Cardio

[Lifeisamazing]

Read this article: T NATION | The Best Damn Cardio Article - Period

Very entertaining and makes a pretty good point.

Some things I'd bring out just to arouse some interest in you:

• No physique athlete has any business spending two hours on a stationary bike, unless there's a hot chick with a nice ass on the elliptical machine sweating in front of you. And even then, either man-up and make your move or go home and cry to your buddies about what could have been, but don't waste your time on a glorified coat rack.

• The calories burned during an exercise session are relatively small compared to the amount burned the other 23 hours of the day during the recovery process (at rest). Most fat oxidation occurs between training sessions, not during. As such your exercise sessions should primarily be geared towards building muscle and boosting the metabolism, not "burning fat.

• Aerobic sessions elevate cortisol levels. Long sessions can lead to excessively high levels, and too frequent sessions can lead to chronically elevated levels, neither of which is good for body composition enhancement. Cortisol can force the body to break down its own muscle tissue, convert it to glucose (gluconeogenesis), and use it as fuel. It also leads to increased fat accumulation, especially around the midsection.

• We can even look at our evolutionary past for clues. In terms of "formal activity" or "exercise," our bodies were designed to be anaerobic in nature. Yes, for most of the day we performed sub-maximal (and what could technically be termed aerobic) activities. We walked around, gathered food, tracked prey, cooked, cleaned, etc. But we didn't run to keep the heart rate up or reach some type of fat burning/aerobic zone. None of what we did was formal exercise; we just completed the necessary tasks of the day, whatever that may be. In fact, we used as little energy as possible during most of the day in order to conserve energy for when it was absolutely necessary for survival. And when it was time to move, we frickin' moved, baby. We sprinted away from predators or towards prey. We climbed trees, hoisted objects, swung weapons, and clubbed stuff to death with maximal exertion. These are all predominantly anaerobic activities. We're not meant to reach arbitrary fat burning zones for arbitrary amounts of time. We're meant to alternate periods of kicking back with periods of kicking ass. That's how you efficiently build an attractive, functional body.

[andybadidis]

Originally Posted by Lifeisamazing

• Aerobic sessions elevate cortisol levels. Long sessions can lead to excessively high levels, and too frequent sessions can lead to chronically elevated levels, neither of which is good for body composition enhancement. Cortisol can force the body to break down its own muscle tissue, convert it to glucose (gluconeogenesis), and use it as fuel. It also leads to increased fat accumulation, especially around the midsection.

Cortisol forces the body to break down its own muscle tissue. I agree with that. You need rest after every exercise session. To stop the cortisol from breaking down the muscle tissue go for a few carbs or something sweet right after exercise..and I mean just a little bit, don't go eating all the chocolate bars or all the bread lol, the major meal should not be right after exercise but after an hour at least and it should be high-protein. This way you keep the cortisol from breaking down muscle tissue. If you want good results you should mix exercise with diet. I used to be an amateur bodybuilder some time ago, cortisol is the bodybuilder's enemy.

[Orecle]

so what do are your beliefs about cardio lifeisamazing?

[Lifeisamazing]

Originally Posted by Orecle

so what do are your beliefs about cardio lifeisamazing?

I feel that it's a very important part of every healthy and strong individual. I personally want to be fast, agile, flexible, healthy, well coordinated, a good climber. That said, doing hours on the stationary bike or treadmill isn't ideal in my opinion. I'd like to sprint fast, play football and soccer, climb on trees, run up on a mountain, swim from one side of a lake to another.

What do you think, Orecle?

[Daffy Duck]

Yeah, I don't generally believing in doing more than 60 minutes of cardio max in a day. Particularly not on a bike. I prefer playing sports, like tennis or basketball, for cardio.

[Orecle]

well, i beleive results are the name of the game. To be more specific, i beleive in doing whatever gets you the results in the shortest time possible without jeopardising health.

