Cardio or Not?
Exercise and nutrition advice comes to me everyday in my e-mail. Does it come to you too? But the crazy thing is all of the conflicting information I receive. What really is the truth?
Do cardio to lose fat. Lift weights to become lean. Too much cardio will cause you to lose muscle. Running doesn’t burn that many more calories than walking and its hard on your knees. Do HIIT-high intensity interval training. No wait, do long duration, steady state heart rate to lose fat. Okay, I’ve heard and read about all of these methods at different times so what is the real truth???
And nutrition information is even worse! Don’t eat carbs. Fat makes you Fat. Too much protien causes problems with your kidneys. Eat 3 meals a day, no sorry eat 6 meals per day. Snack. Don’t snack. Eat a grapefruit with every meal. And on and on and on. It is so ridiculous!
So, I guess the truth is that you have to figure out for yourself what works, what doesn’t work for you. The things that make sense are probably true. For example, it makes sense that real, whole foods found in nature are better for you than man-made processed junk. It makes sense that you should do some type of cardio to strengthen your most important muscle, your heart. It makes sense that your muscles should be used and strengthened. Our bodies were not meant to be sedentary. (Think of our ancestors, a couch potato would not live long if they had to hunt for food!) It makes sense that you should eat and move and live and enjoy.
As for the other information, read it, see what it says but don’t believe everything you read. See if it makes sense for you first.
