It’s slightly mind-blowing how many different ways there are to work out.
There are the classics, like jogging, biking, swimming and tennis; the dance centric, like zumba, hip-hop, aerobics and barre; the new wave, like body pump, Cross Fit, P90X; and on and on. Most of these workouts center around cardio as the way to get slim, which is the ultimate goal for most.
The good news is that for people starting out in a very heavy weight range, they’ll see results … at first.
I stumbled across an article entitled “Why women shouldn’t run” and clicked on it because I wasn’t sure if the author meant politically or physically. What I found was a slightly rude, but mostly eye-opening article on why relying on heavy cardio to get and stay skinny is actually hurting your chances.
The author talked about his girlfriend, who ran miles on the treadmill every time she was in the gym but only got larger. Eventually, a blood test found that she had hypothyroidism, a common endocrine disorder in which the thyroid doesn’t make enough of the thyroid hormone. One of its major symptoms is the inability to burn fat. Even though she worked out every day, a trait that most people would consider healthy, her condition negated all of her invested effort.
As much as people like to believe that cardio is the surest way to get skinny, running endlessly at a fixed pace doesn’t change the body; it maintains it, at best.
To burn calories, your metabolism needs to be high, and high metabolisms require muscle mass.
I see girls on the treadmills and ellipticals in the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center every day running tirelessly and sweating it out only to see little change. I’ve had plenty girlfriends tell me they don’t want to lift because they don’t want to get bulky, but let’s be real: Lifting weights three or four times a week won’t turn you into the Hulk overnight.
There’s a visible divide in the Strom of women on the cardio deck and mostly men on the weight floor working out the vanity muscles. We shouldn’t be afraid of lifting a few heavy things. But I have to admit, this spring I’ve seen more girls than ever on the weight floor, which is a promising sign.
If you genuinely enjoy running, then more power to you, but if you’re doing it with the vain hopes of looking better in your bikini this summer, try adding more strength into your workouts and keeping cardio or high-intensity circuits to a 20-minute limit.