With that said, the problem i have with most internet health articles is 99% are carbon copies of other writers. most writers have never tried all the things they swear blind will or wont work. Will you beleive not many decades ago that doctors swore blind steroids dont work and cigarettes are not harmful to health


The same goes for supplements. Millions of companies all swearing blind that their particular protein and creatine will turn you into zeus himself..... all hiding the little known truth that they are all supplied from the same 3 companies who produce the same whey and creatine for the entire planet

You have seen my results, i got that from a lot of steady state cardio. i have many friends who swear I am wrong. that HIT is the way and yet they havent acheived anywhere near my results

WHY??


my hierachy of importance for an outstanding physique

1. genetics (you cant do nothing about this)
2. nutrition
3. training

[Lifeisamazing]

Originally Posted by Orecle

well, i beleive results are the name of the game. To be more specific, i beleive in doing whatever gets you the results in the shortest time possible without jeopardising health.

With that said, the problem i have with most internet health articles is 99% are carbon copies of other writers. most writers have never tried all the things they swear blind will or wont work. Will you beleive not many decades ago that doctors swore blind steroids dont work and cigarettes are not harmful to health


The same goes for supplements. Millions of companies all swearing blind that their particular protein and creatine will turn you into zeus himself..... all hiding the little known truth that they are all supplied from the same 3 companies who produce the same whey and creatine for the entire planet

You have seen my results, i got that from a lot of steady state cardio. i have many friends who swear I am wrong. that HIT is the way and yet they havent acheived anywhere near my results

WHY??


my hierachy of importance for an outstanding physique

1. genetics (you cant do nothing about this)
2. nutrition
3. training

Well, I'm definitely not someone who thinks it doesn't work at all. However, I do think cardio is third on the list of importance after nutrition and weight lifting.

I'm stating that for me 1) it's more exciting to do something that is harder, 2) it's more enjoyable to play than to just move in the same way for a long time.

[ginkgo]

If a political person gives a long speech and says one inapropiate thing, that one thing gets all the news attention. The term "man-up" is sexist. If they do not do that then they are "woman-down". It means that men are brave and woman are cowards.

There is already lots of physical violence against women. The above encourages it. A guy got flack for saying that an electric car is gay. He is saying or implying that saving energy is not manly. A manly thing to do would be to waste energy, destroy, rape women and set bums on fire.

Please note I know that women use that term also and women can discourage or encourage violence against them in society.

[Lifeisamazing]

Ginkgo, start a new thread to discuss this. To me, though, it seems a little too pedantic.

[metamorph]

Long cardio sucks. It is boring. We all agree. Intense exercise is far more fun. Still, the arguments presented in your article suck too, and medically cardio is actually good for you.

Many of us nowadays live a sedentary life style (office, sitting in the car/subway/bus, sitting on the sofa, sitting at the bar...). This is very different from the physical labor that was common in past times. If you do manual labor (farming, hunting, building, marching for battle etc) you would be active most of the day. The idea that people in the past would hunt for 30 minutes, and then go back to sit at the fireplace or sleep sounds absurd.

Originally Posted by ginkgo

If a political person gives a long speech and says one inapropiate thing, that one thing gets all the news attention. The term "man-up" is sexist. If they do not do that then they are "woman-down".

This is sooooo 80s!

[RomanHD]

Originally Posted by metamorph

Long cardio sucks. It is boring. We all agree. Intense exercise is far more fun. Still, the arguments presented in your article suck too, and medically cardio is actually good for you.

Many of us nowadays live a sedentary life style (office, sitting in the car/subway/bus, sitting on the sofa, sitting at the bar...). This is very different from the physical labor that was common in past times. If you do manual labor (farming, hunting, building, marching for battle etc) you would be active most of the day. The idea that people in the past would hunt for 30 minutes, and then go back to sit at the fireplace or sleep sounds absurd.

Those "past times" of farming, hunting, building and fighting you speak of lasted for maybe 50k years. But we've been walking for our entire history. The article doesn't say that we would hunt for 30 minutes and then go back to the fireplace.

