In this instructional video, fitness coach Eric Roberts explains why high‑intensity running often sabotages fat‑loss goals. Drawing on experience coaching over 25,000 clients, he likens running to a car’s “sport mode”: it rapidly depletes glycogen, triggers a strong hunger response, and leads to overeating—often offsetting the calories burned. He quantifies the mismatch (e.g., 50 minutes to burn 500 calories versus 5 minutes to consume 500 calories) and shows that the modest extra burn from running versus walking is easily negated by increased food intake. Roberts then advocates low‑intensity steady‑state cardio—“eco mode”—where heart rate stays at 60‑70 % of max (or you can hold a conversation). In this zone the body primarily oxidizes fat, burns calories without spiking appetite, and supports a sustainable calorie deficit. He lists suitable modalities (walking, extra daily steps, biking, stair‑stepper, elliptical, rowing, light jog) and stresses that the specific activity matters less than staying in the low‑intensity zone. He clarifies that running isn’t forbidden; a very slow jog can still be low‑intensity. Finally, he invites viewers to join his online coaching program for personalized guidance. The video’s purpose is to shift fat‑loss strategy from high‑intensity running to low‑intensity cardio that preserves appetite control and maximizes fat oxidation.
Chapters
Do you want to burn fat as fast as possible and you think running is the best way to do that? Well, after coaching over 25,000 people with their fat loss journeys, I've found that running could actually be the reason you gain fat, not lose it. So in this video, I'm going to show you why that is and what you can do instead to burn fat faster than ever before. So let's start with why running might cause you to gain fat. And I truly don't know why more people don't talk about this. And if you don't understand it, you're always going to be on the hamster wheel of running and working out hard, but not losing any weight, getting frustrated and quitting. Imagine your body is a hybrid car that has 2 modes: sport mode and eco mode. Running is sport mode. When you go for a run, you stomp on the gas. The engine has to work hard to keep up, just like your heart has to work hard to keep up with your run. This could be good for fat fat loss because it burns more calories. And now sport mode is fast, but it's terrible for gas mileage. It burns through fuel quick, which is also exactly what happens to your body when you go for a run. There's something called glycogen in your body, and this is the energy that your body uses during high-intensity exercise where your heart rate is elevated. And this is where the backfire happens. Because you drain the tank of gas so quick, your warning light comes on telling you you need to refuel ASAP. It forces you to pull over to the nearest gas station and refuel no matter how expensive the gas is. AKA, your body becomes super hungry, your appetite and your cravings increase, and it forces you to eat more as quickly as possible No matter what it is. And what does it usually end up being? Sugar, because that's the quickest way to refuel your glycogen. So although you may burn more calories during running, increase in appetite, cravings, and hunger force you to eat more calories, which throws you off of your calorie deficit. And here's the kicker: it takes you 50 minutes to burn 500 calories; it takes you 5 minutes to eat 500 calories. So the math. Will never work if you're trying to outrun a bad diet, leading you to work really hard but not lose any fat. So what should you do instead? Well, it's something people already do, just not enough of. We said running is sport mode on your car because it's high-intensity exercise. That would mean during low-intensity exercise, where your heart rate is not high, that is eco mode. And during eco mode, your body no longer uses glycogen for energy. It uses fat for energy instead. So you are quite literally burning fat for energy during low-intensity exercise. Now, does this mean you are going to lose fat? No, but yes. When your body is in eco mode, it's burning calories, which will help you be in a calorie deficit, but it's not increasing your appetite, hunger, or cravings because you're not depleting that glycogen, which doesn't cause all of that to happen. And now you might be thinking, Eric, there's no way you burn so much more calories running than you do walking, for example. Well, let's look at 20 minutes of running versus 20 minutes of walking. During 20 minutes of running, pending on what you weigh, how fast you run, your current fitness level, you'll burn anywhere from 200 to 280 calories. During 20 minutes of walking, you'll burn anywhere from 100 to 180 calories. So the difference of 100 or 150 calories is a tablespoon of peanut butter, or a tablespoon of olive oil, or half a Snickers bar. And as we said, You can't outrun a bad diet. So lower intensity exercise is the most effective way to burn calories while maintaining your calorie deficit diet. Now, what is considered low intensity and what exact forms of cardio should you do instead? For an activity or exercise to be low intensity, it's usually 60 to 70% of your max target heart rate. But to make things even easier, if you don't know what that is for you, you should be able to hold a conversation like this with minimal breaks in between during your exercise. If you're breathing like this during your cardio, then that is the higher intensity exercise that's going to burn the glycogen. But if you're able to hold a conversation while you're doing it, that's how you know your body is in the eco mode burning fat. And so what exact forms of cardio should you be doing? Well, this is the thing, really any form of cardio. For example, walking is a great form of low-intensity cardio and most people are already walking during their day, just not enough. So you could easily just up your step goal, throw in an extra 10 to 20-minute walk 1 to 2 times a day and you would be burning more calories and helping your fat loss. Or biking could be a form of cardio. The stair stepper, the elliptical, the rower— really any form of cardio that you enjoy or just hate the least could be a great alternative to higher intensity running. And even— this is going to seem like the video's clickbait, but it's not, promise— a light jog where you're not getting your heart rate very high could also be a form of this low-intensity cardio. And you might be like, Eric, I thought you said running— the whole point of this video, running is bad. Most people who have 30, 40, 50, 60+ pounds to lose, when you try to go for a run, you are deconditioned and your heart rate is going to get very elevated. But if you run at a much slower pace, then you'll be able to keep that heart rate down, which will allow you to see all the benefits that we're talking about. The exact modality of cardio matters much less than where your heart rate is during the exercise. So if you enjoy one, do it. Or if you can only have time to get your daily steps and throw in some extra walks, that's 100% okay too, and it's going to be great for fat loss. Now, is the point of this video to say you can never run to lose fat, or it'll never work and you should never do it? No. Of course not, especially if you enjoy running. But if your main goal is fat loss, the majority of your cardio should be done in that lower intensity cardio so you don't turn into the Cookie Monster and continuously overeat on your diet. And if you're watching this and you're like, Eric, I just need a little bit of extra help putting all of this together and making sure I'm doing the right things, well, That's exactly what I do in our online coaching program. You can click the link in the description of this video to learn more about working with myself and my team. And after you do that, you can watch this video here for 9 years of no BS weight loss advice.
