Chronic Cardio: Are You Wasting Your TIme?
Cardio plays a vital role in human health and performance. With regular training, one can expect numerous metabolic changes.
Some of these include:
But what comes to the mind when we think about Chronic Cardio?
Chronic Cardio can be referred to as the process of long duration steady training done at 80 to 85% of Maximum Heart Rate. Examples include maintaining a high heart rate on a bike or treadmill for over an hour or competing in marathons or triathlons. Chronic Cardio, or the act of doing too much endurance training over time, was brought up by Mark Sisson, the author of “The Primal Blueprint” and a fitness author and blogger, on the Joe Rogan Experience #752.
His mission is to inspire people to be open-minded, passionate, and enthusiastic about leading a healthy, happy, fit, balanced, active lifestyle, with the least amount of pain, suffering and sacrifice possible.
In our personal lives, we come across many people who began running (and endurance sports training) to become more healthy, active and to enhance their quality of life. While the concept of Endurance Training is never been focused to a great extent, it is questioned whether the conventional knowledge about distance running has flaws, which the public accepts unconditionally.
Exploring Endurance Training
Endurance training involves training your aerobic system, as opposed to your anaerobic system. The aerobic system uses oxygen from the bloodstream, but the anaerobic system involves no oxygen. Both of these systems are the result of synthesized adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is used by our body for muscular activity. This is a highly debated subject. There are strong opinions and arguments for, and against, sustained bouts of cardio.
Chronic cardio includes long periods of endurance training at a steady state for over 75% of our max heart rate.
When it comes to Chronic Cardio, it not only has an impact on the heart but also it can lead to damage to the male reproductive system. According to a study, there are no real health benefits for long cardio sessions. Also, they do more harm than good, especially for males and testosterone. The U.S. National Library of Medicine recently published a shocking article confirming testosterone levels are lower in endurance training can damage the male reproductive system. Males are better off sitting on the couch all day and not running if they want to preserve their precious testosterone levels and have a full-functioning set of family jewels. Another study published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine confirmed participants who don’t reach the “lactic threshold” during exercise get ZERO access to testosterone and growth hormone. In simple terms, it’s a big waste of time unless you’re a girl looking to burn a few calories on the elliptical. Another aspect of cardio is that it tends to make the body more “efficient” at using fat as an energy source. On the surface, this sounds fantastic, but it’s definitely not. Being efficient at using fat means the body establishes to use fat slower and “better” to fuel activity. To be more “efficient” at using fat as an energy source means to burn less of it, not more of it! You’re getting “more” out of “less” and here comes the catch about how it affects negatively.
The problem with cardio can get even worse
As the body becomes more and more efficient at storing fat then the only option is to go longer and longer, which then in turn only enhances the effect of burning less and less fat as the body gets better conditioned! It’s a deadly snowball.
Eventually, you have to go LONGER to get the same effect as you did before, which is the law of diminishing returns. This sets up a very bad situation for your body, sex-drive, and lifestyle.
Heart and Chronic Cardio
We all know that cardio exercises are good for the heart. So, how does the cardio exercise affect the heart and the body at large? The heart responds to various triggers that are sent by different functionalities of the body. Experts explain that chronic cardio means that your heart is pushed too far for a prolonged period on a regular basis which will start bringing health complications. During exercises of any form, the targeted muscles usually expand and get fatigued. At this state, a person will know they have done it. However, the heart muscles will not give this sign as much as it will undergo expansion and fatigue. At the end of the day, it may lead to Atrial Fibrillation, which means that the person will have an irregular and fast heartbeat.
The Solution
Endurance training or chronic cardio needs to be controlled to yield the best results rather than ending in a hospital. Fitness researchers recommend the use of interval training. As a matter of fact, this is how every person whether a runner or any individual should go about this. Making a schedule that includes aerobic training like running and anaerobic training like weightlifting can help a lot. The person should be prepared for what type of goals he/she want to establish from exercising beforehand. Such kind of balance will give the heart muscles an opportunity to rest a bit.
Chronic cardio is NOT a better option. These exercises, when done too often,do not allow the body a chance to fully recover. As it remains in a constant state of stress and leads you far from your individual fitness dreams!
