5 Scary Reasons to AVOID Cardio
Published: Tue, 05/21/13
party last week and he shared, 5 Scary Reasons to AVOID Cardio....
.....New research just goes to show you that unless you are training for
endurance sports (like marathons that ruin your body), there's practically
no good reason to engage in long, slow cardio (especially really long
sessions as you'll discover in a moment).
First up, let's take a look at why cardio fails as much as Jeff
Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
(I'm saving the scariest study for last.)
In a study titled, "Why do individuals not lose more weight from
an exercise intervention at a defined dose? An energy balance
analysis", researchers found that weight loss from cardio was always
lower than predicted (using a standard calories in vs. calories out approach).
The article, published in Obesity Reviews (Vol. 13 Issue 6),
explained that cardio doesn't work for FOUR reasons:
- 1 Some people eat more when they start a cardio program
- 2 Calorie burning at rest often decreases with cardio
- 3 Calorie-burning lean tissue is often lost
- 4 Cardio programs cause you to do less activity over the day
So if you're still trying to lose fat with cardio, those are the reasons why it's
not working.
- 5 But that's not all. Let me tell you about the fifth and final - and
downright terrifying - reason to stop doing cardio. Just take a look
at these findings.
In a study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 87(6):587-95),
researchers concluded that there are potential harmful effects from excessive
endurance exercise.
Frankly, this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. After all, what happens
when you do a long workout?
Well, your muscles get really sore, right? And that's called muscle damage.
Now think for a second...what is your heart?
It's a muscle.
Therefore, when you do long cardio workouts, your heart experiences a
LOT of muscle damage, and over the long-term this can damage your heart.
The researchers from the Mid America Heart Institute of Saint Luke's
Hospital in Kansas City, MO, said that while regular, short workouts are
fine for your heart, it's those long cardio workouts that can cause "
pathologic" changes in the heart and large arteries.
Pathological is bad, very bad. Now you've heard the phrase "pathological
liar", right? Well, just imagine someone with a pathological heart. That can
kill you.
Worse, they found that if done for years, long cardio workouts create
"patchy myocardial fibrosis" and could lead to arrhythmias.
YIKES!
So clearly, cardio is just NOT worth it.
As the lead researcher and cardiologist in that study wisely said, "When
people come to me and say they want to run a marathon I say, 'OK,
do one and cross it off your bucket list and then let's focus on an
exercise pattern that's more ideal to producing long-term health
benefits and improving your longevity."