Might want to check out the rest of this site to find out ways to get rid of it so your haert doesn’t have to work as hard.

With I all I know about health and fitness, people will still argue with me about how training only with machines is the way to go for health and fitness.  They believe this because time and again they heard that machines are safer and more effective.  They heard it so many times that they came to believe it as the “truth” and no matter what anyone tells them otherwise, they won’t change their minds.  They don’t realize that there is a big problem with this “truth”.  The truth is that it is a lie promoted by the manufactures of these machines and is only  backed up by research that these companies funded.

Nautilus advertises a 12-machine, 12-minute circuit for a great looking and healthy body.  Curves anyone.  We at BSC Wellesley even have the Xpressline.  Thankfully both Curves and the X-line are going the way of the dinosaur as people realize that they are not getting (and will never get) the benefits promised (and the injuries don’t help either).  Just not as quickly as they should.  Shame.

Typical Curves member’s before and after photo.

Back in the 80’s the Cooper Clinic told everyone that aerobic exercise (slow boring cardio) was the way to go for health and fitness.  I bet even you started running when you heard this.  And like with machines, people heard this so much that they still consider it “truth” today.  The only people really benefiting from this lots of slow, boring cardio mindset are the doctors and physical therapists who are making  millions treating and caring  for all those that get injured and/or re-injured believing that hours and hours of cardio is all they need.

Long slow boring cardio can also cause emotional trauma.

Don’t get me wrong there are some good things that came about with this cardio mentality.  Things like R.I.C.E. and sports medicine became household words.  Along with patella-femoral dysfunction, plantar fasciitis and iliotibial (IT)band syndrome.

Now we have group exercise classes, spinning and shoes that tone and lift (don’t even get me started on this one).  This means more marketing, more injuries. and more money for the doctors and physical therapists.

You will more likely sprain your ankle or knee than get a toned butt.  These shoes are unsafe and were probably designed by a PT that needs the business.

Though some of these ideas are well-intentioned, most are flat out lies said to make money.

Yes, exercise needs to be smart and safe but it also needs to be challenging. Very little can be achieved without hard work and your health and fitness is not the exception.

Some doctors say gardening qualifies as exercise.  Others say that walking is great exercise.  I believe that this is because people don’t want to be told that something is going to require effort and are looking for the easy way out.  Some people will say anything to be popular and liked.

Yes, something is always better than nothing but if you can (don’t have any health limitations), why stop there?

Push yourself.

If you want to really see all the health and fitness benefits you possibly can, you are going to have to push yourself as hard as you can when exercising.  Sucking wind should be part of your routine.

If it is not hard, it is not helping.

…except to see all those not as fit people eating your dust.

With little media coverage (mainly because people didn’t want to hear it) The New England Journal of Medicine published a study in 2002 that said “…the peak estimated exercise capacity achieved during the test (graded exercise treadmill) was the strongest predictor of the risk of death among patients with cardiovascular disease and among patients without cardiovascular disease.”  It also said that “Greater fitness results in longer survival.”

To say the findings in layman terms, this study showed that it is not how often or how long you exercise but how hard you exercise that determines longevity.

Those that can exercise the hardest live the longest.

Your friend and trainer,

Paul F. Sweatt

Wellesley’s Best Personal Trainer

P.S.  If you don’t have any sort of medical conditions and you find gardening or walking challenging, you are out of shape.  It is that simple.

Here’s how to make exercise a habit: 1) Exercise at the same time each day; 2) Put it on your schedule as a must – not a maybe; 3) Log your workouts in a journal; and 4) The ultimate way to create the habit of exercise is to join one of my programs – talk about guaranteeing your success!

You and I are inundated everyday with advice on how to eat right and workout correctly for whatever goal you are trying to accomplish.  Don’t take this advice because it just might kill you.

Eat lots of complex carbs (ex. bread, pasta, etc.) and small amounts of protein and fat.  Yeah sure if you want to be fat, get diabetes and die young from heart disease.

Lifting big weights will make you big.  Only if you are genetically inclined to do so.  For the rest of you, lifting big weights will help you lose fat, get toned and strengthen you bones.  Who doesn’t want strong bones?  Or a toned tight body for that matter?

