Hee! They drew hair on his legs!!When Personal Trainers Attack
It was bound to happen. The gym can be like a family – both in good ways and bad – so when a personal trainer went on Attack today, I can’t say I was overly surprised. Well, that and he told me he was going to Attack Gym Buddy Allison and I. We even had the time and place set, West Side Story style. Meet me in the basketball courts. 10:30 and don’t be late! I know where you are!
Personal Trainer A wanted to practice teaching Body Attack before his grand debut on Memorial Day and needed gerbils to practice his party tricks on. And you know how Allison and I love to be gerbils! We even roped Gym Buddy Megan into the fun. Side note: you totally want to click thru the Body Attack link, if only to see the wacky photoshopping they did. The poor woman’s arms – she’s a freak of nature!
The Class
First things first – despite having the awesomest name ever for an aerobics class (I was having visions of Krav Maga crossed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer), much to my dismay there is no actual attacking in Body Attack. What it is instead is a boot-camp style interval class that, after I put my Mortal Kombat dreams on the back shelf, turned out to be a decent burn. We alternated tracks of lunging kicks straight out of Fiddler on the Roof (Tevye plyos!) with running in ever tighter circles until my head spun and then we changed directions.
But my favorite part by far was the folk dancing track. Oh, of course it isn’t really called that, and the music was Usher on speed rather than polka, but the moves were totally 6th-grade May Day. We held our hands up and ran towards each other in a big happy circle and then back out again, slapping arms and shoulders all the way. You can’t buy this kind of entertainment, I tell you. We even ended up doing a group do-si-do during which Megan accused me of trying to hold her hand. Which of course I was. Hard to do a decent Reel without holding hands! Plus she tried to spank me.
Personal Trainer A was not terribly amused with our antics but he took it pretty well, even giving us permission to take potty breaks if “we really had to go.” And when you’ve had as many kids as I have, trust me, you really have to go. By the end, silliness notwithstanding, we were all sweaty and beginning to feel the soreness creep in (five minutes of push-ups!!).
My vote: great calorie burn, good interval workout but a class you definitely want to take with people you like (remember that kid in school who always smelled like poo and tried to kiss you behind the lunch room? Yeah.)
The Effects of Cardio?
Mark Sisson and Co. have got me thinking a lot about cortisol recently. Basically it is a hormone that your body makes when you are stressed out and it is bad for you. It lowers your immune system, destroys muscle and actually instructs your body to store fat (cue scary music). The general consensus over at the Daily Apple is that any intense workout over 45 minutes puts you into cortisol production mode. They are particularly against very long sessions of high-intensity cardio.
So today, Gym Buddy Allison and I did an hour-long, brutal Spin class and then Body Attacked each other (see? awesome!!) for another hour. I burned nearly 1400 calories. While it was crazy fun – gotta love those endorphins! – I felt completely destroyed when we were done and had a major crash this afternoon. I have also had nearly uncontrollable sugar cravings all day long. Mmm… cookie dough for dinner.
Which is exactly what Mark & Co. predicted would happen. They also predicted that contrary to popular belief, that kind of crazy excessive cardio we did today would actually prevent fat burning and inhibit muscle growth by causing your body to be in a sustained state of stress. I know, I know, I’m a if-some-is-good-more-must-be-better girl myself but I’m also a numbers girl. Want to know what happened today? After all that major burnage, I gained two pounds.
So I pulled out my trusty book of compulsiveness, er, exercise data and looked back over the last 6 months at how my weight correlated to calories expended. I’ve talked about this before but, call me a slow learner, I guess the lesson didn’t sink in. The more calories I burned per week in cardio, the more weight I gained. The weeks where I focused more on strength training & intervals *cough*crossfit*cough* and less on traditional cardio, my weight went down.
I think it is starting to make sense to me although I’m still bummed that something I love soooo much isn’t good for me in excess (ah, chocolate, parting is such sweet sorrow!). And in case you are wondering what Mark advises for people caught in a fat-loss plateau: up your protein and lower your cardio.