It says we walked most of the day, finding food, and when we needed to fight an animal or run from it, we would do so at max effort (i.e. anaerobically). The point is, as I see it, that we didn't exactly "jog". We either walked or sprinted. But who really knows?

[Lifeisamazing]

Originally Posted by RomanHD

Those "past times" of farming, hunting, building and fighting you speak of lasted for maybe 50k years. But we've been walking for our entire history. The article doesn't say that we would hunt for 30 minutes and then go back to the fireplace.

It says we walked most of the day, finding food, and when we needed to fight an animal or run from it, we would do so at max effort (i.e. anaerobically). The point is, as I see it, that we didn't exactly "jog". We either walked or sprinted. But who really knows?

I understood the article the same way. Also, it's kind of logical to say that we didn't jog. I mean, jogging exhausts more than walking but doesn't help with anything. To get from point A to point B, when it's not important how fast you get there, it's better to walk. To catch something, you need to sprint. Why would you need jogging?

[Orecle]

Originally Posted by Lifeisamazing

I understood the article the same way. Also, it's kind of logical to say that we didn't jog. I mean, jogging exhausts more than walking but doesn't help with anything. To get from point A to point B, when it's not important how fast you get there, it's better to walk. To catch something, you need to sprint. Why would you need jogging?

well, so are you saying there are no benifits for being able to jog for an hour?

so are you saying marathons are useless and of no benifit, bearing in mind most pro marathoners can jog faster than most people sprint.

[RomanHD]

Originally Posted by Orecle

well, so are you saying there are no benifits for being able to jog for an hour?

so are you saying marathons are useless and of no benifit, bearing in mind most pro marathoners can jog faster than most people sprint.

There are benefits to being able to jog for an hour. There are also downsides to being able to jog for an hour. I just can't imagine how jogging is natural, i.e. what intrinsic purpose does it serve.

[Lifeisamazing]

Originally Posted by Orecle

well, so are you saying there are no benifits for being able to jog for an hour?

so are you saying marathons are useless and of no benifit, bearing in mind most pro marathoners can jog faster than most people sprint.

I just feel that it wasn't necessary in the past but I'm probably wrong. We could say though that when you want to get to a birthday party which is 10km from your house in an hour, then fast jogging can be beneficial. You can't sprint there and using sprint-walk would take more time.

[metamorph]

Originally Posted by RomanHD

It says we walked most of the day, finding food, and when we needed to fight an animal or run from it, we would do so at max effort (i.e. anaerobically). The point is, as I see it, that we didn't exactly "jog". We either walked or sprinted. But who really knows?

Sure, but as we are not able to walk all day nowadays, one hour of jogging may be something of a compensation for that. When I hike all day on a vacation, there is certainly no extra benefit in jogging on top of that at nights.

[GhostGoat]

Dang, I just bought an exercise bike about 3 hours ago. It's just a glorified coat rack?

I watch too much tv/dvds at home, and I figure it can't hurt to be pedaling while I'm watching them, instead of just reclining in my easy chair.

I recently read an article in an old issue of Men's Health magazine that discussed the benefits of cardio. It said it was good for you mentally as well as physically, due to it boosting serotonin levels in the brain...that's one of the main reasons I decided to get an exercise bike.

Hopefully I'll lose some weight while I'm at it.

[Lauxa]

Well, the Tarahumara tribe is famous for producing very fast long-distance runners. They used long-distance running for communications between settlements.

Tarahumara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's one use for it. Also I think a common early hunting technique was to run the prey to exhaustion.

[Lifeisamazing]

Originally Posted by GhostGoat

Dang, I just bought an exercise bike about 3 hours ago. It's just a glorified coat rack?

I watch too much tv/dvds at home, and I figure it can't hurt to be pedaling while I'm watching them, instead of just reclining in my easy chair.

I recently read an article in an old issue of Men's Health magazine that discussed the benefits of cardio. It said it was good for you mentally as well as physically, due to it boosting serotonin levels in the brain...that's one of the main reasons I decided to get an exercise bike.

