Secret #3: HIIT Cardio may cause MORE Stress
- Kevin Guardado
- Sep 21, 2018
- 2 min read
We’ve always encouraged strength training, proper nutrition and proper sleep as the best way to lose weight and build muscle.
Cardio is a great way to supplement your training, as long as your strength training program, nutrition and sleep is a priority.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a popular form of cardio that can produce some benefits, but can also be risky if done improperly...
HIIT cardio alternates between bouts of high-intensity exercises followed by low-intensity exercises, which increases the intensity of the workout.
By increasing the intensity, the risk factor also increases, which means we have to take extra precautions!
If you choose high intensity cardio as your main form of exercise,
you may not be happy with the outcome. Here is why:
The added stress of high intensity cardio will temporarily raise your metabolic rate, and possibly cause you to lose weight, but you will simultaneously lose muscle, causing a reduction of your metabolic rate (rate at which you burn calories) in the future. If done regularly, the cumulative effect will reduce your metabolic rate, creating an environment in which is even harder to achieve weight loss and management.
There are also other things to consider...
1. You might burn a few calories doing high intensity cardio, but you will probably be less active the rest of the day because you are overtired. This could make you less likely to do an extra bit of activity, like taking the elevator instead of the stairs.
2. You might have the mindset that because you already finished plenty of hard work, you don't need to do anything extra for the day. This will cause you to lose out on a bigger net calorie expenditure that you would have had if you didn’t do the cardio.
3. Cardio also takes valuable time out of your busy day, causing you a different type of stress – the negative kind of having too much to do in too little time.
4. It might even cut into the amount of time you have for sleeping, or contribute to bad eating choices by causing you to look for some satisfaction or energy by having a extra glass of wine or a dessert. Those choices negate any caloric losses and create a vicious cycle of working hard to reduce calories.
5. If the added stress of cardio contributes to an injury, that leads you to stop exercising while you recover, losing any gains in your health and fitness. Even worse yet, if the injury contributes to a chronic or degenerative condition or disease, you will have done no good for yourself.
It makes no sense, but it happens all the time!
Remember to always be thoughtful and use common sense when doing an exercise program.
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