Forget “feel the burn!” Focus on adaptation in your workouts.

Be a rebel: take the long view in your workouts. Don’t chase instant gratification.

In a recent Mind Pump podcast (episode 1500), Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, and Justin Andrews shared the two ways to think about exercise: calorie burn vs adaptation.

The first viewpoint: cardio calorie burn

This is the way nearly everyone thinks about—and markets—fitness. It fits our modern culture: we want everything, all the benefits, right now.

That’s what a cardio-based session does: it gives you nearly all the benefits in the moment, and none thereafter.

You run, bike, swim, etc., and burn calories as you exercise. As soon as you stop, so does the calorie burn.

But what cardio giveth, cardio taketh away.

In a couple of weeks, your body learns it will be going through cardio sessions routinely. So it gets more efficient: you burn fewer calories expending the same amount of energy.

Now you either have to do longer or more frequent cardio sessions to burn the same amount of calories.

Talk about being stuck on a treadmill.

Or maybe you reach your weight goal. You stop the cardio, The weight comes right back. Your body adapted and burned energy more efficiently.

The second viewpoint: adaptation (strength training)

What adaptations benefit fat loss the most in the long run?

The ones that prime the body to burn fat on its own, independent of exercise.

That’s strength training. More muscle, built over time, requires more energy to build, repair, and maintain lean mass.

Take the long-term view

Be conscious of how you guide your body to adapt. Excessive cardio creates an adaptation that hampers fat loss. Strength training creates adaptation that fuels it.

Check out The Mind Pump Podcast, episode 1500, to learn more.