal the body that it needs to get good at endurance and stamina Having muscle is not advantageous.

No, and so the likelihood that you could potentially lose muscle mass Because of that is greater than if you were to be in a caloric deficit and choose a walking or zone two type of correct The other part is the stress factor So when I when someone's in a caloric deficit, right their ability to handle and adapt to stress exercise is lower You just have less nutrients, right? So higher impact yeah, so when I'm working with a client and I'm managing their stress because they're in a caloric deficit and the stress that I Manage with them as exercise, right?

How intense it is how much we do? I want the stress to be relegated to the effective form of exercise, which is strength training So I don't want to take away from that by also having them do intense cardio now if I'm training an athlete That's different because we need that endurance and stamina, but if I'm training the average person was like look I want to get lean I want to look good. I'm gonna caloric deficit I'm not gonna slap more stress on their body right in the form of hard cardio if I'm gonna add stress anywhere It's gonna be strength training.

Yeah, cuz it takes away from the strength. That's a hundred percent. That's correct Then we have rucking which is this is Hiking with a heavy backpack. Yeah, unless like again this is where it's like if you if your job requires this right or like you're your military or your Firefighter or whatever, right? But other than that, I think people are They're doing this out of the thought process they're gonna burn more calories That's right Which in fact like, you know This creates a different type of movement pattern which now like I'm not a fan of this because of that Yeah, no, I think this whole category that we're going over Yeah is This is the part where I think people have really been fooled is all of these things that you're about to list and go over Have been marketed to people as a great way to get in good aesthetic shape.

That's right And it and it's just none of them are a great strategy for that And it's not the proper tool for what most people are utilizing if you're getting ready to go train for hiking and going somewhere with backpacking Ruggie, I'm a perfect sense makes total sense or maybe you're a Firefighter and you need to carry gear and you need a train to be able to carry a 50-pound or military and you got to Makes totals. In fact, this is where this has been adopted from is military training And getting these soldiers ready to be able to carry these heavy bags on there And so there's this idea that these soldiers are badass and they're in shape and therefore me doing this This is a great way for me to get in shape And it's just it's not the most ideal tool at all for somebody who is that is desiring a fit strong physique To get in shape and so it's just an extreme version of the weighted vest that we used to see in other words in short If you want to work out to look really good and look your best There's far more effective ways to exercise if you want to get really good at hiking with a backpack rucking is great Mm-hmm, but it is not the other one.

It's not the other one, right next We have high rocks, which by the way high rocks has been in the news a little lately wasn't there? God we're some girl pooped herself. She did Yeah, and it's again ultra marathon runners and this is very common in that kind of setting But yeah, she because she won and just kept carrying on how bad you want to win That's it high rocks When I see high rocks, I think it was an answer to CrossFit CrossFit light Yeah, so it's like CrossFit with less injury potential.

You saw a lot of that community move over there also another you know, great modality for Stamina endurance if that is your main goal again like CrossFit has been branded in a way where people are Utilizing it to get in shape to look better And it's just not a good strategy for that if you want great endurance and that's the main focus And and or you love the fun competition and sport of it Nothing wrong with it Here's why you should do high rocks if you love competing in High rocks.

It's fun for you. You enjoy it This is a sport that you love then go train high rocks If you want to exercise to look a particular way and you want to you don't want to waste time in other words You want an effective efficient way of exercise to accomplish a body composition goal? Then high rocks is not the best way to exercise. No, it is a sport So if you want to compete in the sport, then you have to train in that sport But if you want and here's it now People will look at top athletes from sports and say I want to look like that athlete therefore I'm gonna train the way that athlete does what you need to understand at the top level of all sports what you have What you have are polymorphisms that fit well with that sport So what you're gonna have are people that tend to hold more muscle Anyway that tend to perform well and tend to be built to do well at that sport So my best example is swimming top top level swimmers have really long torsos and really short legs and really long arms Swimming all the time is not gonna make your torso longer your legs shorter and your arms longer.

It doesn't work that way It's just they were built to swim plus they train to swim Yeah, and there you go now They're the best but high rocks isn't gonna get you in the best looking shape But high rocks training will get you good at high rocks, right? Essentially, right? Orange theory this one Adam has experience in you. Yeah. Yeah, I think orange theory f45 They fall in the same category right here, which is these, you know circuit based weight training programs where we throw weights in there And so people believe that their strength training.

That's right. They're building muscle it's just different forms of cardio, especially orange theory because orange theory through a competitive element in there where they encourage people to chase the Zones, yeah And every and anybody that's ever taken that class is familiar with this where you're trying to get all these points by being in The higher zones, which is higher heart rate And so it encourages you to do the the weights with low rest periods So you keep your heart rate elevated so you score more points, right?

