Cardio Can Kill

Cardio Workout for Fat Loss

I'm not a big fan of long cardio, especially extreme bouts of cardio - i.e. running marathons.

Just this past weekend a 41-year old man died running one of the Toronto marathons. Last year, same thing. These are not the first, nor will they be the last men to die running a marathon.

And for what?

To run an irrelevant distance for no reason at all. I don't see any logical reason for most people to run a marathon. Particularly when you are a 40-year old father of a young family. You can be fit and healthy with far less exercise time, as long as you train with far better exercise choices.

Sure, you can say you are pushing the boundaries of your human performance...but I doubt that is any consolation for the family of thes two men.

No matter how "type A" someone is, or how driven they are to perform in a marathon, simply being able to run a marathon proves nothing. And it can have disastrous consequences. Not too mention the many smaller negative consequences of:

a) A waste of hours of your life spent away from your loved ones while you pound the pavement

b) Sore knees, chronic back pain, and blistered feet

c) Money and time wasted in the physiotherapist's office

d) An improperly trained body (i.e. weak back of the body, no upper body strength, overuse injuries)

e) A level of fitness that has limited carryover to real world needs (carrying groceries & other objects, outsprinting an attacker, manual labor, etc.)

So please, if you insist on running marathons, do yourself and your family a favor and:

1) Get a full physical from your doctor. This goes without saying for anyone on an exercise program over the age of 30, but running marathons is another reason not to neglect your physical exams.

2) Pay close attention to your body during the race. Wear a heart rate monitor, and exercise conservatively, drink the right amount of fluids (but not too much as that can be the cause of death in long runs), and just plain be careful. A marathon is hardly a reason to risk your life.

Now, here's more bad news.

Cardio has been killing fat loss programs for decades.

Why?

Because almost all of the exercise science studies performed in the 70's through the early 90's were done on distance running.

From there we got the messages that:

i) To lose fat, you had to do long, slow endurance training. Clearly, we know this is false. Nutrition is the most important aspect of fat loss.

ii) That we should eat a high-carbohydrate diet. This message, while generally true for endurance athletes, was broadly applied to fat loss. So we were subjected to that hideous low-fat, high-carb phase in the 90's where we were urged to eat Snackwell low-fat cookies with no regard to the sugar and calorie content.

iii) Beginners should get out on high-volume, walk-run programs. Now while it is important to get people out and exercising, high-volume activities for underprepared beginner muscles are going to cause injury fast. And that's what happened to most people that tried to take up running.

iv) Too many cardio enthusiasts had the wrong mentality of, "If I go for a 5 mile run, I can have some juice and cookies as a reward". Needless to say, that didn't help anyone lose fat.

The end result?

This high-cardio, high-carb approach to fitness and fat loss left many men and women with thunder thighs, saddle bags, and chronic running injuries.

Fast-forward to this decade, and the mainstream media is finally starting to see the benefits of strength training and interval training for both fat loss and the cardiovascular system.

Not too mention people are finally getting their nutrition right. And it's so simple:
- lots of fruits and vegetables (rarely does anyone get enough)- lean protein- healthy fats - fiber-rich low-glycemic carbohydrates

Dr. Chris Mohr gives dozens of options for each in the TT Fat Loss Nutrition Guidelines that you get with the Turbulence Training program from www.TurbulenceTraining.com.

So eat right, train right, and be safe,

CB

P.S. Okay, so you don't want to give up running?
At least train your body correctly with the Turbulence Training bodyweight manual. It trains the muscles that running neglects, and promises to put more power into your hill running.
Click here to get started.

"Just thought I'd drop you a line and share what a great year I've had so far. After 3 years of traditional bodybuilding programs and hours of traditional low intensity cardio I had 25% body fat to show. Being a student with little time able to train, cost of gyms, travelling around over holidays, the 6-month bodyweight program has been a lifesaver. With incorporating these workouts as the base of my training, and making the most of intervals, as well following your nutrition plans, I'm currently at 13% bodyfat and have dropped 22 pounds of fat. Thanks for an intense, easy to follow, bodyweight program."
Josh Dunn

"The TT workouts are excellent! You have literally changed my life! I got completely burned out on single body part training and long periods of cardio. It just isn't conducive to my life given that I work full time and have a spouse. I'm already lean but I want to maintain a high level of health and have a fit, athletic look. I have to admit that I was skeptical because the workouts were so short, but even after the first workout my skepticism disappeared in a hurry. The time flies by at the gym and the workouts have eliminated a lot of stress because if I got stuck at work and couldn't get to the gym for "leg day" it would mess up my training schedule for the rest of the week. I also like having the option to do some body weight circuits plus I have a full range of dumbells and a ball at home so I can get my workouts in at home."
Janet M

By the way, previous customers get a discount on the bodyweight manual...email me for details.


cardio, fat loss, workouts, exercise, intervals