Let´s examine the simple five reasons why cardio is making you fat and what you should do instead to lose weight.
From my years as a personal fitness coach, I know what the biggest thing holding you back from losing weight is. It’s actually something that is stopping 90% of women from losing weight, toning up and getting the sexy and lean body they want. And it’s the BIGGEST lie you’ve ever been told about exercising to lose weight…
I’m referring to what I call “The Aerobics Lie”.
For decades, all you’ve been told by magazines, instructors and on TV is to run to lose weight. If you aren’t losing weight, you need to run some more! And then some more! As a result, it’s not uncommon to see women pounding the treadmills at any gym for what seems like an eternity for 5 days a week – and they look exactly the same as when they started.
Maybe you know what I’m talking about? Maybe you are one of these women, or you have a friend who is? Well, here are 5 reasons why aerobics and ‘traditional’ cardio exercise sucks for weight loss, and how it could actually be making you GAIN weight – and what you should do instead to melt those pounds!
Why Running Sucks #1: You Don’t Get Toned!
Using a treadmill, rower or bike might burn a little fat from your body (and only a little, as I’ll explain shortly) but does nothing to tone your body. The goal is to get lean toned arms, a flat stomach and slimmer thighs. Running can’t do any of these things.
For this you need resistance training and to lift some weights. However that only makes your workout time even longer.
The best and most effective way to burn the pounds AND tone up at the same time is to use circuit training, or workouts that stimulate your entire body, such as boxing fitness classes.
Doing this instead of running means you’ll lose weight and tone up in half the time spent in the gym than you were previously.
Why Running Sucks #2: Aerobics doesn’t boost your metabolism
Your metabolism is the number of calories you burn each day. Jogging on a treadmill for over an hour will only stimulate this rise in metabolism for an hour or so after the workout has finished, leaving you with a very low overall calorie burn.
On the other hand, circuits and resistance training have been scientifically proven to be able to boost your metabolism for 38 hours after each workout! That means if you did a circuit training session on Monday morning, you’d still be burning fat even at rest on Tuesday afternoon!
This is because your body needs to repair all the muscle groups that have been used. This costs your body a massive amount of calories and as a result the fat will literally melt off your body when you switch to circuit-based training and ditch the treadmill.
Why Running Sucks #3: Cortisol – Not Your BFF…
Here’s another great reason NOT to spend hours on the treadmill. Studies show that after 45 minutes of exercise your body releases a stress-induced hormone called cortisol into your blood. This hormone programs your body to go into ‘fat-storing’ mode, and what’s worse is that it’ll tell your body to dump the fat in your belly and hips.
When that happens, you’ll get even more stressed out that you’ve gained fat on your midsection, which will cause even MORE cortisol to be released and the vicious cycle continues!
The answer is to keep your workouts under 45 minutes. And to do that AND get a great fat-burning, metabolism-boosting effect, you’ll need to be using circuits or some other form of resistance training (see above!)
Why Running Sucks #4: You’ll Lose Your Motivation Quicker
Let’s face it – cardio is boring. No one really likes running (and those who say they do only like it because they think it’s going to help them lose weight). That’s why they put TV monitors in front of the cardio machines in the gym!
Of course the most vital thing in reaching your weight loss and body-transformation goals is to stay motivated and encouraged. The only way this can really happen is if you actually enjoy the exercise you do, rather than see it as a chore.
When you get into it and understand it (not to mention when you start seeing visual results in only a couple of weeks) you’ll find circuit training a whole load more fun and invigorating.
Why Running Sucks #5: You have a 65% Chance of Getting Hurt
If you’ve ever known a runner, you are more than likely to have heard them complain about an injury at some point. Either they have bad knees, bad ankles, hips or low back problems.
99% of the time these problems are directly associated with them starting a running program to lose weight. Running is pretty much the same as jumping, but on one foot at a time. Did you know that when running, every time your foot strikes the ground a force of roughly twice your body weight is sent through the bones and joints in that leg.
Now couple that with the fact that most people who start running are either a) overweight, b) unfit and deconditioned, or worst, c) both.
If you are overweight then you are multiplying the amount of force that will be sent through your joints when you impact the pavement.
If you are unfit then your muscles and joints are not strong enough to absorb such force.
(And if you are overweight then there’s a high likelihood that you are ALSO unfit to run)
The result is that you are placing excessive force onto your joints.
Studies prove that 65% of people who start running to lose weight become injured within weeks. Most of these injured people tend to be women.
Aerobics – Dead and Buried…
I hope this article has exposed you to some of the shortfalls of excessive aerobic exercise. There is nothing wrong with a little cardio to top things off, or even going for a brisk walk (which is an excellent thing to do). However, don’t be fooled into thinking that you must run to lose weight.
Resistance training will boost your metabolism, helping you to burn far, far more calories overall, it will protect your joints, and will also tone your body making you firm and sexy – and all in half the time spent running on a boring treadmill!
Author Bio:
Justin Devonshire is a woman’s fat-loss & body-toning expert. He is the owner of Bodyshape Fitness– Personal Training & Bootcamp, which is run in both the UK and Cyprus. For more free quick tips on weight loss, toning & motivation for women, visit the Bodyshape Fitness Blog, and get Justin’s “Little Black Dress Transformation Guide” as a FREE gift right now!