Hello Again,
My apologies for not posting last week. :( But I was in Disney World. :)
There is a common misconception in the fitness world when it comes to building muscle and losing weight. That misconception is that tons of cardio gets results. NOT NECESSARILY TRUE!
Yes, cardio can and does help, but too much cardio can have negative effects too. If your primary goal is to lose weight, then adjust how you eat, how often you eat and how much you eat and how you train.
Cardio should be part of everyones repretoir, but it should never be the only thing. Doing cardio can help to lose weight, but when done incorrectly and too much, you may be losing the good weight that you want to keep. MUSCLE!
Too much long distance running can cause your body to store fat and burn muscle (good fuel) during such cardiovascular bouts. So, if find yourself on the treadmill or elliptical for hours at a time at the same pace chances are that you are not burning as much fat as you like. Try switching things up and performing more sprint oriented workouts when doing cardio.
Sprinting activates fast twitch muscles, which in turn, helps to build muscle instead of breaking it down. Thus, allowing for a better fat burning session than ever before.
So, if you've been busting your butt running mile after mile to lose weight, although you may be losing weight, you aren't seeing your trouble spots go away, change how you train. Unless you're training for a marathon or a distance run, try incorporating more short burst, high intensity, explosive exercises into your training to start seeing the results you've been working for.
Best of Luck,
Derek