Any of you tried Body Attack? How about Cardio Folk Dancing?? What have you noticed about your body when you do a lot of cardio? Hit me up with your cardio epiphanies!
Mark Sisson and Co. have got me thinking a lot about cortisol recently. Basically it is a hormone that your body makes when you are stressed out and it is bad for you. It lowers your immune system, destroys muscle and actually instructs your body to store fat (cue scary music). The general consensus over at the Daily Apple is that any intense workout over 45 minutes puts you into cortisol production mode. They are particularly against very long sessions of high-intensity cardio.
Charlotte, if you read my workout posts, you know that I am going to disagree with this BUT saying that, I still think it comes down to what is right for you as a person. I don't go for this one size fits all. I have been working out like a maniac for years & I have actually had more results, lower body fat & more muscle than when I was younger so… for me, I would say this theory may not work.
BUT I can see & know many people that get declining results with more.. it is just not me.. When my bod tells me to slow down, I will , but it is not saying that yet.
no actual attacking? how awful 🙂
i've been doing lots of cardio recently and i haven't noticed too much of a difference physically. i think it's because i need to make sure i'm eating plenty and not. so even though there's huge calorie burnage there's also huge calorie eatage. but i'm okay with it because when i don't eat enough i get cranky and irritable. no bueno.
also i'm not so worried about cortisol from all my workouts but rather from my life stress. between school and training and my future i am a ball of stress right now. so i know cortisol is pumping through my system.
interesting to think, though, that my stress relief of running might not be doing so much stress relief.
I love cardio. I'm good at it and it there is nothing like working up a good sweat a few times a week to keep my moods nice and level. I just feel like I am not getting a work out unless I get the full body exhausted feeling that cardio gives me. I can lift weights until my arms and legs quit, but it just doesn't feel the same, and mentally, it doesn't make me feel as good.
That being said- I think that there can be too much of a good thing. My favorite form of cardio is running, but when I was training for a half marathon, I ended up cutting back from working out 4 or 5 days a week to working out 3 days a week. My long runs that were over 45 minutes definitely decreased my overall energy level and I *had* to nap after runs lasting longer than an hour. I don't think that I was in "better" shape after training for my half marathon. I was in very good shape, but I was in very good shape before. I was mainly just better at running for a long time. I wasn't as good at lifting weights or as flexible. I've pretty much stayed the same size despite my choice of activity.
Also, my understanding is that with running, muscle development can be uneven due to an uneven gait, so weight lifting is a good way to even yourself out and prevent injury. So it is definitely a good idea regardless of cortisol considerations to mix things up. I do plan to lift more soon- cardio is my comfort zone and I think it's good to break out of that. Plus, I'd like some definition in my arms since sleeveless shirt weather is just around the corner. 🙂
I'm trying to wrap my brain around the body sending signals to produce cortisol after a certain point in a cardio workout.
BTW, I love the pic of the ninja groundhogs. LOL
Hah! I used to love doing Body Attack at the gym and your description is spot-on!
I agree with Jody. From my own experience, and from reading the experiences of others, I think people's need for cardio varies a lot. I think each person needs to experiment a bit to find what works best for them as an individual.
I'm operating on the Former Fat Chick (FFC) rules and I find I have to do a lot of cardio to maintain my weight. If I cut back I will gain weight like crazy!
I also think people fret too much about cortisol, and that is exploited by some of the supplement companies with their "cortisol busting" supplements.
I NEED cardio! It is the ONLY thing that helps me lose weight! I could (and often do) strength train 'til the cows come home (I imagine, as there are no actual cows nearby) and still pack on the pounds. But when I add cardio, the pounds tend to come off.
(Is it just me, or did that video remind anyone else of 80's aerobics videos?)
