Independent clinical
research across the globe now clearly demonstrates that cardio vascular
exercise such as running has little to no effect on weight loss and, if
overdone, can actually cause muscle loss and lead to heart attack.
Are you like most westerners and believe that when it comes
time to shed some LB’s that you need to strap on the old runners and hit the
treadmill, exercise bike or the pavement?
Have you ever noticed that you sweat like a pig, gasp for breath and
yet… and yet never quite get the results you want?
Unfortunately, common fitness beliefs in countries like the U.S., Canada, the
UK, Australia and other nations say that busting your hump with hours of cardio
is the best way to lose weight. The
truth, backed by thousands of studies as well as the experience of many
seasoned personal trainers, says that this is in fact a myth.
On average, low intensity and long term cardio such as walking and jogging
burns only about 5 calories per minute.
That means that even after an hour, only 300 calories have been
burned. While this type of cardio is
great for maintaining your weight and promoting cardio vascular health, it has
little effect on fat loss simply because the exercise just doesn’t’ eliminate
enough calories to cause your body to begin to burn fat.
On the other end of the spectrum, high intensity running, for example, does
burn more calories. However, you need
recovery time between workouts, so the net effect is the same. That’s not the end of the bad news, however.
Hard running also puts a tremendous strain on your joints and can build up scar
tissue on your heart leading to potential heart attack. These medical dangers aside, hard cardio also
tends to put your body into a catabolic state.
Catabolic is a term that refers to a state when the body, starved of nutrients,
begins to feed on itself in order to acquire the energy it needs. Unfortunately, this means muscle tissue. Hard running can deplete muscle mass while
having little effect on fat loss. In
fact, heavy runners have to load up on carbs in order to maintain their weightand only add to the dilemma.
Unfortunately, common fitness beliefs in countries like the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia and other nations say that busting your hump with hours of cardio is the best way to lose weight. The truth, backed by thousands of studies as well as the experience of many seasoned personal trainers, says that this is in fact a myth.
On average, low intensity and long term cardio such as walking and jogging burns only about 5 calories per minute. That means that even after an hour, only 300 calories have been burned. While this type of cardio is great for maintaining your weight and promoting cardio vascular health, it has little effect on fat loss simply because the exercise just doesn’t’ eliminate enough calories to cause your body to begin to burn fat.
On the other end of the spectrum, high intensity running, for example, does burn more calories. However, you need recovery time between workouts, so the net effect is the same. That’s not the end of the bad news, however.
Hard running also puts a tremendous strain on your joints and can build up scar tissue on your heart leading to potential heart attack. These medical dangers aside, hard cardio also tends to put your body into a catabolic state.
Catabolic is a term that refers to a state when the body, starved of nutrients, begins to feed on itself in order to acquire the energy it needs. Unfortunately, this means muscle tissue. Hard running can deplete muscle mass while having little effect on fat loss. In fact, heavy runners have to load up on carbs in order to maintain their weightand only add to the dilemma.
