Beware The Crazy Cardio

Some weeks back, I met this guy (at my recent CPR course) who does freelance Personal Training as a side-line & he shared this tip with me. Paraphrasing, he told me that there are many kinds of people who approach a trainer for personal training. Yet despite our level of focus, determination & intensity, we have to realize that every person is different. The guy / girl whom you are training may not be as intense about training as you may regard it as such. Thus, as trainers, we need to discern how to motivate & coach these people.

What I gathered from his sharing is that not everyone will share my intensity & determination in training. Yet, from my few years of experience in training in gyms (since I began going there a few months before I enlisted into BMT), up till now I'm still surprised at the number of gym-goers who go there & spend their time behaving like a hamster... running or cycling like crazy for long periods, as if by that alone, it would help them lose weight.

What they do not realize is that they lose A LOT of water & wear out their muscle tissues. And just as tryingly as they push themselves to burn their excessive calories, they put their weight back on just as quickly or in fact, much easier & quicker than before. Why? Coz their body cells & muscles fibers are desperate for energy! And it doesn't help that they don't realize that all that running or cycling doesn't make their muscles stronger AT ALL. And guess what happens?

Our muscles get the idea that they are lacking in energy & are afraid to lose it, so they begin storing up fat, just to be safe. Afterall, it is common knowledge to most, that body fat is made from excess & unused calories. As a result, these people lose weight, which actually means they lose water content from their body cells (which is a bad thing), lose calories which cause their bodies to store up more fat & eventually, either ending up with a (1) lower weight yet more weak & unhealthy, or (2) just as heavy or heavier weight, with higher proportions of fat & thus an even weaker & more unhealthy body!

What more needs to be said about slimming pills that are swarming our local market & all around the world? They preach that just a single capsule a day & you'll become as slim as Fann Wong! Let's be honest - no one has ever seen Fann Wong bulging with fat before. And even if taking one such pill a day would slim you all the way to celebrity figure, how does it benefit your body?

One word - ADDICTION. You begin craving for it as a drug. A drug that you can't do without, coz without it, you will regain your flab. In fact, let me add that you might even gain more weight, once you stop taking it. Why? Its simple logic - if without exercise, you can slim down through one such pill... despite eating all sorts of crappy food... could it not be possible that a person could actually gain more, when not taking the pill, not exercising & still eating horrendously bad food? Come on! There's so much terrible food out there that we are all spoilt for choice! And some of these food have been added preservatives &/or chemicals that actually make us eat even more! So how can anyone tell me that he / she won't gain even more weight, once he / she stops taking these slimming pills?

Even if all else of my reasoning fails, I can still fall back on this - a longer lasting bad habit of improper eating & unhealthy lifestyle, can only result in a much tougher effort & time needed to change this disgustingly bad habit. Simple enough reason for anyone.

And if bad food can cause heart disease & such, ask yourself if a slimming pill like that can miraculously save you... past, present or future...

Try getting someone to exercise regularly three to four times a week, after this fella has been a couch potato for 10 years. Which in today's society, isn't impossible... my parents themselves have already not been exercising for 20 years! And when I mean exercising 3 - 4 times a week, I mean exercising properly. Not throwing on your jogging shoes, head out to a nearby park, run a couple of minutes & call that exercise. Well, that's exercise... in a simple sense... it sure works the heart, but not the muscles, bone density & mass... which means you will may have weaker limbs & posture when older coz your bodily muscles are not strong, not to forget how many muscles that we neglect without even knowing. In addition, it sure won't do much good for your bad eating habit, if one doesn't choose to change it. And bad habits die hard. Real hard, believe me.

And what I'm going to say next, many already know... that people who start exercising will get flabby very fast when they stop after awhile. Why? Coz their bodies only register exercise as losing calories, which makes their bodies want to store up even more, just that they can't really see it superficially. As it is, a lack of sufficient calories would mean our body taking glucose from other organs e.g. liver. And when something 'steals' from something else, it means that something else may lack what is necessary & good for it. And think about it - now its our organs.

Resistance training, on the other hand, is much different. It focuses on the concept called 'muscle memory', which means that even when a person stops exercising for awhile, of coz the muscles get weaker, but becoz the muscles register exercise as strengthening muscles, it actually requires a shorter time to regain their built & strength becoz of the muscle recognizes it when the person goes back to proper training.

Now listen - notice the difference - crazy cardio people focus on LOSING. Balanced & proper resistance exercises focuses on GAINING. No more needs to be said... you know which is better in the long run... Hahahaha... =)

You see, I really like this kind of stuff... & I love studying, teaching & sharing about such stuff! It's in my 'blood'... Natural 'magnet'... no need word limit... no need to give me pressure to study... I will still take initiative to learn & find out. *Laugh*...