The word alone is enough to instill procrastination in even the most motivated gym-goer. Yet even in the face of plenty of excuses, the treadmill and its cohorts usually come out victorious, roping us in for yet another long bout of steady movement in the name of “burning calories.” Luckily, research has given us a multitude of legitimate excuses to finally escape the clutches of steady-state cardio. Read on to discover why dropping this form of cardio might just be one of the best decisions you can make for your waistline and hormonal health. Why and how do we end up with high cortisol levels? One word: stress. When the body is under stress, cortisol comes into play by storing fat as an “emergency fuel” in the face of our stressor. While this is valuable in a true life-or-death situation, it’s not an ideal state to be in on an average day. Which brings us to the kicker: Steady-state cardio has been proven to increase levels of cortisol. So instead of aiding in fat loss, too many steady-state cardio sessions a week will actually cause our bodies to hold on to fat, especially around our midsection. Prolonged, intense cardio sessions do just this by decreasing T3 output and potentially impairing future hormonal responses. In fact, research has shown that HGH is one of the premier hormones that promote synthesis of protein tissues and aids in metabolizing body fat for energy. Interestingly, steady-state cardio has been shown to lower both testosterone and HGH, which not only inhibits fat loss but can also cause fatigue, hot flashes, irritability, decreased muscle mass, and decreased bone density. The reason steady-state cardio is less effective is because it lacks the intensity that HIIT offers, which prompts the release of HGH (as we spoke of earlier) and catecholamines like adrenaline and norepinephrine. These hormones stimulate the release of fat from fat stores to be used for energy and were found to be released in negligible amounts during steady-state aerobic exercise. Steady-state cardio also lacks the “afterburn” effect that HIIT offers. Afterburn, otherwise termed excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), happens after bursts of intense exercise (such as in HIIT workouts) when the body attempts to repair itself after a tough workout. This results in more calories burned not only during the exercise but up to 48 hours afterward as well. If you’ve been performing too much steady-state cardio and are feeling the hormonal effects and not seeing the weight-loss results you want, try shortening your workouts while upping the intensity. Your body will thank you for it.
