For decades we’ve been encouraged to add up to one hour of cardio per day to our already busy schedules. However, not only is this recommendation unrealistic for most people, it’s completely unnecessary and can be downright unhealthy!
Conventional cardio does NOT strengthen our heart and lungs as we’ve been led to believe – it actually does the OPPOSITE. (especially when done to excess)
Here’s why…
Long duration steady state cardio forces your body to adapt by gradually rebuilding our heart, lungs, blood vessels and muscles as small as possible. The end result of this “downsizing” is that we’re robbed of vital reserve capacity.
What is “Reserve Capacity?”
Reserve capacity is the ability of your heart and lungs to withstand a sudden increase in cardiac demand. In real life there are and there will be circumstances that put our bodies under stress and require our heart and lungs to be up the task. Heart attacks don’t occur because of a lack of endurance, they occur when there is a sudden increase in demand that exceeds your heart’s capacity.
And here’s the problem…
Conventional steady state cardio does NOT build reserve capacity! Exercising for long periods might make your heart more adept at handling a 60 minute jog, but it’s at the expense of providing you with cardiac output when you really need it.
More readily available cardiac output is what we REALLY need. So when we push for greater and greater endurance using long duration steady state cardio, it actually produces the opposite to what we really require in the modern world..
But there’s even more BAD NEWS…
A ground-breaking study of long distance runners showed that after these workouts, blood levels and oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides is markedly increased. It was also discovered that prolonged running disrupts the balance of blood thinners and thickeners, elevating inflammatory factors and clotting levels, both signs of heart distress.
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism also found that long distance runners had reduced bone mass and an increased risk of osteoporosis.
Moreover, extended rigorous exercise increases cardiac risk seven-fold.
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that long distance runners had reduced bone mass and an increased risk of osteoporosis.
Conventional long duration cardio can even make you age faster…
If you’ve made the observation that a large number of endurance athletes have more wrinkles and age faster than most, it’s no coincidence…
That’s because long cardio sessions produce huge quantities of free radicals. Unless these free radicals are mopped up by antioxidants in our diet our immune system can be compromised and make us more susceptible to colds, flus, illness and even degenerative disease. Therefore endurance athletes and heavy exercisers need to pay extra special attention to their nutrition as they require a higher antioxidant intake than the average person.
Conventional cardio reduces your anti aging hormones.
Human growth hormone (HGH) is associated with longevity, increased bone density, accelerated fat loss and maintenance of lean muscle, all of which become especially important as we age.
However HGH is only released when we engage our fast twitch muscle fibers. Unfortunately traditional cardio does not involve the use of our fast twitch muscle fibers, therefore we’re missing out on the tremendous anti aging properties of this youth hormone.
“What about burning body fat? I thought low intensity cardio and working out in the fat burning zone was the answer?”
The myth of the fat burning zone has been around for a while. While it’s true that a greater percentage of fat is burned when working out at a lower intensity, it’s the total calories burned that really matters.
For example, it’s been proven that short duration, high intensity interval workouts burn significantly more calories AFTER the workout has been completed… up to 9 times more to be precise!
In other words, each calorie that you burn from interval training burns up to 9 times more body fat than a calorie burned during steady pace exercise. Therefore, interval training has MAJOR fat burning potential.
Long duration, low intensity cardio training produces high concentrations of a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol promotes excessive muscle tissue breakdown and a lowered basal metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn calories.) This is why, over time, long duration steady state cardio can actually make you FATTER.
The Solution? Interval training…
Interval training has been demonstrated as one of the most efficient means of improving fitness, losing body fat and increasing reserve capacity – and WITHOUT the detrimental health effects listed above.
In regards to fitness, one study in particular (Tabata studies 1996) compared 2 groups of exercisers. In Tabata’s study, one group did a full 60 minutes of low to moderate intensity exercise 5 days per week. Group two also trained 5 days a week except that this group performed eight 20-second sprints of high-intensity cycling with 10-second rests in between. This was preceded by a warm up and followed by a warm down. Total exercise time? Only Just 4 minutes.
The results were extraordinary. Tabata found that athletes on the high-intensity interval training program increased their fitness levels much faster than athletes on a typical endurance training regime, all this despite the VAST difference in the amount of time each group spent working out.
Participants in the studies who did the 4 minute workouts not only increased their ability to do anaerobic exercise (the type of exercise that features bursts of high intensity) but also their aerobic capacity (typically performed at a steady pace with the idea of developing endurance.) Whereas group 1 showed no anaerobic fitness increase and a 10% increase in aerobic fitness, group 2 showed a 28% and 14% increase respectively… and all with only 4 minute workouts.
Unbelievable but TRUE!
Granted, the intervals used in the Tabata studies are too intense for the majority of fitness enthusiasts, which is why Body Blueprint Personal Training has designed specialized 12 -20 interval workouts.
Some final words about conventional cardio
In light of the information presented, can we really say that the human body is designed to cope with the demands of repeated, long distance cardio training, or could it be that we need to emulate the exercise patterns of our hunter gatherer ancestors?”
Based on numerous studies citing the detrimental effects of conventional long duration cardio on the human body in terms wear and tear, loss of muscle tissue, decline in heart and lung reserve capacity and more, the answer is definitely the latter.
Of course if you’re new to exercise moderate steady state cardio is the best way to build a base level of fitness. (For example, 30 minutes 4 or 5 times per week as recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine)
However don’t fall for the belief that more cardio is better. When given the choice choose quality over quantity every time.
CONCLUSION:
Incorporate interval training into your fitness program and start reaping the enormous health benefits TODAY!
