Aerobics makes you fat!

Aerobic Training Makes You Fat!

That's right I said it. Have a think about it, you see a lot of 'soft' joggers plodding around. However if you head down to your nearest '5 a side' pitch, athletics track, martial arts club (ignore the super-heavy weight judo fighters) you will see a lot more lean bodies.

Why? Well there are a number of reasons. Here are 5 reasons why training aerobically can make you fat:
1. When training at 60% (often prescribed) you aren't working hard enough (burning enough calories) to change your body composition
2. Training aerobically can be catabolic (breaks down muscle tissue) which slows metabolism - slow metabolism = more fat!
3. It can cause you to increase cortisol, a stress hormone which can lay down fat.
4. It can increase stress and disrupt sleep patterns which your body needs to defend itself against storing more fat.
5. Repetitive and long, slow aerobic work can lead to repetition induced injuries (knees, lower backs), which in turn lead to inactivity which causes more fat storage.

We aren't to blame. For years we have been told that all you need to do is workout 3 times a week at approximately 60%. Well to be honest this doesn't quite cut it. The same people who put out these recommendations nearly 20 years ago last year amended this statement. Recommendations now state that exercise should be strenuous and vigorous and individuals should be doing something most days for health and body composition benefits.

CV machines in gyms don't help either. Fat Burning Zones are given at 60% of your maximum heart rate. Now this in itself isn't false, however it is hugely misguiding. It is true that at 60% of your maximum heart rate your main fuel source is fat- so what? Your main fuel source while you sleep, sit at your desk and do very little is fat. What's important is that at 60% of your maximum heart rate you don't burn enough fat to make any significant changes to your body composition. You need to be working harder!

Now that I've told you that what you've been doing up until now has been a waste, it would be amiss of me not to let you know what you should do. So what should you do?

Here are 5 things that will help you to burn fat:
1. Perform 2-3 sessions of weight training per week.
2. Perform whole body compound movements: Squats; Lunges; Pushes; Pulls - seem familiar?
3. Increase your intensity; intervals are fantastic. Try 5 bouts of 1min on 1min off. Think of boxers, 'lean as butchers dogs' comes to mind, their whole training is based around 2 or 3 minutes on and 1min off
4. Have protein at every meal and cut sugar from your diet
5. Chill out, meditate, play a game of something, have some you time. Try and do something at least once a week that will help reduce your stress levels- for how this helps to burn fat, see all the correlations between stress and fat above. Exercise is great but you also need some down time, this may be walking the dog or reading a book.


There you go. I've given you 5 reasons why aerobic training makes you fat and I've also given you 5 things you should do if you want to get rid of your blubber. We'll all hopefully be a little more "as fit as a butchers dog"!