Cardio verses Resistance Training

11032983_792258797532103_1410477182_nNumerous studies have shown that exercising too intensely…including cardio exercise causes negative effects on health while moderate-intensity cardio exercise actually boosts health and fitness.

The body perceives endurance exercise as a form of stress on the body and responds to this stress by increasing cortisol. Cortisol is the “flight or fight” hormone that results as a normal adaptive response to the physical demands of exercise. Chronic elevation of this hormone is associated with signs of aging such as loss of lean muscle, belly fat, inflammation and reduced immunity.

Cardio has long been associated with weight loss…however, the effects are deceptive. When you are on a calorie restrictive diet and you are performing extreme endurance exercise, your body turns to muscle as an energy source and the result is a depletion of your valuable muscle tissue. Not only that, but intense cardio will increase your appetite making your diet all the more challenging. [Read more…]

Strength Training is Key to Shifting Body Weight and Shaping Your Body

woman strength trainingIf you are looking for ways to change your body, shift around and lose some of the excess weight you’ve been toting around then strength training is your key.

Hours and hours of cardio on end do very little to actually change your body. You may become slightly smaller if you are burning enough calories, but you’ll just be a smaller version of yourself.

In many cases, you might even find that you become not only smaller, but a softer, flabbier version of yourself. Not really much improvement.

Excessive cardio training does a great job of burning up lean muscle mass. Think of it this way, if you are training your body to exercise for long periods of time, it knows in order to do this effectively it needs to get rid of the densest tissue and the tissue that uses up the most energy. [Read more…]