Cardiovascular training is often thought to be an effective method of weight control. However, I often hear from people: “I do a lot of cardio and I’ve been gaining weight without losing weight!!”

Confused problem, isn’t it? After all, you would think that with the amount of cardio you do you would be expending a large number of calories that would cause you to lose weight.

Adding to this belief is that the newest fad in fitness is the promotion of high-intensity exercise, whether it’s weight training or cardio training.

I am going to suggest that you are doing it wrong! For a number of reasons that I am going to discuss. First of all, it’s important to understand that as humans we can be active for long periods of time without needing to stop, unlike other mammals as they need to stop to release some heat from their body. We do that, in other ways, which allows us to continually move.

In longer efforts, such as events lasting two hours or more, ninety-nine percent of the effort comes from the aerobic system. Of our three energy systems, this one often seems to fall short in terms of respect.

Quick overview of power systems:

1. The first 5-10 seconds are powered by the ATP/CP system
2. After that time, the body begins to switch to a system that produces lactate (the buildup of which causes burnout the day after exercise).
3. Finally, in periods of 2 minutes or more there is a change to the aerobic system that allows us to sustain prolonged efforts.

Fat is the main ingredient to fuel the aerobic system and is the reason why the body is covered in it. This system is used regularly throughout the day, in fact right now as you read this you are to some extent. The stronger your aerobic system is, the more capable it is of using fat for fuel instead of sugar (simple carbohydrates).

When your aerobic system is weak, you need more of your energy supply to come from sugar (since this is the fuel of choice for the second system mentioned above). But when you eat sugar, there is an increase in insulin production, which prevents further breakdown of fat for energy. This leads to you needing more sugar, which further reduces your ability to burn fat.

If you’re one of those who’s gained weight from increased cardio, chances are you’re eating more to deal with the loss of energy.

The side effects of being weak aerobically are:

• Fatigue: mid-day fatigue leads you to seek more sugary foods
• Increased Body Fat – Increased dietary carbohydrates (sugary types) to cope with the energy your body needs
• Inflammation: frequent musculoskeletal or nerve-related injuries
• Hormonal imbalance: It is observed that there are higher levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. This further signals cravings for sugary foods and high levels of body fat.
• Physical injuries: The body requires oxygen delivered to the tissues, muscles, nerves, ligaments, tendons, etc. Oxygen is delivered through the blood vessels. With age comes the loss in the vascular system and the supply of oxygen to the tissues that require it. Aerobic exercise improves and, in some cases, helps build more blood vessels to facilitate the transport of oxygen to the tissues that need it.

The last one on this list is where I do a lot of my preaching. I often ask patients to implement this little aerobic workout that I’ll mention at the end, and it’s enough to get them out of pain (even without addressing some of the key dysfunctions that lead to their injury).

So how do you know if you’re doing aerobic exercise? Simple. Follow Dr. Maffetone’s guidance. He has studied this for many years and has worked with many great athletes of our time. His guidelines on proper aerobic training are as follows:

1. Subtract your age from 180

2. Modify this number by selecting from the following categories the one that best suits your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospitalization, etc.) or are taking regular medication. Subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, have more than two cold or flu bouts per year, have allergies or asthma, or have been inconsistent or have just returned to training. Subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times a week) for up to two years without any of the above issues. Keep the number 180 – age.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above and have progressed through competition without getting injured. add 5.

I promise you very few people reading this have been sick less than 2 times in the past 12 months, and almost everyone reading this once they put on a heart rate monitor will be surprised at how slow you have to go to maintain your heart rate. cardiac. recommended range.

My recommendation is to stick to the formula. 30-40 minutes each workout, 3-4 times a week, and over 6 months you will not only notice a significant change in your body composition (which will last, I might add, unlike the weight lost on diets), but that you will also notice Notice that you are less sick, less injured, have higher energy levels. You can then go back to whatever high-intensity training you’ve been doing before and be amazed at how much better you are.

I do this work with most of my patients and all of my elite athletes.