My gym does all the Les Mills classes- and I am addicted to them- Attack, Combat, RPM mainly. Sometimes I do RPM and then catch half of an Attack or Combat class. I am obsessed with trying to burn x amount of calories, yet my jeans seem to be getting tighter not looser. So perhaps there is some truth to the cortisol thing. I'll have to check out Mark's blog. I know I could stand to do more strength training but I just can't seem to give up the cardio. In my mind, anything less than an hour is no good. dumb I know. But in spite of the calories burned, these classes are FUN! They are my stress relief. But the coritisol theory says that I am increasing my stress level through my choice of stress relief? What's a cardio addict to do?
My arms look like that woman's! I'm not afreak of nature, I have hyper-extensive elbows. I'll have to send you a picture…
I link you blog specially The Effects of Cardio article is very informative. I agree with shelly …
LORDY I SAY YESYESYES.
Kinda blogged about it today and while it COULD be an excuse fer my lack of proper training I know (for me) when I do more than a certain level of cardio I look worse, feel worse and have less energy.
definitely not the goal.
very interesting thought… I've always felt that more cardio makes me more hungry for some reason but never understood the reason. Thanks for sharing that. If you don't mind I'll blog about it and link to you, I need more people (specially in the blog world, health advocates) need to know this.
I love the attack aerobics. I enjoy my gym but I wish they would offer more classes and offer them at 5:30am which is when it would be really convenient for me to go to the gym.
You do need strength training. No one will get really toned on cardio alone.
Yup, I still do cardio for the endorphins, but only one endurance (1 hr. +) session per week. The others days is HIIT. HIIT plus weights really melts excess fat. That said, any movement and exercise (as long as it's respectful of your body and not pumping out cortisol) is better than sitting on the couch.
Check out Rachel Cosgrove: http://rachelcosgrove.blogspot.com/2009/09/another-reason-strength-training-is.html. And those pics of her body transformation after training for an ironman are stunning! Lots of steady state cardio tells your body to store fat, because it's gonna need those reserves!
No thank you. I want to be a metabolic waster, a reckless spender of calories.
Well I always find that when I do too much cardio that I am absolutely starving hungry for the rest of the day. I then proceed to stuff my face which kind of defeats the object!
I have known a few people who have done too much cardio, but it's no epidemic, and I'd say 99.9% of people do too little!
I knew a doctor from South Africa that got into untra-marathons and destroyed herself with osteoporosis and spinal fractures from her uber-intense workouts!
A certain amount of stress is important to maintaining health. That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.
Horrible photoshopping indeed! I watched the video and it looks like an early 90's group aerobics class that was only missing the leg warmers. NOT that thats a bad thing! I bet its a blast with a group of girlfriends to laugh with too.
I must admit I'm not really a fan of the Les Mills classes. The first time I did Body Attack at a fitness conference, I thought it was awesome (especially the music). Perhaps because of space constraints, they didn't do the running and fun stuff you mentioned. But then I went to other conferences and the music and choreography was exactly the same, even a year later. And it seemed to me the "instructors" were doing more performing, doing particular moves on particular beats, than going around and instructing. Oh, and I loved the jump kick moves, but they were waaay to fast.
*stepping down off the fitness instructor soap box*
That said, they are really fun classes:) I just can't do them because my brain burns out if I do the same stuff all the time.
I love cardio! But I hate running, so when I run I do intervals anyway. I haven't really tracked the more cardio = more weight thing, but that's interesting. The more I add lifting into my workouts, the better in shape I feel. Need to get back to that…
I've noticed that if I ride the bike hard for 60 minutes 5 days a week for 2 weeks, but then cut it down to 3-4 days per weeks at 30-40 minutes, I actually lose more weight. The only reason I started with the 60/2/5 was because I hadn't ridden in a while. That got my body going; sort of a jump start, if you will. Then just kept it moderate to hard a few times per week with other stuff thrown in. Between January 1 and February 14 I actually lost 15.6 pounds. Not too shabby. Plus, my 33×30 jeans fit again. Next stop, my 32×30 corduroys.
