Posted on 04/15/2007 7:54:59 PM PDT by Coleus
"Cardio kills," says Jim Karas in his new book, "The Cardio-Free Diet."
"Cardiovascular exercise kills a weight-loss plan, your internal organs, your immune system, your time and your motivation. If your true goal is to lose weight, interval strength training is the only way to go," says Karas, an ABC News correspondent, celebrity trainer and fitness expert. When he first tried to lose weight as a 21-year-old, Karas found that he would work up an enormous appetite after running several miles. So while his cardiovascular health improved he still wasn't losing weight.
He grew more interested in strength training and started exercising with weights. In a short period of time he noticed changes in his body's composition. Gradually, experimenting on himself, he started doing more strength exercise and less cardio — and his weight went down. His experiment resulted in a cardio-free exercise program that includes two routines with 10 exercises. Every two weeks, after beginning with Phase 1, you add two exercises as you progress to the next phase, ultimately getting to Phase 4.
Most of the exercises require you to use many muscles at the same time, increasing the number of calories burned and maximizing the creation of new muscle tissue. According to Karas, with his program you still get all three elements — strength training, cardio and flexibility. He says people who engage in his program see an increase in their heart rate. "It's really a three-for-one solution, when you look at exercise," says Karas.
Exercise physiologist Richard Weil is not convinced. "I'm flabbergasted, I'm astonished at what I'm reading. I genuinely believe he's deluding people and he's leading them to believe information that is really not factual. I believe that the book is dangerous." Weil, director of the weight-loss program at the New York Obesity Research Center at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, says it's untrue to suggest that aerobic exercise is not effective or helpful. 1. 2. 3. NEXT»
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Here here.
Sit on your a$$ and lift weights? Yeah, okay...
Neat posting trick.
Is he selling a book...Where is the program.
Cardio is still the best thing for you if you want to live longer.
Sounds a lot like 5BX, what the Canadian military used for a long time.
trick? what are you talking about?
Sex with a fat chick? That would satisfy both requirements.
When are people going to figure out that one diet or exercise regimen doesn’t work for everybody? If running works for you, great. If lifting works better for you, fantastic. Food and exercise is not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal.
“When he first tried to lose weight as a 21-year-old, Karas found that he would work up an enormous appetite after running several miles”
ok..so maybe we shouldn’t run for “several miles”.
Maybe we should run 1, 2, or 3.
But why give it up entirely?
grain of salt here.
I changed my body composition/shape mainly using weight-machines with four 20-minute-segments of cardio - stairclimber per week. My body changed dramatically in six months. I could see differences in one month. But it took a lot of time/dedication.
When my work schedule increased and was not able to exercise 4x per week, I found I gained weight evenly. Now I’m ready to hit it again. Maybe not 4x per week, but at least 2-3.
I also stuck with a moderate protein, fat, carb diet, with good carbs.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"In Body Rx Connelly advises: stay off the treadmill. Again, research bears him out -- aerobic activity is a very inefficient method of burning extra calories. Additionally, aerobic activity often sacrifices as much lean tissue as fat, so your metabolic rate drops as you lose a combination of both fat and muscle. Weight training, of course, builds lean muscle, which increases both caloric requirements and the metabolism"
Unfortunately it’s little known to married women.
The trick was doing the >2>3 and getting it to link.
Hadn’t seen anyone do that before. Slick ....
Lots of people who have normal physiology do very well with strength training as a strategy to gain muscle, burn fat and improve body composition. It's not a guaranteed successful track if you have other issues standing in the way.
Yes, maybe for men, but sex has a way of really wrecking a girls figure in 9 quick months.
Actually, a lot of personal trainers are talking about this. Don’t give up the cardio necessarily - but it seems that regular resistance training really helps a person who is dieting maintain muscle mass - and may make the body burn calories longer than traditional cardio work.
Pretty neat stuff.
You can do a lot of things and get the heart rate up.
My husband swears that 3 minute rounds and a 1 minute rest on the heavy bag gets his heart rate up like running never could.
He can run for hours at a time.
I don’t get hungry from jogging unless I jog past a KFC.
He’s being illogical. He says that one is to give up cardio training, but then admits that weight training can get the heart rate up—and that, of course, is cardio training, even if one is not running around a track to do it.
The trouble with running as a cardiac exercise is that by the time you really need it, in middle age, your knees and other joints are starting to give out and the pounding of a three- to five-mile run finishes them. If done carefully and well a strength-training regimen is excellent. But it’s also good to get out and run a little, walk fast, play tennis, swim, ride, ski, or do something else outdoors to get the blood flowing.
When I had my last child I had a neighbor who was a personal trainer. Her gift to me was a counselling session and weight-loss plan. She told me that the biggest mistake people make when they’re trying to lose a lot of weight is to think they can only exercise once a day. When you do aerobic exercise you raise your metabolic rate for several hours, but then it slows again. To get your metabolic rate up and keep it up at a level that burns a lot of calories, you have to do some sort of exercise twice a day. She was right. The weight came off very well when I did what she said, even though I was eating like a horse to nurse my baby.