And so I remember coaching and it's like trying to get the class To stop and rest and it was so harsh between a class and it's hard to do that one-on-one it's even harder to do that in a class setting to get people to adhere to the rest periods because They want to see they had their huge TV with their name on it with their heart rate and they're getting their points and I Get more points. I keep my heart rate up. And so yeah, it encourages them to do that now in theory No pun intended They the idea of the the modality was that you'd have a form of cardio and then you'd go over and you do Traditional strength training.

It just doesn't happen. It's not traditional strength training. No, it's it's the it moves them in this round-robin Circuit where they go from the treadmill to the circuit training to the rower to the treadmill to serve for an entire hour with no Stopping no real rest and that's just cardio with weights. That's it Here's the benefit to in my opinion for orange theory and f45 if you really love the community you're with your friends You don't really care about whether or not you're working on the most effective way for aesthetic changes or other goals You just like I just like to go and hang out my friends and do this thing You better be happy with you better be happy with the way you look it already is what I would say because that I can't tell you how many people come up to me after those classes and Would be asking questions about losing a certain amount of body fat or wanting to change the way they look And I mean this is not the way to do it That's right This is not the the best Way our approach to do it now if you're already in great shape or very happy with the aesthetic shape you're in and you Because it will give you great endurance and stamina and it has a great community built into it And so if you love the camaraderie you love the shape you're in from it then by all means keep doing it But what I found was a majority of people Wanted more wanted something else or the other flip that I see with classes like f45 and orange theory is Because it's this, you know repetitive movements a lot of joint and joint gas and issues So of course you got to watch for that because you're doing these Repetitive high-intensity type movements over and over and over multiple times a week and you're not doing the proper Reinforcement and mobility and working in different planes And so even though they try and challenge you with different movements exercises in the in the weight training partial portion of this It's not enough to dress all the aches and pains that people are getting Next one they have is a hot girl walk.

By the way, that is great branding. That is really great branding Like I'm gonna go do the hot girl walk. So here's what it was. It was here, dude It's an outdoor walk for four miles while focusing on gratitude your goals and how you're gonna pursue them I mean, that sounds cool. That sounds great. I feel like this good branding I feel like this falls more though in the last category. Yeah, it does cuz this is more like more what is walking? Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't put this in zone to Type of no, this isn't just more movement.

And yeah, this is more walking rebranded Though this category that we just did right now. I felt like is more like cardio rebranded, you know orange Terry f-45s high rocks is Rebranded as this great fitness tool or way to work out or build muscle when in reality, it's just cardio rebrand Yeah, I like gratitude practices. I think it's great to do sure while you're exercising while you're walking There's nothing wrong with it. It's not this phenomenal way of working out but walking I'm a big fan of walking because everybody could do it.

It doesn't stress the body much It's an easy form of activity to add to other more intense Stressful forms of exercise, so I'm a big fan. I like gratitude the branding is hilarious to me I think it's great. So by the way, they have a hot girl walk like Like meetups meetups. I see that justice to try and I mean I tried to sneak in one. Oh my god They're really marketed like that. There's a bunch of them, which is which is very local over here boys It would be organizing a bunch of dudes like that so hard.

I know we do we we don't organize easily No, I was a single dude. I'd be like showing up This is where I'm awesome, can you have one like a group of guys is giving them water? Yeah Are there were you where are all these at done? Ah, let's see here. They're all over the country. It appears I mean, how do you say I see? Okay, here we go. Nashville. There's Nashville We should sponsor them You know, I gotta tell you guys Alice little side note I love Events like that.

I really do now I know most of them are marathons and have my issues with Maris on marathon training and also but I got to tell you I've trained clients for marathons and for events like this and the Camaraderie the community the atmosphere is phenomenal. It's great. It really is. It's especially when it's for a cause You know, you see people running or doing whatever They're all trying to improve themselves and you know, they connect with other people really easily through these events. So it's good.

I love it This is interesting. It's like it's done All over the country on the same day Oh, so every is there like a virtual component to it before they go on their walk or something? That's interesting I'm super fascinated by this. We need a hot dude walk About walking is we've all heard the 10,000 steps a day like aim for that The data actually shows it's closer to seven to eight thousand. So this is where you get the maximum benefits of activity Yeah, and it's not that walking is necessarily this magical form of exercise I think it's just in comparison to the average person that takes so little steps Yeah, that being that just moving right not moving is so bad for you that that you know walking Which is a really easy form of activity has all these health benefits mainly because it's not not moving But the data shows 8,000 steps is where you get about a majority of the benefits a little bit more benefits as you go up But the majority is in that 8,000.

