Are you still getting up early in the pouring rain and
pounding the streets in the hope of losing that excess
belly fat? Well all that hard work could be for nothing
and leave you injured too! Find out why running is one of
the last things you should be doing for your health with my
7 deadly sins of running.
1. Decreases the size of your heart.
Small muscles use less energy and are more efficient.
Consider the difference in energy consumption between a
50cc scooter and a huge V8 4×4 truck. Our heart is a
muscle just like the rest of our muscles, if you force the
heart to keep running for long periods of time it will
naturally shrink to use less energy and become more
efficient. Remember that energy is a valuable commodity and
the body wants to retain as much as possible.
2. Causes injury through repetitive movements.
When you run 2.5-3 times your bodyweight is transmitted
through your joints. Now imagine this type of force being
repeated over and over again for long periods of time,
eventually your weakest joint will give out. Usually the
ankles or the knees are the first to go. Many runners then
opt for some kind of support or brace which only
exacerbates the problem by moving it on to the next weakest
joint whist keeping the old injury still weak.
3. Slows down your metabolism.
The more muscle tone you can maintain, generally the higher
your metabolism. Muscle is highly metabolically active and
requires constant energy to survive, so the more muscle
tone you have the more calories you will be burning at
rest. Long distance running will often deplete your energy
stores and then start breaking down your muscle tissue to
use as energy. If you want some serious muscle wastage and
to reduce your metabolic rate then keep running.
4. Produces more body fat.
Fat is one of our body's favourite sources of energy. The
more you run the more your body prepares itself for your
next run. You will actually start to hold on to more fat so
you can run for longer next time.
5. Boring and time consuming.
Some people run for fun, but lets face it most of us run to
get in shape and lose that excess belly fat. The truth is
running is very time consuming and there are better ways to
get great results in a lot lot less time.
6. Cardiac distress and heart attacks.
Evolving from our hunter gatherer days we had no real
necessity to run long distances, in fact the only running
we ever did was in short bursts to avoid predators or to
catch food. Our body simply isn't designed to run long
distances and the stresses you put your heart under during
this time can set you up for a heart attack. It's a fact
that many long distance runners do die of heart attacks.
7. Fat burning slows right down.
The body is an amazing machine and will adapt to anything
over time. The more time you spend running the better you
become at running and the more efficient you get at using
less energy. So what starts off as a great calorie burner
quite quickly becomes almost useless at burning excess
calories. Ultimately runners then have to run further and
further to get the same calorie expenditure that they
acheived when they first started.
If you have read all this and are thinking "OK, so what is
the answer - what should I be doing?". The answer is
simple, high intensity training. Intensity training is like
strength training but for your heart and lungs. It burns
far more calories, strengthens your heart & joints and
increases your metabolism - the best thing is it only takes
10 - 20 minutes max.
----------------------------------------------------
Greg is a leading health and fitness professional and
author of "The No Gear Workout" based in Hampstead, North
London. He achieves fantastic results for his clients by
using his indepth knowledge and the most up to date
techniques.
For free high intensity workouts visit the website and
enter your details in the "Send me the Secrets" box.
http://www.gbpersonaltraining.com
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