12 Jun Are you a cardio queen?
Are you a Cardio Queen?
Listen up: **Reading on the Elliptical will never change your body!**
Are you a “Cardio Queen?” Not sure, well let’s find out.
Do you religiously hit the gym every morning with the latest Shape, Cosmo, or other favorite magazine in hand so you can read away the time as you ‘burn calories’ for an hour while plugging away on the stationary bike, elliptical, or StairMaster? (I know some of your are cracking a smile and nodding your head right now.)
If that describes you, even a little bit, just let me ask you this: is that WORKING for you? Are you getting the body and results you want?
I used to be a cardio queen.
It’s true…I was. I had a subscription to every fitness magazine out there and every morning like clock work, I would fill up my water, lace up my workout shoes, grab my reading material for the morning and hit the machine for an hour.
It was me against that dang cardio machine every day and ultimately the cardio machine won. It wasted my time, made me hungrier and kept me looking like a chiseled marshmallow.
I no longer do the traditional long, slow, drawn out cardio. I feel it is a total waste of time and you are just burning a few calories. Yes, I said a few.
For the most part, long slow cardio doesn’t burn that many calories and the number the machine is telling you is more than generous. It merely makes you HUNGRY so that you eat back what you burned, and it takes up a lot of time.
I’m sorry – when did cardio equipment become a library?
When you see see people reading on the elliptical or exercise bike, do you stop in your tracks and stare in awe of the amazingly fit body the person has? Do you view the ‘long, slow cardio’ type of body as fit and strong?
If your answer is yes, then stop reading this and get back to your machine and your magazine. 🙂
If you don’t, then please understand that there is a REASON they don’t look fit and strong. Reading on the elliptical will NOT change your body…working out with intensity does!
What about hiking?
I DO love to hike, walk, and run. I do love to be active and move. And YES I encourage you to do the same! BUT, do those for enjoyment not to change your physique!
Even if the long slow drawn out cardio DOES work for you temporarily, how do you think that will work long term? What happens when you no longer have that extra hour every morning to plug away on that machine? What about when your body adapts to that stress? If you never change the stress (ie, more time or more intensity), then your body will not change either!
Want RESULTS? Here is what I do instead…
I train with INTENSITY! I love to do sprints, box jumps, sled pulls, hill sprints, skaters, and heavy intense lifting or body weight training like pull ups, pushups, and ring training.
ALL 
of those things get your heart rate up, and get your metabolism going! When you do even a ‘hard’ cardio workout, you are back to baseline metabolism within 4 hours. When you do intense strength training, you can keep your metabolism elevated for 24 hours or more.
This means your body keeps burning fat even while you are sleeping. The metabolism stays revved up to help the body repair itself from the intense workout. I predict the gyms of the future will get rid of the stationary cardio equipment and the machines that only work isolated movements, and they will replace them with tools designed for high intensity functional training.
I get it – YOU are the exception and your are offended at what I wrote.
OK, before I get an earful…YES, I know some people can’t do the intense stuff yet. Some people have injuries, illnesses, a doctors order, etc… I get it.
There is an exception to EVERY rule and I am talking to the masses that want to change their body and are not working hard enough. Go into any ‘big box’ gym during the morning or evening ‘rush hour’ and you will find countless people with no excuse just slogging away.
I am NOT talking to the exception to the rule. The lesson in all of this is do what is INTENSE for you. Whatever that may be. If the ELLIPTICAL is intense for YOU and it is getting YOU results then don’t listen to me. If it is NOT – think about what I wrote.
If you do love cardio, that is great. Implement fartleks into your training. That is where you do intense ‘sprints’ for a period of time, then go easy for a bit. Then SPRINT, then easy. Do 20 second sprints and 40 seconds easy for 20 minutes. You will get WAY better results that way, instead of just doing 30 minutes or more of s-l-o-w cardio.
Want to train like me? Learn more about my training style HERE.
“Be Happy…Be Healthy…Be Fit!”
– Natalie Jill
Give me 7 days to teach you the habits that will change your life forever! Get your 7 Day Jump Start HERE.