So aim for that I I personally think I think I know why that is why it's this like, you know number seven, right? that's right about where the difference between like a Really active day for me or not like so. Yeah, you've tracked. Yeah, so I've tried for right so I've tracked a lot and I'm tracking a lot right now too because I'm trying to increase my steps and I actually have to like I have to get on the treadmill and and at least walk for you know Good solid 30 minutes or so to get to 10,000 But if I just have a really active day 8,000 I'll land between seven eight thousand And if that's just being active, there's just being active moving around doing house chores, yeah yeah, not like versus you know a day where I just get in my car come here sit in here drive home and be set and That could easily be a 3,000 and so there's this like clear difference to me on the active person I think most people have like a kind of a sedentary job And so us now sitting like and I think that that nails it on totally seven to eight because I couldn't relate to that Oh, yeah, I was a trainer.

It was like Oh 10,000 was actually on Yeah on accident you hit 10 15,000 steps with clients And so I could never relate to the average person or job with the the step thing Where now I feel like I can I could easily have a day where I do 2,500 3,000 steps if I just go from car to thing to like that's it So like for me I can see the difference on like a seven eight thousand day It's just a relatively active day for me versus a day where I'm really said I think that the the the good formula Right the winning formula with cardio is this there's two ways to look at cardio One is for a some kind of a performance goal.

So I want to build endurance. I want to build stamina There's that that aspect of cardio and then the other one is just to be more active Okay, being more active is very good for your health endurance goals are also good for your health, but it's more specific. It's performance Okay, just being more active is very easy with cardio to add to other forms of exercise So for example, if I want body composition change if my main goal is I want to look more sculpted have better shape to my body.

The form of exercise I'm gonna pour my resources into, or my time into, the one that I'm gonna use my stress bucket up on, is strength training. Because strength training, I could target shape and build. I could boost my metabolism. It's super effective, of course, at keeping muscle in a calorie deficit, helps me burn body fat. And so just being more active can be added to that without compromising things like recovery, or muscle, or aesthetics. So that's just steps, right? That's just steps. Now, on the other hand, if it's endurance that you want, well, now you're playing a game of, okay, how do I balance out my strength training with my endurance training?

And I gotta make sure I balance it out so I get a little bit of both. I don't get a lot of either, but I get a little bit of both. And that's kinda how you would work that out. Would you agree, too, that there's different ways that you feel fuel for those two different things, too? Oh, you better eat for performance if that's what you're training for. Right, if your goal is stamina. You ain't eatin' a deficit. And endurance, you wanna eat at maintenance or surplus and fuel the body.

My goal is fat loss and aesthetics than actually being in a caloric deficit. And this is why what type of movement or cardio starts to matter is because if I'm already putting myself in a caloric deficit, I'm already kind of maintaining in that fat-burning zone. I don't have to push or stress the body that hard just to continue to increase that, versus if I'm fed, totally different story. 100%. And here's the other thing, too. The one you enjoy is the one that you're gonna do the most, which is always gonna be the most effective, okay?

Period, end of story. The workout that you do, so long as it's appropriate, of course, we gotta paint that context, but the one that you enjoy is the one you're going to do. I don't care how great your workout is. If you don't do it, it does nothing for you. So pick the cardio and the strength training routine that is the one that you enjoy, because that's gonna be the one that you're gonna be doing most consistently. So here's what we have. We have a guide.

It's called Three Mistakes People Make with HIIT Programs. And it kinda shows you how to use HIIT cardio, high-intensity interval training, in the way that makes it most effective. It's at mindpumpfree.com, and you can click on it. It's Three Mistakes with HIIT Programs, and it's totally free. So you can download that right now. You can also find us on Instagram. It's mindpumpmedia. We'll see you there. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB Super Bundle at mindpumpmedia.com.

The RGB Super Bundle includes MAPS Anabolic, MAPS Performance, and MAPS Aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam, and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos, the RGB Super Bundle is like having Sal, Adam, and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at mindpumpmedia.com.

If you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five-star rating and review on iTunes, and by introducing Mind Pump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support, and until next time, this is Mind Pump. Rubrik is the security and AI operations company built for what happens after an attack hits, not just the moment before. AI has turned the threat landscape into quicksand, moving too fast for any human to fully predict. That's why an agentic cyber resilience platform matters. Automated recovery, clean data, a business that keeps moving no matter what hits.

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