That is one way to lose weight but it isn’t the only way. In my early 20’s I lost 35 pounds through running. A few decades later I still am down 25 (165). Cardio can work very well if you have the discipline to not do what this idiot did and eat more and cancel out the calories you burned.
I favor "Tabata intervals" as a means of getting optimum results. 20 seconds of heavy lifting/full bore running, 10 seconds of rest. Repeat for a total of 5 minutes.
Your friend most probably had some heart defect and it was never discovered with an examination. Heredity trumps diet and exercise every time.
The way I am now, I’d be lucky to sustain 20 seconds of full-tilt boogie running.
LOL..
I suspect that plays a part. His dad was the district manager in charge of my PacBell building. He died from lung cancer at 53. Something about 3 packs of cigarettes a day probably had an influence too. My friend didn't smoke. My friend's brother was born in the same hospital on the same day as I was. It was quite a coincidence.
o brother...are women anything other than hot to you?
Sounds like Jim Fixx.
Heridity plays a huge role.
what’s missing in the discussion is that weight training, done with sufficient intensity, IS cardiovascular exercise. Granted that the way most people work out—do a few reps, loll around on the bench, socialize with other people in the gym, do a few more reps—isn’t anywhere near intense enough to get the job done.
I grab the 88 lb kettlebell and swing it from knee level to shoulder level for 20 seconds. 10 seconds rest and repeat for a total of 5 minutes. Alternatively, I perform 20 swings and hop on the elliptical for 10 minutes to let my heart rate settle. I repeat that cycle until I have completed 120 swings. A protein shake and shower are in order at that point. It's critical to keep moving as your level of oxygen deficit is pretty severe with the KBs.
Some very fit KB lifters will take a 35 lb bell and perform 1000 consecutive snatches (floor to locked out overhead with one hand). Switching hands every 50 swings avoid blisters.
Why are they wearing boots and jeans? I’m guessing alcohol was involved.
It’s called a high fiber diet to keep you full for longer periods and not gain weight back.
Hmmmm....I may try that.....I power walk almost every day for 45 min - 1 hr (often including a major hill) and I go to Curves 3 times a week....usually nearly consecutively.....maybe I’ll make the Curves my afternoon workout.....since in the year I’ve been going I’ve not lost a pound (although, I’ve strengthened muscles.) But, I’m also over the hill.....I would like to lose 10 lbs....just 10 measly pounds....
Wasn't he found by a couple of smokers?
There is a growing body of evidence that, even with exercise, too much can be very, very bad. I can’t recall where I’ve read it, but I believe many people now recommend against running more than 30 miles a week. Any more (or equivilent strain from riding, swimming etc.) and the stress it puts on your body is just too great.
What works for me is to do 2 miles with the dog, walking fast/running a little each morning before work, same after work, weights before bedtime. I’m also quite active with gardening, cutting the grass myself, swimming, and the horses, but these things do not burn off the pounds. If you power walk remember that it will take at least fifteen minutes of fast walking to get your heart rate up to 75% of its maximum, so why not start off with a little jog to get it up there, then drop back to a fast walk to keep it up? This is just what the trainer suggested and it seems to work for most of her clients.
Actually, I have been adding in brief jogging spells....and after what I went through a couple of years ago.....it’s a pleasure to be able to run/jog - never thought I would be able to again.....I used to run 10K’s in my 20’s/30’s.....been pondering doing a 5K again....but it’s been about 25 years.....LOL. (During which I’ve done lots of other activities, like you.)
Just reading about that is causing me to break out in a sweat.
I don’t know but the irony of it touches me.
“Yes, maybe for men, but sex has a way of really wrecking a girls figure in 9 quick months.”
no kidding!
oh man...don’t get me going!
In order to weight train effectively you also have to switch it up. Heavy, lots of reps/low weight, timed sets, pyramids, negatives, fast twitch (sort of like pushing the weight so hard on a bench that you have to catch it on the way down), super 7’s (7-half way up, 7 half way down then 7 full motion on a set), barbell only, dumbell only, etc.
“But, I’m also over the hill.....I would like to lose 10 lbs....just 10 measly pounds....”
Do a google of David Kirsch.
His program has worked wonders for me.
everyone is different and not all programs are good for everybody....for me this was the perfect answer.
“There is a growing body of evidence that, even with exercise, too much can be very, very bad. I can’t recall where I’ve read it, but I believe many people now recommend against running more than 30 miles a week. Any more (or equivilent strain from riding, swimming etc.) and the stress it puts on your body is just too great”
I have an automatic guard against overdoing it.
My ITB band seems to rebel if I run more than 3 miles at a time.
When I feel it acting up I switch to a fast walk and don’t run for a couple of days.
I think the point is lifting weights is cardio. I was given that tip by a powerlifting friend many years ago. I wished I'd believed him right away instead of waiting years to try it.
The trouble with running as a cardiac exercise is that by the time you really need it, in middle age, your knees and other joints are starting to give out and the pounding of a three- to five-mile run finishes them.
Or if you are a runner all your life, your feet, ankles, and knees will already be shot. A friend of mine who is a runner and very fit can't get within eight inches of touching his toes.
I’m sorry about your friend. Jim Fixx also had a massive coronary. Most of it is genetic. I also wonder if chronic inflammation may have something to do with it too.
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