I’m lucky to train a lot of very successful and focused professionals. I regularly find myself searching for analogies to help turn their business mastery into body mastery.

Here’s one of my favourites:

Weights is like a passive income.

And cardio is working for the man. Or lady. Generally just selling your time.

With cardio you get the result for the time you put in (at best). No more.

Actually, often less.

Weights, in contrast allows you to build the lean muscular body, that burns fat 24/7.

While you’re back at the office. Out to dinner. Even while you sleep.

Like selling your time, the amount of cardio you can do is finite.

There is the opportunity cost of what you miss out on when you’re treadmill trudging for hours… and there are also dismissing returns.

The more you do does not mean the better your results. 

In the same way that working more does not mean you are necessarily achieving more… in fact you may be becoming less efficient, less effective, resentful and potentially run-down & over-worked to the point where belly-fat-storing stress hormone cortisol can get outta whack & your results will be even more disheartening.

WOW, am I talking about selling your time or Cardio?! Yep. Could be either!

Who wants to do even more cardio to try & shift stubborn fat?

More cardio that makes your want to eat more… that means you end up frustratingly at status quo or even worse the dreaded and all too common fitter and fatter!

The alternative is to simply progress your weights program as you’re able.

Via limitless variables such as:

Heavier weight. Less rest/greater density of training in the same time. Slower repetitions. More challenging exercises.

Same amount of time. Same amount of fuel required to refuel. And yet your body will continue to get stronger, fitter and leaner.

If I’m coming across as a cardio hater – ok, I sort of am! – or perhaps it’s just that I Love the results that come from lifting weights.

If you do enjoy cardio the fantastic news is that you can design a weights session to seem more like cardio and still enjoy the positive results… while getting that cardio buzz I’ve heard people love.

Metabolic resistance training circuits that involves big compound movements performed with whatever you want: Body Weight – Barbells/Dumbbells – Kettle-bells – TRX – the possibilities are limitless… structured so opposing muscle groups follow each other and with incomplete recovery will leave you sweating, huffing, puffing AND getting stronger, fitter and leaner.

Finishers are another great way to squeeze that extra burst of effort out of yourself at the end of a weights session… and they absolutely feel like cardio to me!

Here’s my current Go2Core finisher:

• Double leg lower + Rev crunch (lying on bench with optional 2kg ball between your knees)
• Body-weight get-up
• Oblique v-up

=> perform each for 12 repetitions => followed by each for 10 reps => 8 => 6 => 4 => 2.

I’m keen to hear your weights v. cardio analogies?

Also happy to shoot a quick video of my Go2Core finisher if it’s help you to see what I’m talking about… till then, Happy lifting!