Is there something wrong with chronic cardio? This is a long-duration and repetitive cardiovascular exercise. Chronic cardio exceeds aerobic threshold which is 80-85% of your maximum heart rate. The individual aerobic threshold is dependent on fitness level, age, and health status.
Q. What about cardio? Where does running, spin and machines fit into the mix? To “get lean” and tone up, you need to do cardio right?
Answer: NOPE.
The age old belief: “I need to do chronic cardio to get lean and fit” is so 1990’s! (ie. it’s dead).
The age old belief: “I need to do cardio to get lean and fit” is so 1990’s! (ie. it’s dead).
See if any of these other common “chronic cardio beliefs” sound familiar:
- I’m lazy if I don’t do cardio, or I’m scared if I stop cardio, I’ll get lazy, and completely stop!
- If I don’t do chronic cardio, I’m going to get fat
- I need to do cardio to be “toned” and fit
- If I stop cardio, I’ll lose my fitness
- Cardio is something I’ve always been good at…so I need to stay the best
- If I stop chronic cardio, I won’t know how to deal with some of the uncomfortable emotions and situations that I can’t control during the day
- Cardio makes me feel more in control
- If I “listen to my body,” I just want to do more cardio!
Contrary to popular belief, running like a hamster on a wheel every day in spin class, on the stair master, elliptical or running trail does not build a lean, toned body like weight training, HIIT, bodyweight resistance, walking, yoga and pilates does.
Have you ever compared a picture of an ultra marathon runner or elliptical jockey to a sprinter, pilates trainer, bodyweight ninja or strength trainer?
Excess cardio runs the body and metabolism into the ground much more readily, and does not provide the dynamic, power, resistance based movements that lean muscle and tone loves. Heck, excess cardio even runs down your muscle, slows down metabolism (ie. Cortisol) and can even lead to excess storage of body fat, especially around your waistline.
There are 3 types of “chronic cardio” that can take a toll on the body:
- Excess time and/or frequency spent doing cardio (machines, running, daily spin classes, etc.)
- Excess intensity (pushing your speed, miles, effort)
- Lack of recovery (under-eating, under-sleeping, not mixing it up)
Couple any one of these with the incessant or mandated need to do cardio (ie. forcing yourself to do cardio even on some days when it really is not the best use of time (ie you could be hanging out with family/ friends, baking, getting work done, etc), and you DO NOT HAVE FREEDOM.
However, even if you know that excess cardio is NOT “IDEAL” to “TONE UP” or do every single day…WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU LOVE CARDIO—YOU’RE ALMOST ADDICTED, AND YOU JUST WANT TO DO MORE CARDIO?!
Like: on one hand you want FREEDOM to live your life OUTSIDE of the gym or workout “mandates” AND you want a toned lean body that LESS cardio brings…
BUT on another hand, your cardio addiction feeds another part of you and your identity—you’re good at it, it’s your morning routine, you love how it makes you feel…
Doing Chronic Cardio Without Gaining Weight
What do you do if you want a relationship with exercise that ADDS to life, rather than strips away from it—a relationship with exercise based upon body love, energy and confidence vs. associated with weight, food and fear?
Great questions! And here’s what worked for me:
Step #1: BRAIN DUMP YOUR FITNESS RULES & LIMITING BELIEFS
Brain dump your current limiting beliefs and rules about cardio, fitness, your body and food if applicable. Nothing is off limits. Be brutally honest.
Step #2: CREATE YOUR AVATAR—IDEAL YOU
Next: Brain dump who “higher you” is – “that” girl or “that” guy who has a kick butt relationship with fitness, your body, food, other people, a growth mindset and more freedom to live your life in all areas. Don’t let your inner critic tell you “No! That’s not possible!” Just create HIGHER SELF YOU with bullets, phrases or even writing about a day in the life as ideal you.
Step #3: REFRAME YOUR OLD BELIEFS & SATURATE YOURSELF WITH TRUTH
Now, go back to step #1, and now it’s time to create NEW TRUTHS that combat the OLD LIES, for example:
“Chronic cardio makes me think of a stringy muscled sickly looking marathon runner who is not really thriving, or of a 40-something year old woman running like a hamster on a wheel at Orange Theory, hating on her body and trying to burn calories.”
“Chronic cardio slows my metabolism down.”
“Excess cardio wastes hours of my life in a gym when the gym is actually meant to energize me to live my life OUTSIDE the gym”
“Chronic cardio wrecks a healthy gut microbiome, imbalances hormones and stresses out the body.
Then SATURATE YOURSELF with truth: Create 1 to 3 “power statements” (gut luv mantras) that affirm your HIGHER SELF and begin saying them DAILY morning, evening and anytime cardio habits want to come in
Step #4: ACT “AS IF” YOU ARE IDEAL YOU
Work it! Put on the “super hero” cape or “costume” of your ideal self and act AS IF you are that guy or that girl today. Envision feeling, acting, sounding, thinking like your ideal self. Every night before bed, visualize ideal “you”—your ideal body and mind and relationship with exercise, food, your body and health. Believing is seeing. So as you think, therefore you WILL become.
Step #5: CHANNEL YOUR ENERGY ELSEWHERE
Now that you have some time (and life) back, where else can you channel your energy? Make a list of some possible alternative “outlets” to channel the excess time you were spending in the gym elsewhere.
- Time for “quiet time”—meditation, reflection, breath work, journaling
- Recovery — sauna, cold plunge, stretching, body work
- Work on your business
- Connect socially and with loved ones/significant others
- Tap into your creative self (acting, dancing, writing, art, photography, creating, crafting)
- Volunteer
- Get in the Word
- Read a book
- Personal growth work
- The sky is the limit!
CONCLUSION
Phew! We’ve covered A LOT of ground!
Here’s to lifting weights, toning up, body love and exercise freedom—not “bulking up” or being bound in chains to a Stairmaster!
If you’re looking for personal support, let’s optimize your metabolism, body confidence and help you take your health back into your own hands! Book a complimentary 20-minute Health Strategy Call today.