WHY CARDIO MAKES YOU FAT

When I was 6 years old I remember seeing a haunting image of Slobadan Milosevic, the former President of former Yugoslavia. His face was being plastered all over the news as I passed through the living room mindless to the ills of this world. My adolescent brain could not make much sense of the atrocities he had committed, and yet my mind’s eye knew evil when I saw it! It was a feeling of distrust so distinct that I shuddered at the sight of him. Later on I would learn that he presided over the genocide of the Bosnian people justifying my instinctive thoughts.

I was struck by a similar revelation when learning about human physiology and nutrition. I had always felt that cardiovascular exercises like jogging long distances for fitness were an evil trick some marketing Exec’s had concocted to sell more trainers. After all, they did convince us to buy water. Heck there are ‘Oxygen Bars’ right now as we live and breathe in parts around the world. So imagine the sense of smug validation when I learned that cardiovascular exercise too was spawned in the playgrounds of purgatory. Well, kind of. Just hear me out.

Our metabolic system is split into 2 parts, catabolism and anabolism. When we consume nutrients, those complex nutrients must be broken down into their component parts (catabolism), and then rebuilt and distributed across the body to feed specific cells (anabolism). Both ends of metabolism require high amounts of energy and can be manipulated by the type and intensity of workouts that we do.

When we perform high intensity resistance training such as weightlifting, the stress actually tears muscle fibres which must be rebuilt. However, knowing that it must adapt in order to handle similar stress in the future, the body builds more muscle fibres so it is better suited to cope the next time around. This is why our muscles grow over time from weightlifting. It is only natural that this increase in muscle mass will require more energy to fuel it and so both the rate of catabolism and anabolism increase as your body works harder to feed these new found fibres.

On the other hand, when we perform prolonged aerobic exercises the metabolic signals are very different. Let’s say you go for a 20km run (presumably escaping from the mental asylum you were justifiably placed in), similar to the person performing weight training, the body realises that it must adapt if it wishes to cope with such stresses in the future. However, what’s fascinating is the different way in which the body adapts. Instead of increasing the rate of metabolism, our bodies do the opposite!

That’s right, the message this type of workout is signalling to our bodies is that we need to be more efficient in the way we dispense of our energy. In addition, the body takes every opportunity to store fat when in a caloric surplus so you will have enough stored energy for the next time. Thus the same workout that would usually burn 300–400 calories in an hour is now burning 200–300 calories. This is what allows long distance athletes like former athlete Lance Armstrong to compete for extremely long periods of time with relatively small muscular frames. A slower rate of catabolism. Well that and a few blood transfusions if you know what I mean.

Thus, if weight loss is dependent upon the amount of calories our bodies burn, then we are far better off doing a few squats and deadlifts than beating the tarmac. You’re welcome humanity, you’re welcome.

No matter what workout you choose to do however, you simply can’t outrun a bad diet. 80% of our results happen in the kitchen. That’s where Keto Kart can help you take the confusion out of your nutrition allowing you to become a fat burning machine. The other 20%? Well we’ll be cheering you along from the peanut gallery.

SOURCE MATERIAL:

Textbooks:

Allen, L. and Prentice, A. (2005) Encyclopaedia of Human Nutrition. Netherlands. Elsevier.

Guyton, A. and Hall, J. (2015) Textbook of Medical Physiology. London. WB Saunders.

Kang, J. (2013) Nutrition and Metabolism in Sports, Exercise and Health. London. Routledge.

Novels:

Berg, E. (2010) The 7 Principles of Fat Burning: Get Healthy, Lose Weight and Keep It Off. Illinois. KB Publishing.

Berry, K. (2019) Lies My Doctor Told Me: Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health. Nevada. Victory Belt Publishing.

Ferriss, T. (2011) The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman. New York. Penguin Random House.

Fung, J. (2016) The Obesity Code: The Bestselling Guide to Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss. Melbourne. Scribe Publications.

Goldacre, B. and Farley, R. (2010) Bad Science. London. Fourth Estate.

Greene, R. (2018) The Laws of Human Nature. London. Profile Books.

Harari, Y. (2011) Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. New York. Penguin Random House.

Noakes, T. (2017) Lore of Nutrition: Challenging Conventional Dietary Beliefs. Cape Town. Penguin Random House.

Pollan, M. (2007) The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. London. Penguin Publishing Group.

Taubes, G. (2016) The Case Against Sugar. California. Portobello Books.

Volek, J. and Phinney, S. (2011) The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living. Connecticut. Beyond Obesity LLC.

Wilson, J. and Lowery, R. (2017) The Ketogenic Bible: The Authoritative Guide to Ketosis. New York. Simon & Schuster.

Courses:

Nowicki, S. (2004) The Great Courses — Biology: The Science of Life. Duke University.

Shaw Academy (2018) — Sports & Nutrition Certification CourseDuke University.

Shaw Academy — Sports & Nutrition Certification Course