What Happens To Runners

Posted: January 20th, 2011 | Author: Dr. Bill Stillwell | No Comments »

Have you ever noticed the build of people who run all the time?

Have you ever said to yourself: “Gee, I’d like to look like that.”

Hopefully you didn’t want to look like a runner… what I like to
call “roadkill.” (That’s a joke!) A couple of days back, I posited
that “cardio” isn’t the best way to help you reduce body fat, even
though thousands of health and fitness professionals profess that
it’s the way to go.

What they are really saying is, “That’s the way to go HERE…as in,
you’ll be a client for life. Because the fact that you won’t succeed
with their DA fitness plan is well known in the industry. That’s
right, they KNOW cardio doesn’t work as well for this.

Researchers have actually found (in muscle biopsies of marathon
runners) that their muscle fiber size had decreased…actually
atrophied. (Bet that makes you want to lace up those shoes…)

During low intensity workouts, the olde bod gets most of its energy
from fat. In moderate intensity workouts, the fat burn increases to
a very high level (75% +). But in high intensity workouts, the body
reduces its immediate use of lard and instead, draws nearly all its
energy from carbs (glycogen, in muscle and liver cells).

Because fat is the preferred fuel in low to moderate exercise, that
would seem to make a case for the aerobic fitness crowd and you can
see why cardio is always their recommendation.

But not so fast…

Because this is more of an endurance exercise, the body adapts to
“strip down” the body to its lowest mass, for long distance
exertion.

Unfortunately, it does this at the expense of muscle mass. Just look
at long distance runners. They may look slim, but they have little
relative muscle mass. And when you have less muscle mass, you have a
“smaller engine” with which to burn body fat.

By contrast, look at a sprinter. The sprinter is all bulging muscle
and looks powerful. That’s because sprinters secrete three times the
growth hormone as long distance runners. And among other things,
that increases muscle mass, which builds you a “bigger engine” to
burn more fat, faster.

It boils down to this…

Short, intense bursts of exercise increase cardiac output, lead to
faster cardiac adjustments, increase cardiac reserve and “help you
lose bodyfat with less than 10 minutes of exertion.” HIT decreases
total cholesterol…with an increase in “good” cholesterol. It also
raises your testosterone levels, which promote muscle growth, reduce
memory loss, reduce fat deposition, stimulate low libido, relieve
sexual dysfunction and counter loss of strength and bone density.

And then…

It also helps you lose weight, by burning much more fat for 24-36
hours AFTER you stop exercising (this is HUGE!). You see, after the
exercise itself (when the body is burning carbohydrates, for rapid
energy needs), your metabolism switches over to burning fat, for an
extended period. When you do the math, turns out you lose a lot more
fat with this method than with cardio.

When you combine this kind of high intensity exercise with my
Powerhouse Omega Formula and some clean eating, you are on your way
to real fitness:

https://www.favoriteformulas.com?awt_l=GnZNU&awt_m=1fnxQZVF.Iz2rW

I’ll be back tomorrow with more.

With my best wishes for your optimum health,

Dr. Bill

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