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Ian Young

Are you a Chronic Cardio Junkie ?

Updated: Dec 3, 2020

In recent years I think the majority of gym goers have become more educated and are more in tune with their bodies and their nutrition! 


However it wasn't long ago the favoured way to drop those pounds was hours upon hours of cardio per week, treadmill, spin, stepper .... you name it we've all seen every single cardio machine in the gym packed for hours at a time. 


Thankfully the trend has changed somewhat and people now vary their weekly workouts a lot, which in my opinion is a fantastic outlook to have and leads to a more balanced workout and lifestyle and will certainly stave off boredom in the gym. 


BUT, we still see them ...... pounding away on that treadmill, bike, stepper for hours at a time, sweat dripping, however Is it really possible to do TOO MUCH CARDIO ! 


Do you think Chronic Cardio Training could in fact make you gain weight ?!! 


Chronic Cardio would consist of "moderate to intense" aerobic exercise performed over 30-60 minutes per day, several times a week.  


A lot of experts believe this Chronic Cardio increases and sustains the level of cortisol in your body.  I have spoken and posted about Cortisol before - Cortisol is NOT all bad, understand that Cortisol is a stress hormone that is released during stress and strenuous activities including resistance training (used at the correct time can be very advantageous to your training).



When an appropriate amount of cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, along with adequate rest and recovery time, the body can deal with the cortisol like it’s supposed to - no big deal! 


When it becomes bad is when the body does not have enough time to rest, recover and recuperate - so when the body is hammered daily over long bouts of aerobic training the body cannot deal with the amount of Cortisol being secreted! 


What we need to take home from this is sustained and excessive cortisol levels in the bloodstream coupled with "Chronic Cardio" will inevitably cause your body to store body fat ! 


And 9 times out of 10 when body fat increases we tend to cut calories and eat like sparrows, this is thee worst decision you could make - you'll put your body into an even deeper state of stress. 


LOW CALORIE dieting will also increase Cortisol, so in effect you're doubling up in a negative manner!  


I'd love those to comment if you've seen a change in your body composition from being a cardio junkie to a more varied athlete ! 

NOTE - if you enjoy it, and love what you do and are seeing the results you want from it then continue to do it. 

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