Cardio Alone Just Won’t Do - Find Out Why
By Joshua Altshule All the cardio in the world will not give you a fit and toned body for the rest of your days, if that is all you do! Let’s look at what works, what doesn’t, and why? Cardio is the one form of exercise that most people gravitate to first. Take a look at your local gym….the weight equipment is empty but there is a line to use the cardio machines? This must mean cardio alone is the most successful form of exercise, right? The real answer to this question is…what are your goals? Cardio is a quick ticket to shedding those first few unwanted pounds, but without keeping to a regular regiment of strength training those pounds will come back with the same ease that they first left with. I advocate any form of healthy exercise but my real goal is healthy living and worry free “fit” body. Are you doing nothing more than contemplating exercise and watching the latest infomercial? Then get up and do anything physical that you enjoy and can do comfortably and safely, NOW! If you have a goal and you want to meet that goal within a given time frame lets talk strategy.Why strategy? For any successful goal their must be a plan of action. All goals must be clear and precise and all known obstructions should be removed from the equation. Knowing this, we need to rid our selfs of all the time consuming, unhealthy mistakes that can cause us months if not years of running around in circles with no visible finish line in reach. Examples: fad dieting, excessive cardio, weight loss supplements, so called target or spot reducing equipment ( Their is NO such thing).Now they we have eliminated the DONT’S, lets look at the DO’S and why? Nutrition- I hear all the time “I workout everyday so I can eat what I want.” True. If you burn daily what you eat daily you will not gain weight .You also won’t loose any! You can lift weights and do cardio all you want, but you wont lose the weight unless youre consistent with nutrition. If you consume too few calories youre body goes into starvation mode. This means you are training your body to store fat quicker. The body is designed to keep you alive. Let me tell you this is the most efficient machine you will ever find. Thanks to this. If you try to starve yourself your body will automatically store excess fat to survive since it does not know when it will be fed again. Cardio vascular Exercise / Aerobic Training - All people love this form of training above all others. It is great for so many reasons. It helps burn stored fat, can relieve stress, decrease blood pressure, increases physical appearance, decreases cholesterol. This is a great addition to your program. Alone it will give all initial benefits stated above temporarily. Why temporarily? Your LBM is what burns your calories. If all you do is cardio it’s the same as dieting. You will eventually lower your LBM lowering the amount of calories you burn. Take a day off of cardio and you have just stored a days worth of fat. How do you stop your LBM from lowering. That’s where the next method comes into play. Strength Training - This is where all the work actually pays off over and over. Cardio is great but only works while your actually doing it. Strength Training gives you benefits long after the workout is done. When you strength train ( overload your body) your body responds by giving you whatever is necessary to deal with and overcome the obstacle put in front of it. (remember the most efficient machine ever made). This means giving you more muscle and denser bones. I mentioned LBM above. Now let me explain what this stands for. Lean Body Mass. This includes all muscle, bone density, blood, organs, etc.. everything except for Body Fat. Now given this. We said LBM is the machine that burns our calories. If we raise our LBM we create a bigger machine that requires more fuel. ie.. Calories. By raising the amount of muscle on your body your body will burn more calories. One pound of muscle burns 50 calories in 24 hours and fat burns 3 calories in 24 hours. Muscle is the only metabolically active tissue in your body. By providing your body with more muscle you are allowing your body to burn more all day, while youre sleeping ,sitting anywhere you are your muscles will be demanding fuel from your body just to maintain it self. Leading to a higher and effective metabolism. The benefits from strength training are as follows * Increase in Cardiovascular System * Efficiency of burning stored fat * Increases metabolism * Increase strength * Increases lean muscle mass * Increase bone density * Increases physical appearance better Principle elements to a weight loss planWithout all three, permanent HEALTHY weight loss will not be achieved. 1. Nutrition (Nutrition is Approx 70% of the results you are looking for. This applies to both weight loss and muscle gain) 2.Cardio vascular Exercise / Aerobic Training ( This is the one main form of exercise where the body likes to use fat for fuel. This is a great tool. However by itself it can be detrimental to your long term weight loss) 3. Strength Training ( Here is the final key. Unfortunately it is the one method everyone tries to avoid. This one is going to give you the greatest bang for your buck. It’s the gift that keeps on giving) Weight loss with cardio alone will make you go from a big Apple shape to a small Apple shape. It will not develop muscle to give you an athletic shape. Josh Altshule NSCA, ACE, Certified Personal Trainer http://www.dynamic1on1.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joshua_Altshule http://EzineArticles.com/?Cardio-Alone-Just-Wont-Do—Find-Out-Why&id=378596 buy phentermine without doctor approval ordering phentermine online buy phentermine 30mg cheap phentermine without a prescription
