21
Dec '09
7 Reasons Cardio is Lame
T’is the season for folks to be hitting the cardio confessionals with the mistaken belief that 30 minutes on the elliptical machine will somehow
magically erase 40 days of being on the See-Food diet…
Today while I did my Turbulence Training style workout, I watched all those poor folks on the cardio machines (you know, the ones with the long, sad faces
hating what they are doing) and felt kinda sorry for them.
Not many – if any – of them looked like they wanted to be doing cardio.
I also thought about how disgusting cardio machines are…
Back in University, I once helped the maintenance guy clean the cardio equipment. And I’d compare that experience to walking through a slaughterhouse – pretty darn gross.
The stuff I saw on those machines…from thousands of gym members doing
thousands of hours of cardio…sweating out their DNA into every crack and
crevice of that equipment…the sweat mixed with hair mixed with all other
sorts of stuff led to the grossest “gunk” I’d ever seen compiled anywhere
outside of a sewer.
I pretty much swore off of ever touching a cardio machine that day.
But it always makes me laugh when I see someone give a ceremonial squirt and wipedown of a cardio machine, as if that’s going to do anything…
I also watched all those folks on the cardio machines and I noticed they go through some interesting rituals during their workouts.
This got me thinking, and I came up with “The 7 Signs You Are Doing Too Much Cardio”.
So you are doing too much cardio if…
#1 – You have to spend 5 minutes before your workout flipping through all
the magazines in the gym to find one you haven’t read before.
#2 – You know the other cardio addicts on the machines beside you (that you talk to everyday) better than you know your own friends.
#3 – You know exactly how many calories you burn per minute on every machine in the gym (and you use that information to justify every calorie you eat.)
#4 – You hate doing it and dread your workouts more than a trip to the dentist.
#5 – The only thing you are losing is precious time – and not belly fat.
#6 – You go to the gym to watch your favorite television shows while doing
cardio.
#7 – You’re getting overuse injuries from repetitive motion because you keep doing the same activity over and over again everyday.
Seven darn good reasons why cardio is lame.
Listen, cardio is not the be all and end all of exercise for fat loss. In fact, as I’ve written in previous fat burning cardio articles, slow cardio is highly over-rated for fat loss.
Most of your results are going to come from your nutrition. So focus on whole, natural foods, and avoid foods that come from a bag or a box. If it’s been modified in any way, you don’t need it.
Once you’ve taken care of your nutrition, look for workouts that you enjoy that allow you to build strength, mobility, and fitness.
And no matter what you choose to do, don’t just do the same thing over and over again everyday.
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Just Say NO to Cardio
**********************
By the way, here are some bonus reasons from my readers about why they think cardio is lame.
If you have other thoughts, please post them in the comments below. Thanks!
#8 – If you are using cardio as a form of self-punishment (like after a night of
eating at a friends wedding)…you do too much cardio.
#9 – If you go to the gym to do cardio even though you have more important and time sensitive things to get done..you are a cardio junkie.
Comments on 7 Reasons Cardio is Lame »
Craig, you are absolutely right. I detest the cardio junkies. They just revamped my gym by squeezing all the dumbbells and exercise machines closer together to make more room for additional cardio machines. I was shocked when I showed up at the gym today and there was a new format with one less bench press and a whole lot less room to deadlift and just lift in general.
[Reply to this]
Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 22nd, 2009 at 5:52 am
Danny, sorry to hear about that. Stay strong!
[Reply to this]
Hey Craig,
) or is it to be avoided at all costs?
I am not at all a cardio-junky, but I train for a few big events every year – for example, a half-marathon and a long-distance bike race. I am not in these for the exercise primarily, more the achievement and the social aspects (like running/riding with my buddies). Usually the training is individual during the week, and HIIT or TT workouts are fine for that, but there is often one long ride or run on the weekend. I take it you would say that long and slow cardio is boring and won’t help me reach my weight-loss or fitness goals – but I actually enjoy these long runs/rides – partially for the social aspects, partially because outdoors where I live is amazing and also for the accomplishment ( I would love to do a full marathon one day!)
So, what is your overall feeling on using cardio in this way? Is there any benefit (e.g. “physical/mental/social health”
And if I do a long ride or run on the weekend, is there anything exercise or nutrition wise I should do or not do as a result of it, so that I don’t mess up in progress gained from HIIT or TT? I take it from reading your posts glycogen gets depleted which may lead to overeating and fatigue – is there a good way to prevent this?
Thanks for your time and blog – lots of useful information!!!
Charles
[Reply to this]
Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 22nd, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Charles, you are misunderstanding the message. I am not discussing marathon training. I’m talking about people wasting their time in a gym doing long, slow cardio and expecting magic weight loss. Obviously if you want to run marathons you have to do long distances. If you are training for performance (i.e. using long runs), use performance nutrition guidelines. You can get that info from Runner’s World, etc.
[Reply to this]
Thanks for the response – and, yes, I agree with you, just slogging away mindlessly for hours with weight loss as the ultimate aim seems pointless – I think I did not express myself well… what I really want to know is:
Is endurance cardio training inherently incompatible with the TT training philosophy or even harmful to weight loss/fitness progress? Basically would you recommend to your clients to stop all such training? And if they choose not to, how can endurance training fit into the overall TT plan? (Maybe you have a post or ebook on the subject that I missed)
Best regards,
Charles
[Reply to this]
Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 22nd, 2009 at 3:34 pm
http://turbulencetraining.blogspot.com/2007/10/tt-for-runners-endurance-athletes.html
[Reply to this]
I used to workout with cardio machines when I joined a “Ladies’ Gym”. It’s a gym with dozens of cardio machine, 1 bench, a dozen of dumbells weighted <6 lbs each, 1 abs crunch, a TV, 1 resistance machine which I never seen anyone ever used it, abt 1/2 dozen waist twister (I don’t know what these things doing in a gym) and few gym balls. I gave up cardio more than a year ago because:
#1 : Initially, it was not bad. In front of the gym is a yoga fitness center operated by a handsome young man with nice sporty car so it’s good to watch a good looking man with good car. After 1 month, I don’t find the man so handsome anymore so does the cardio. Both are boring routines.
#2 : I wonder why there were more magazines than fitness equipments in a gym? I am not handbags & SPA treatments junkies so magazines won’t keep me in the gym for long.
#3 : I wonder why ladies there want to watch TV and reading while workout, so I tried that too, unfortunately I had neck pain for 2 days.
#4 : I tried making cardio interesting by downloading best selection songs on my Ipod, but after 3 weeks all songs sound so boring just like the machines. I wanted to download new sets of songs but that’s not easy since I travel 2-4 hrs to suppliers factory almost everyday so not much time for songs searching. In fact the songs actually added 3-4 hrs of my workout time.
#5 : When I set target for calories I wanted to burn on each session, it sometimes took longer than I expected and I was worried if I paid long enough for the parking while working out.
[Reply to this]
Craig Ballantyne Reply:
December 23rd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Fir, thank you for sharing! Funny stuff, I hope you are getting results from better workouts these days.
[Reply to this]