Cardio exercise is such a strange thing. In theory, it should work so perfectly well for all men and women, but as anyone who has tried it knows, the practicality of it just doesn’t add up.

After all, some men and women do cardio 6 hours, 9 hours, or more per week, and still have belly fat to burn. On the other hand, it works just fine for others. British researchers wanted to get more insight into this paradox, and studied 35 overweight men and women, who weren’t previously exercising.

The results: the subjects lose an average of 8.2 pounds, exercising 5 times per week for 12 weeks. By now, it seems cardio works, and in a great way. But wait, there’s still more.

If we analyse the results we’ll find some surprises. The best subject lost 32.3 pounds in 12 weeks, but the worst subject actually gained 3.74 pounds. That’s an inmense variance in fat loss terms.

The scientists analized the results and classified the subjects in two groups. They called the first group the “compensators” and the second one the “Non-compensators”. In the first group there were people who were hungrier after the cardio training. They were eating more after the exercise, therefore, they were consuming more calories and they weight loss was poor. They consumed an extra 268 calories per day.

You have to check your appetite and calorie intake to see if you are “compensating” for your efforts. If you want to eat more than nothing after your cardio training, then maybe you are in the compensators group and need an special cardio program designed to your needs. It may be better for you to use it’s better for you to use a program of high-intensity resistance and interval training (i.e. Turbulence Training) for your weight loss efforts.

The research of a professor in Australia (Professor Steve Boucher) has show that interval training increases hormones called catecholamines. If that hormone increases, causes fat-burning benefits like reducing appetite, among others.

The most of people will rarely be in the very small group of people who lose 33 pounds after 12 weeks of cardio. To be realist, there isn’t a lot of people who can achieve to loss 8 pounds in that lapse of time with aerobic exercise.

So again, check your appetite, and consider giving high-intensity exercise a go for your next workout program. Beat the curse of cardio with high-intensity Turbulence Training.