Is Cardio Evil?
I chose this headline because it makes me laugh. We see this sort of all-or-nothing thinking all over social media: carbs are evil, bananas are the devil, cardio will ruin your life, jog yourself thin, eat this magical fruit/seed and you'll never have to step foot in a gym again, etc. It's so confusing it will make your head spin! WTH are we supposed to be doing to care for our bodies? One point of writing this blog is to report my findings on this little science project I'm running on myself (aka training for a fitness competition at age 47). So today, I'm taking on the topic of cardiovascular exercise (running, jogging, Orange Theory -- any exercise that has the primary purpose of elevating the heart rate) and what role it plays in changing body composition. One big caveat: my results are anecdotal. I only have myself as a data set, and I only can speak from my own experience.
Ever since we returned from our cross country vacation to Colorado and Utah about a month ago , I've really backed off doing any cardio exercise. My back has been bothering me and I've been really sore from lifting heavy four times a week. One deal I've made with myself regarding this fitness competition adventure, is that I'm only going to do it if it's fun (fun does not mean the same as easy, but that's for a different post). Another deal I've made with myself is that I'm going make a mindset shift and divorce exercise from losing weight. Stated differently, exercise is something I'm doing to improve my health and as an investment in my well being. It's not something I do to "get the weight off" or as punishment because my body is not currently meeting an aesthetic standard. Mostly because punishing my body with hours of relentless cardio or working out does not sound fun at all. I'll stay in bed, thank you very much. Running or bouncing around to get my heart rate up with a back injury also did not sound fun and did not seem like an investment in my well-being. So I have done some walking with the dog, but even that has been inconsistent for the last month or so.
If only I looked so glamorous walking my dog.
So, what has been the result? My brain told me that I was going to gain all sorts of weight. The heavy weightlifting isn't getting my heart rate up or making me very sweaty. It has been at least a month since I've had a heart pounding, sweat dripping sort of workout. I love those workouts (within reason). One of things I have missed most since the pandemic started has been Orange Theory workouts where my heart rate goes sky high and I'm dripping with sweat when I'm done. Mostly I think I love it because my brain is telling me "you really killed it and your body is going to transform into a goddess right before your very eyes." It makes sense, right? If you work so hard that you are sweating buckets, burning 500+ calories, releasing tons of endorphins, and creating lactic acid, your body is going to respond by dropping some major lbs and building some major muscle, right? But my results this last month have shown the opposite. I have not gained one pound from skipping my cardio workouts. In fact, I've lost a little weight, decreased body fat--all while increasing my daily caloric intake.
Say what? How could this be? Again, my brain is telling me it's transforming into a block of lard without those super hard heart pumping cardio workouts. I swear I can FEEL my waist expanding. But, not true. The scale, body fat scanner, and measurements are saying the opposite. So I've gone to the experts to figure out what is going on.
This is what I have learned: those heart pumping workouts are great for maintaining heart health and should absolutely be incorporated into any workout routine in moderation. But, alone (meaning without a protocol that includes resistance training and prioritizes proper nutrition), they are not all that great for changing body composition (i.e., building muscle and burning fat). Here's why:
too frequent high intensity cardio sessions can actually cause body fat to increase because your body is smart! It wants you to have plenty of energy so it becomes very efficient and burns fewer calories every time you rev up that cardio engine and your metabolism down regulates;
intense cardio workouts are catabolic - meaning they burn rather than build muscle (now these have to be some pretty intense cardio workouts - but pounding the pavement for miles on end could burn up the muscle you do have, especially if you aren't doing any resistance training);
intense cardio workouts are stressful on your body and can cause you to release cortisol, which inhibits fat-burning;
intense cardio workouts don't burn all that many calories and they can make you really hungry; so it's easy for your brain to tell you that you've worked harder than you actually have and eat through all those calories negating all the work you've done (e.g., I burn about 300 calories doing an intense 30 minute jog/HIIT workout. This is basically a snack or half a meal. Not that much impact from a calorie standpoint.);
Remembering back five years to my first fitness competition, I dropped about thirty pounds and got down to about 15% body fat over four months by prioritizing nutrition and weight lifting and doing ~2-20 minute moderate cardio workouts per week. I increased the cardio the last month or so to about four times a week, but still just 20 minute sessions. I have a friend who trains for shows who has to back off the cardio when she is in show prep mode (granted, she is already very lean and the concern is that the cardio will burn off all her muscle gains). Contrast this to when I trained for a marathon in 2000 and a half-marathon 2013: I was running between 10 and 30 miles a week, did no resistance or even cross training (who has time when you are running that much?); paid no attention to nutrition, lost exactly zero pounds (this was before I was checking body fat or taking measurements, so the scale was the only thing I have to judge by), and ended up with a hip injury. So, again, I even have my own proof that intense cardio workouts are not the end-all-be-all for changing weight or body composition and improving over all health.
No more marathons for me anytime soon.
So, do I think cardio is evil? No, but I've decided it might be a tad bit overrated and all that sweating and heart pounding might not be getting me the results my brain is telling me they are producing. For everyone--regardless of fitness goals--I am pro-movement. If running is your thing and so much fun, going for a 5-mile jog is certainly better than laying on the couch. Love yoga? Do it! Again, way better than lounging on the couch. Love taking long walks? Probably as good for you as that 3-mile jog. But for us old folks (40+ years old) or folks hoping to change their body composition, I am pro-prioritizing resistance training and good nutrition along with including some moderate cardio workouts throughout the week to maintain heart health, decrease stress, and release endorphins.
Mostly, I am throwing in the towel on the belief that I have to run ten miles or do a grueling boot camp that renders me unable to move for a week to be fit and trim. (I DO think punishing yourself with exercise is EVIL). That being said, once this pandemic is over I'll be itching to get back to OT or a spin class one or two times a week for that heart pumping, sweat-dripping workout. Why? Because it's fun and I'm all-in on fun!
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