Steady state cardio harms the body and actually prevents weight loss
Independent clinical studies prove that steady state cardio vascular exercise can be harmful to the heart and has been proven to put the body into a catabolic or muscle-eating state that impedes weight loss.
Let me lay it on the line for you my long range runner… my elliptical junky… too much heavy cardio is just bad for you. It doesn’t drop the weight and it can cause scar tissue on the heart.
So stop it already!
You should be relieved, although I know you probably don’t believe me now.
Hey, Brian Flatt here, personal trainer, weight loss expert and author of several wildly successful weight loss programs. I’d like to share some fascinating news with you that really should give you some relief.
The Journal of Sports Medicine
In a study back in 2009, a series of marathon runners were examined before and after the Marathon of Sands. These were professional marathon athletes well trained in endurance cardio competitions.
The marathon of Sands is a 6 day event with a marathon on each day. The study wanted to test the performance of the athletes as well as the effect that this large amount of running had on their bodies. The results were quite illuminating.
On average, each contestant showed a total weight loss of 6.1%. Upon further testing, it was discovered that 82% of this loss was in muscle mass and only 18% resulted from a decrease in body fat.
Basically what this study along with many others show is that when you do a lot of steady state cardio, you put the body into a catabolic state rather than an enhanced metabolic state. This is a crucial difference in how your body processes stored energy.
Muscle vs fat
Our bodies do two things well – they store fat and they burn fat.
Metabolism is the process by which your body breaks down fat deposits and uses them for energy. That’s why with any exercise program or diet, your goal is to raise metabolism. In my new program, the 1 Week Diet, for example, I show you how to triple your body’s fat burning power without crazy exercise, cardio or starvation.
By simply harnessing the body’s natural bio-chemistry and rhythms, you increase your fat burning time from about 4 hours per day to about 12 – and in the process, you lose 7 to 10 pounds of pure body fat within a single week.
On the other hand, catabolic is the state where your body begins to break down muscle tissue in order to provide your cells with energy. Muscle is far denser than fat and contains more energy. The problem with this is two-fold…
First, it’s not healthy to burn muscle tissue.
Secondly, when you raise your metabolism, it’s your muscles that do the work of burning fat. The less muscle you have, the less fat you can burn!
So heavy running and becoming catabolic actually works in the opposite way. Sure, marathon runners can lose weight… but they have to regulate what they eat and tend to have stringy and not very attractive physiques.
Nutrition vs cardio
In the Journal of Sports Nutrition, you can find a 1998 study that pitted proper diet against steady state cardio. A group of obese men and women participated in a 3 month trial that contained 2 study groups.
Group A would spend 60 minutes a day for 6 days per week over the course of 12 weeks doing regular cardio vascular activity. Group B would simply eat a more healthy and balanced diet.
It turns out that there was no significant advantage for group A who took part in the regular aerobic exercise. The average weight loss for women was 3 pounds per month and the average for men just under 4.
There’s a secret to unlocking metabolism
Do you know that the healthiest and longest lived people in the world are rural Japanese? Specifically, the residents of Okinawa regularly exceed 100 years and exhibit robust physical and mental health for their entire lives.
Why?
Because they still live by ancient Japanese diet and health traditions. Traditions that were taught to my grandfather when he was nursed back to health after a near fatal fighter crash in 1945. A family of farmers helped him and taught him their simple but effective ways of reducing fat, maintaining youthfulness and establishing long lives.
Granddad shared his experience and knowledge with me. These old traditions have now been proven by modern science.
It’s possible to turn your body into a fat burning machine without steady state cardio, hours at the gym, starvation diets or dramatic changes to your lifestyle. It’s just a matter of biology and working in harmony with your body.
Have you tried weight loss and fitness programs that haven’t quite delivered the results you wanted?
Are you tired of that excess fat in the belly, hips and thighs?
Would you like to jump out of bed every morning feeling great and looking 10 years younger all while still enjoying many of your favorite foods?
Does the idea of safely losing 7 to 10 pounds of dangerous body fat in 7 days appeal to you?
If you answered yes to any of these questions then the 1 Week Diet may be the miracle you’ve been looking for!
