“CARDIO IS BAD FOR OUR METABOLISM”
“Cardio is bad for fat loss”
“Cardio wrecks your hormones”
“Cardio is the least important”.

A big ol FALLLLSEEE.

First off — having a healthy / good metabolism DOES NOT ONLY matter for “burning calories” and fat loss or have to mean fat loss. It’s just a common application of this misinformation. & for a deeper dive into our metabolism checkout my @themessymiddlepodcast episode with @steph.compton.nutrition ! 

People love to bash cardio. When in reality cardio is SUPER important for your health AND metabolism. I am sincerely over I don’t do cardio bragging. Your aerobic fitness status is important.

This doesn’t mean lifting isn’t. Lifting is incredibly important for metabolic health + metabolism. But it doesn’t do the same thing as cardio (see last weeks post).

Cardio helps develop the underlying energy systems & muscle fibers that help us use fat as fuel, metabolism glucose better & switch between the two efficiently. The later known as metabolic flexibility (my masters + PhD work is on met flex) & is a major measure of a “good metabolism”.

How your body uses carbs/fats for energy metabolism is important for our health! Your metabolism is a major part of your health.

We need + want cardio ALONG with lifting to develop these things. Your over all + aerobic fitness status is directly related to your metabolic flexibility. Cardio is like developing the engine of your car (your muscle).

Cardio gets bashed due to its misuse, poor recovery or under eating associated with it. OR it being used alone without being progressive or along with lifting or any high intensity training.

But it still doesn’t make it bad for you even if it’s the same pace steady state cardio every week. This still expends energy & is still Exercise. Appropriately dosed exercise ISN’T harmful. Ever.

This does not mean you have a broken or bad metabolism if you don’t have a really high cardio volume. It just means you should also care about + do cardio too. & if we have poor aerobic fitness should work on adding more in. Which doesn’t have to ONLY be steady state/running.

Lift weights.
Do cardio.

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