The Shocking TRUTH

          About Cardio



                                                
                                             the truth about cardio

  • Is your choice of cardio REDUCING your heart and lung capacity?
  • Have you ever wondered what secret cardio technique 12 week challenge participants use to TOTALLY transform their bodies?   
  • Is conventional steady state cardio really the best way to get fit and burn bodyfat?
  • Discover why leading health researchers such as Dr Al Sears and Dr Mercola are recommending a NEW approach to cardio.
  • Have you ever wondered why conditioned endurance athletes (and supposedly some of the 'fittest' people) drop dead from heart attacks at the height of their careers? 
  • Is it possible that excessive cardio might be increasing your risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, and accelerating the aging process?  
  • What's the truth about conventional cardio? Is it really good for our health as we've been led to believe or...
  • Is it possible we've been lied to all these years?


                        The answers will SHOCK you

                                   
                                    Here's the Truth About Cardio

Traditionally we've been told that to increase our fitness we have to do long, tedious, steady-pace workouts like jogging or cycling and to keep our heart rate in the 'fat burning zone' if we want to lose bodyfat, however...

Conventional 'steady-state' cardio is NOT the best way to burn fat or get fit and it may actually be harming your health

In fact, here's what leading health authority, Dr Al Sears, author of 'The Doctor's Heart Cure' and 'PACE' has to say...

  • "Spending hours doing conventional cardio weakens your heart, shrinks your lungs, and stimulates your body to build MORE fat!
  • Cardio is poorly named as as it won't strengthen your breath or your lungs. In fact, repeatedly exercising by 'staying within your aerobic limits' will only shrink your lungs, rob you of critical lung capacity and create a series of other health problems.
  • During 20 years of working with extremely fit athletes, patients with diseased or injured hearts and average people in between, one thing is apparent...

"Conventional cardio is a complete waste of time and effort" - Dr Al Sears

For decades we've been encouraged to add up to 1 hour of cardio per day to our already busy schedules. However, not only is this recommendation unrealistic for most people, it's completely unnecessary. Moreover, in the longterm this type of cardio can be downright unhealthy!

Conventional cardio does NOT strengthen our heart and lungs as we've been led to believe - it can actually do the OPPOSITE 

Here's why...

Long duration 'steady state' cardio workouts forces your body to adapt and become more efficient to the excessive demands we've imposed on our body. It does this 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.

the truth about cardio

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 to 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, however it's at the expense of providing your cardiovascular system with the ability to rapidly provide cardiac output when you really need it.

Bigger, faster, more readily available cardiac output is what we really need. So when we push for greater and greater endurance using conventional cardio, it can actually produce 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.
They also found 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.

Conventional long duration cardio can even make you age faster

(If you've made the observed that a large number of endurance athletes have more wrinkles and age faster than most, it's no coincidence...)

That's because excessive amounts of cardio produce free radicals at an alarming rate. Unless these free radicals are mopped up by antioxidants in our diet, our immune system can become 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.
(*The best source of antioxidants are fruit and veges)

"What about burning bodyfat? 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 matter. 

For example, it's been proven that if you work out at a higher level of intensity using interval training (but for much less time) you'll burn significantly more calories after the workout has finished than traditional steady state cardio. 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.

To put this in perspective, to match the results you'd get from a 12 minute interval workout, you'd have to burn 9 times as many calories with traditional go slow cardio! 

Excessive long duration steady state cardio also breaks down precious muscle tissue and in doing so, diminishes our fat burning ability.

It all has to do with 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 Marathon Runner Versus the Sprinter

Due to the nature of their training, long distance runners often experience muscle wasting, they have a low reserve capacity and are more likely to suffer from joint and bone problems from repetitive wear and tear.

Contrast this with a sprinter whose training focuses on short bursts of intensity. The sprinter tends to be more muscular, has a greater bone density and a much higher reserve capacity. 

                                 
     
What about fitness?

Interval training is vastly superior for improving fitness!

One study in particular compared 2 groups of exercisers.
(Tabata studies 1996)

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 8 x 20-second sprints of high-intensity bicycling with a 10-second rest (pedalling at a much slower rate) in between. This was preceded by a warm up and followed by a warm down. 

Total exercise time? Just 4 minutes!  

The results were quite extraordinary! Tabata found that athletes on the high-intensity interval training programme 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. 

The results were as follows:

Tabata Studies (1996)

Steady State Cardio

Interval Training

Cardio Duration

60 minutes

4 minutes

Aerobic fitness increase 

10%

14%

Anaerobic Capacity INCREASE

NONE

28%


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 improved their aerobic capacity (Aerobic capacity is typically defined as exercise performed at a steady pace with the idea of developing endurance.)

The 'go slow' cardio group who trained 5 days per week fr 60 minutes at a time showed no anaerobic fitness increase and a 10% increase in aerobic fitness, however group 2 showed a 28% and 14% increase respectively...and all with only 4 minute workouts!


Unbelievable but TRUE!

Therefore, not only is interval training incredibly time efficient and excellent for fat burning and fitness, it also builds crucial heart and lung reserve capacity.  

Granted, the intervals used in the Tabata studies are too intense for the majority of exercisers which is why a modified and more user friendly version of this workout has been designed that uses timeframes of 12 and 20 minutes. (more info below)

Here's a very important question to ask:

In light of this information, can we conclusively state that the human body is designed to cope with the demands of repeated, long distance aerobic workouts?

Based on numerous studies citing the detrimental effects of conventional cardio on the human body in terms wear and tear, loss of muscle tissue, the decline in heart and lung reserve capacity and more, the answer is an unequivocal, no!

Is low intensity, long duration cardio ok from time to time?

If you're just starting an exercise programme, 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 ACSM - American College of Sports Medicine)

However, as soon as you've developed a base level of fitness it is highly recommended to incorporate interval training into your exercise programme for optimum heart health and the benefits listed above.   

From a health perspective, excessive amounts of cardio can be potentially damaging. From a time perspective, long duration steady state cardio is incredibly inefficient and time wasting.

Experience the AMAZING benefits of Interval Training!

If you're tired of spending hour upon boring hour doing conventional cardio workouts, (and potentially jeoparding your health in the process) it's time to experience interval training.

Click here to find out more  

(Limited time offer - don't miss out)


                                             

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