Non-Stop Action

I was preparing to write a bit more on the previous topic of acceptable breakfast foods, when something briefly caught my attention and reminded me of yet another fantastic topic well worth exploring.  I was actually driving around in search of inspiration (as well as money, since I was on my way to the bank) when I noticed a lady-runner.  At first, I couldn’t quite figure out what exactly piqued my interest and attention – she was no more than an 8 on a scale of 10 – and being a consummate running professional that I am, I certainly wouldn’t have noticed the lady in question simply because she were attractive…. There has to be more going on to get me intrigued (well, not a lot more, but….)  Anyway, back to the point.

I quickly realized what I found troubling about the lady-runner:  she was not running!  As she approached the intersection, she simply slowed down and began slowly walking and after about a minute went back to running.  None of my business, entirely, and if you know anything about me, you know that I never judge ANYONE.  However, for the purposes of this discussion here, I wanted to share my views on the benefits of UNINTERRUPTED CARDIO, as opposed to your regular and popular interval training.

By definition, interval training combines bursts of intensive cardio work followed by a period of low-level activity, allowing you to relax and recuperate.  As typically advertised, interval training will allow you to lose more fat AFTER the exercise, by allegedly speeding up your metabolism and burning calories even after you are finished.

I am sorry, but from a practical standpoint, looking at what works in real life, not in some book – that is simply false advertising, that’s not the way things work and anyone claiming otherwise is simply wrong.

Believe me, I have tried it all, and the only thing that will break down your body and spike up your metabolism is UNINTERRUPTED CARDIO, doing something without stopping for about 20 minutes or more.  Yes, doing intervals will make you feel tired faster and you will probably sweat more and feel like you have accomplished something serious.  But it will not last.  It’s not about the sweat.  You have to get your heart rate up, if only a little bit, and keep it up for as long as you can at that CONSTANT PACE, which for some miraculous reason changes your internal physical and chemical structure.  So running sprints, then stopping, doing some weights and then going back to more sprints will only appear to provide some results.  In reality – it does very little to your long-term goals.

Hey, I am just sharing what works, not what sells books and workout programs.  And I certainly would never say all these things to the walking runner-lady, hey, why hurt someone’s feelings?  More importantly, I realize that you will not agree with these suggestions, and that’s ok – I am a big boy (or at least used to be) and will live with it!  Until then, please never interrupt and

KEEP IT RUNNING!