Hopefully I'll lose some weight while I'm at it.

Don't take the article word for word. There are obviously health benefits but for your physique, it's not the best.

[Lifeisamazing]

Originally Posted by Lauxa

Well, the Tarahumara tribe is famous for producing very fast long-distance runners. They used long-distance running for communications between settlements.

Tarahumara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's one use for it. Also I think a common early hunting technique was to run the prey to exhaustion.

Does your last point represent jogging? I assume it would rather be sprinting for a prolonged period...

[Elrond]

While I agree that steady state cardio seems to be the most overrated form for exercise since situps, there are lacks to the whole "we aren't meant to run long" or that it never served a purpose for us to survive. Sure, I can see how anaerobic capacity was great for us in the fight and flight situations 10000 years ago. But if distance running is so useless, then tell me why are we so good at it compared to other animals? We're certainly far from the fastest or strongest creatures. But when it comes running far, we can actually compete with many critters. An ancient hunting technique is to run after the prey and eventually wear it out. This is still practiced by some tribes (I don't know how many or how widespread it is) in Africa (the cradle of human beings, hmm..). Some of the really fast animals, like anteelopes, are great at speed, while we're much better than them at distance running. Plus, we have sweat glands and lack fur, so a much better cooling system than many furry creatures. If you hunt an animal for on the african savannah, it will probably collapse from a heatstroke after some time.
And then you have hunting techniques that involved hunting prey off cliffs. I don't know how much aerobic or anaerobic it was, but I imagine that it had to be little more on the aerobic side.

Why Are Humans Hairless and Sweaty? - An adaptation to long distance running - Softpedia

Answers.com - Are humans the best long distance runners

The Evolution of Running in Humans - Why We Are Among the Best Endurance Runners on the Planet

I'm not very knowledgable about what humans did in ancient times. But it seems to be less polarized than the article proposes. It might be very well that anaerobic capacity has been more useful for humans, and that it is more healthy. But I'm tired of articles like this using some lazy, uncited evolutionary rationale to make a pathetic "this is only pure and good, the other thing is evil through and through" argument.



Elrond, still sticking to HIIT cardio.

[Franco904]

For me high intensity interval training is very helpful, I have lost 8kg in 3 weeks now.

I do it 3 or 4 times per week on the bike or treadmill. I feel so much energy now, try it out!

[joelr]

A probable hunting method among early humans that IS still used today is to follow prey at a jogging pace from a distance, forcing the prey to keep moving and eventually collapse from exhaustion, after several hours, or all day.

Living in a walking city in the present involves a tremendous amount of walking, more than you would think. It drives you crazy sometimes. So early humans must have had very active lifestyles. They were likely often carrying stuff also. Even something as little as 15 lbs is really hard to carry more than 10 minutes. My heavy backpack had me doing cardio all over the place, rushing to the T, to work, always sweating.

Nomads had to get to hunting places fast to have time to hunt. Then either carry heavy food for hours or get back to camp then pack up and re-locate to the food site. That's like a daily activity since food doesn't last that long.

With all the sitting around we do that's what is un-natural. I think the least thing one can do while shedding fat is to do an hr of cardio most days. Along with lifting and dieting.
Unless your doing physical labor. Or are a nomad.

[LakeyPoo]

Humans are actually designed to run long distances, not sprint. We are the most efficient long distance runners on Earth, above deer, wolves, or anything else, even horses. As a couple others have said we were persistence hunters; we would run our prey down over long distances to survive. These animals were much faster than us but when it comes to endurance we were on top.

Here is a video of a tribe that still hunts this way, pretty dang cool if I do say so myself

YouTube - Absolutely Fricking Amazing "Persistence" Hunt!

P.S. - Running shoes are the biggest gimmick ever created!
Just got back from my barefoot run tehe

[Thanatopsis]

Before anyone takes what this author says seriously, recognize that he cites no primary sources in his writing.