- It is a metabolism killer!
Our body quickly adapts to slow cardio and becomes more efficient at converting and using energy. Consistently doing slow cardio will result in a decrease in our metabolic rate. While this does result in an increase in endurance, it is not good news for fat loss. The more we do this style of training the slower and slower our metabolism becomes making it harder and harder to lose weight. Our body will try to hang on to as much energy as possible while doing low priority exercises like slow jogging. It does this to preserve energy for use in emergencies. This means that over time, your hour long runs are becoming less and less effective at burning fat and more effective at wasting your time.
- It literally is a waste of your time!
The more slow cardio we do, the longer we have to do it, to burn the same amount of calories we would have previously. If you want to lose fat in the most time efficient manner, you need to become as efficient with our energy supply as possible. A great alternative to slow cardio in this case is High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT cardio – see how this can benefit your training below!!
- Muscle loss
The worst side effect of all! As we stress our body with ‘slow cardio’ we start to experience increased cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone and one of its functions is to supply instant energy, but this can be a double edged sword. The release of cortisol can have positive effects (If you are being chased by a lion you don’t want to wait around for that chicken salad you just ate to digest before you have the energy to run!!)
What cortisol does is breakdown existing tissues (eg muscle and bone) to fuel us in emergencies. This may be great in the short term but detrimental to our health over long periods if our cortisol levels are always high. Constantly stressed individuals can expect reduced muscle mass, reduced bone density, reduced strength and energy and weight gain.
*For the purpose of this article ‘slow cardio’ is defined as anything above walking speed e.g. jogging all the way up to about 75% of your maximal speed/effort.
Alternatives to slow cardio training:
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
HIIT has the following benefits
- Faster weight loss results
- Raises metabolism for a considerable time after you finish exercising ( more calories burnt)
- Promotes the growth of lean muscle and increased bone density
- Time effective (can take as little as ten minutes)
Weight training
Doing free weight exercises will help you achieve the following:
- Tone your body
- Help to burn fat
- Give your body shape
- Look better naked
Get Nutrition Guidance
All the exercise in the world cannot fight off a broken diet. If you are exercising hard but are not seeing the changes in your body you would like then something is wrong. Getting some outside help will often add clarity and a direction to achieving your goals.
If you want to get in great shape and achieve the body you always wanted, then you have to try my 90 Day Challenge! Register your interest below or contact me directly for more information.
In my 90 day challenge (everything), diet, exercise and cardio is covered in an easy to follow programme to ensure you get the results you want. TRY IT RISK FREE – If after 60 days you have not achieved the goals we set I will give you your money back!
Check out one of my client’s amazing transformation below.
sean.neal@innovativeresultspt.com
027 461 5108
