Category Archives: Cardio
Chronic Cardio = Respiratory Damage?
Similar to the evidence I’ve shown you in the past, when cardio sessions are very long and very frequent, there’s considerable damage from excess free radicals, cortisol, and lactate. Research suggests that endurance athletes are at a higher risk of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI): 6 times as many runners experience URTIs following marathons compared…
Chronic Cardio = Infertility?
A 1984 study in the International Journal of Sports Medicine, found that: 29% of female endurance athletes have amenorrhea. Which is a delay (primary) or complete absence (secondary) of the menstrual cycle. Researchers believe the high incidence of amenorrhea in female long distance runners, compared to the general population, correlates with the total volume of training.…
Born to Walk (or Sprint) NOT Run
Ask any rehabilitation specialist (physio, chiro, masseuse), and they’ll tell you how detrimental chronic repetitive movements can be on muscles, joints, bone, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons. At first glance, moderate intensity endurance exercise may seem like it’s easier on the body than weight training, or interval training, but it’s not. The same consistent impact for…
Working Too Hard For The Runners High
Epinephrine (or adrenaline) is the likely hormone responsible for the ‘high’ from running, as it’s the same feeling adrenal junkies live for – the fight or flight response. As was illustrated in a 1990 research study from the journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, this same ‘high’ can be experienced with much…
Chronic Cardio = Excess Free Radicals
Free radicals are molecules with an unpaired electron that steal electrons from healthy atoms. Not only causing damage to the cell in which it was taken, but causing a chain reaction of unpaired molecules. Though our body has antioxidants to prevent these highly reactive molecules from causing damage (and can naturally increase our levels based…
Chronic Cardio = Aging Muscle Fibers
Other than genetics, your exercise habits have a direct impact on the composition of your muscle fibers. Since type-1 muscle fibers (slow-twitch) favor higher cortisol levels, and type-2 muscle fibers (fast-twitch) favor higher testosterone, this is an important consideration. A poor testosterone-to-cortisol ratio produces a catabolic state (muscle wasting). Sadly, endurance exercise not only produces…
Chronic Cardio = Elevated Cortisol
When our body is under stress, cortisol increases the concentration of glucose in our blood so there’s readily available energy for our muscles to use. Cortisol secretion is a natural response to stress, and is a good thing when released infrequently and for short periods. This makes a lot of sense when looking at the…