If you want to get healthy and lose weight do long, steady, boring cardio and lots of it.  This recommendation has been proven time and time again to be down right wrong and possibly even bad for your health.  But still this is exactly what 90% of the population believes will work.

Let me explain.

Way back in 1968 Kenneth Cooper, MD wrote a little book called Aerobics. In this book Dr. Cooper claims that the more exercise (i.e. cardio) one does the better.  This launched a fitness revolution.  All of a sudden it was the gospel of millions that hours and hours of cardio were the key to longevity, vitality and a fitter physique.

If this was correct then why were all these athletes suffering from shriveled muscle tone, strange illnesses (Lance Armstrong Syndrome)  and scrambled hormones?  And why were cardio fanatics dying in their 50’s?

After doing some more research Dr. Cooper discovered that more in not better and could be worse.  He now recommends no more than 30 minutes of cardio, 4 day a week.  And this is coming from Mr Aerobics himself.  But of course nobody knows of this.

But even the above recommendation can be too much.  There is a point of diminished returns.

Also, it has been shown that our bodies aren’t even designed for that kind of punishment. Take note that the first person ever to run a marathon dropped dead shortly afterwards.

Here are some of the reasons why you should avoid long, steady state cardio:

1.)  Cardio can damage your cells. A German study found that too much cardio can lead to DNA damage in cells.  This in turn can lead to premature aging, cancer and organ failure.

Keep it in the orange.  Avoid long steady state cardio.

2.)  Cardio can cause major havoc to normal body processes.  It has also been shown in studies that too much cardio can cause declines in testosterone (no ladies that is not a good thing), increases in cortisol (a muscle wasting hormone), hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells) and amenorrhea (failure to menstruate).

Hemolysis: don’t let it happen to you.

3.)  Cardio can lead to illness.  Too much cardio puts a strain on your immune system.  This in turn makes it harder for you to fight of viruses.  Running a marathon significantly raises your risk of coming down with pneumonia.  I have had pneumonia.  During the summer even.  No fun.

Pneumonia.  Takes your breath away.

4.) Cardio can lead to major diseases. The above mentioned and other hormonal in balances caused by too much cadrio can lead to odd diseases. Lance Armstong – Testicular Cancer.  Steve Scott – Testicular Cancer.  Scott Hamilton – Cystic Fibrosis.  John Walker – Parkinson’s.  Marty Liquori – Lymphatic Cancer.  ’Nuff Said.

If he knew, would he still think it worth it. Make a donation.

5.)  Cardio  can severely decrease muscle tone.  Too much cardio and not enough resistance training can lead to a wasting away of  muscle tone.  Muscle tone is very important to keep your body and you strong and healthy.  Less muscle = lower metabolism = more fat.  Also, I don’t believe that the emaciated runner look is in this year (and I don’t believe next year looks good either).

This is the body of a famous endurance athlete.  Is this what you are looking for?

6.) Cardio leads to overuse injuries. Whenever you do a motion repeatedly you are bound to eventually suffer an overuse injury.  And considering that long bout of cardio have you repeating the same motion thousands upon thousands of times, you do the math.

It’s called runner’s knee for a reason.

7.)  Most people do cardio wrong. Most people do their long, slow, boring cardio at a moderately hard pace. This pace is too easy to cause improvement and too hard to recover from before the next bout of cardio.  This pace has also been shown to actually decrease performance and has been dubbed “The Black Hole” by Stephen Seiler, PhD.  If it is so bad why do so many people go at that pace.  Because it is the best way to get the endorphins flowing.  Endorphins = good feelings = more moderately hard cardio = addiction = (see 1-6 above).  It’s like crack people and remember what Whitney said “Crack is Whack.”

Endorphins magnified 10,000x.  If seeing that doesn’t get you to stop, I don’t know what will.

But if cardio is bad for you how to you get to benefits without the risks.

Two words;  Interval Training.  Interval training done for 20 minutes, just 1 to 3 times a week has been shown to be better than long steady state cardio for over all healthy and fat loss.

Questions? Comments? Think I am crazy and should be thrown in a padded cell?  Let me know below.  Leave a comment.  If you don’t I will sick The Captain on you.

Your friend and trainer,

Paul