Squats are better for fat loss than Cardio
Without getting bogged down with the denotation or connotation of the word cardio, I will get straight in giving my opinion here.
The aim here is one and not two and that is fat loss. As I have stated on numerous occasions on this forum, the simple straight forward formula for fat loss is to actually add some muscle or maintain what you have whilst at the same time either maintaining your maintenance calorie requirement or decreasing it by about 200 calories. To sum up what I had just said and couch it into a fat loss formula, it would look something like this: Fat Burns in the Engine of Muscle. That means the more muscles you have the less fat you’ll have or put another way; the more muscles to fat ratio you have (or can maintain) the easier it would be for you to lose fat. Muscles increase your metabolism speed; fat increases your waist measurement!
Now that we have our formula, we can proceed to solve the question.
Does a squat build muscles? Yes
Does a squat maintain muscles (given the appropriate calories)? Yes
Does a squat raise one metabolism? Yes
Does a raise the anabolic hormone testosterone? Yes
Does a squat involve more than one muscle? Yes
Does a squat involve the largest group of muscles? Yes
Can the tempo be varied whilst performing a set of squat? Yes
Can the reps be varied when doing squats? Yes
Are there variants to a back squat? Yes
Does a cardio session (as we understand cardio) require a long duration? Yes
Is a long duration of cardio (say a 60 minute jog) associated with cortisol release? Yes
Is cortisol associated with muscle burning? Yes
Are long distance runners lean in the fat department? Yes
Are long distance runners small in the muscle department? Yes
I’ll stop here otherwise this would become really boring.
I’d just like to add three points here:
- HIIT is not the cardio I’m referring to when I refer to “cardio”.
- Long distance walking is great for fat loss (if you’ve got the time…plenty of time)!
- Front squats would serve one’s abs better than back squats if one can do it properly. The placement of the bar alters and places a huge amount of emphasis on the core muscle which would make them so involved by stabilising and maintaining one’s upright position.
Fadi.