I don't know about cardio fold dancing but tribal bellydancing rocks 🙂
I never do 'too much' cardio because my bad knee prevents it. I would say that just a bit helps me stay sane and I never feel quick worked-out unless I run. I have not been doing much cardio at all due to a hamstring/back injury and have been losing pretty well with weights and Lindsey's pulse pyramids.
I know that my old chiropractor trained for a marathon last fall and put on quite a bit of weight. It drove her a bit nutty that her husband could chow after their long training sessions but she monitored every calorie and still gained. Not sure if it came off after the marathon – haven't been since.
Interesting info. I've never heard that about long workouts and cortisol. (Though I definitely give myself a dose of it daily from stressing.) I'm not a huge fan of cardio (bad knees, ouch) so it works for me!
Really, I think it all depends on the person. I wish cardio were bad for you because I'm not a fan. But I do it because it makes me feel better after. And long cardio sessions do help me feel fitter–though I've never checked the weight difference.
I kind of buy this. I wonder did you do body fat analysis? because if your weight went up with more cardio, could you have been building muscle? Because Exhibit A is endurance athletes, specifically long distance and marathon runners…fat? I think not. and they run anywhere for 80-150 miles a week, PLUS other cross training, drills, and some weights. It could be that old thinking of "normal" people of "Man I worked out for an Hour (or two or three) so I deserve that log of cookie dough, steak etc" which undos and then some all the working out. It'd be interesting to know.
I do lose weight when I cut back on cardio, but I believe I'm losing muscle more than fat (and there by perhaps increasing my body fat %).
I honestly believe that the best thing for people is to do the amount of cardio that makes them feel good , whether that's 30min 3x a week or 2 hours 7xs a week or somewhere in between, and to eat balanced meals when hungry and stop when full. 🙂 Easier espoused than done.
Hi Charlotte!
Love this post. I wish I lived closer to a place that had ANY semi-current gym classes. Turbo Jam, BodayAttack, Zumba, whatev–I'd just like to have it!
As for too much cardio, I can see that. But I don't think too much cardio stresses us–it just makes us eat more.
I'm a life-long worrier and you can tell by my waistline. When I'm happy, my weight drops naturally, without me really thinking about it. The more I diet/do cardio, and the more I think (read: obsess/worry) about my weight, the less it comes off. So cortisol definitely plays a part.
I'm trying to lose weight for the zillionth time again and I'm doing interval training, and switching between 30-Day Shred and 30 minutes on the elliptical at home. Once the snow goes away (hahaha, that seems like it'll never happen), I plan to start walking outside a few times a week.
wow, i had no idea extra cardio had the opposite effect of what i would have expected! i guess i don't understand the cortisol stuff. maybe all the cardio was in fact muscle building and you built muscle which weighs more than fat? do your clothes fit any differently?
Needed to read this today. Thanks Charlotte!!
If I did 2 hours of intense cardio, I would want to eat all day. I remember back when I ran (& weighed more), I was hungry ALL the time. Miserable!
I've always tried to alternate what I do with fitness … Mondays is strength or yoga, Tuesday is cardio and yoga, Wednesday is strength and yoga, Thursday is cardio and yoga, Friday is strength and yoga, and Saturday is LONG cardio and yoga.
I'm not sure … maybe I should take up yoga?
Anyway, I find that this helps. I'm not doing 2 different things (besides yoga, which to me is just stretching, which feels great) on the same day, but alternating. My muscles get a break when I'm running, and I don't tire myself out so much when I have a day or two in between runs.
Generally, though, my workouts aren't over an hour, unless you count my long run. On Mondays and Tuesdays, if I'm going to a 75 minute yoga class in the evening, I do my run or strength in the morning, so I'm not doing everything continuously.
Anyway … now I'm just babbling.
K
I don't particularly care for cardio, unless it's an outdoor bike ride or ski. I hate group exercise classes, and find cardio on the machines-to-nowhere to be terminally boring. Not surprisingly, I don't build cardio into my workouts.
How's this worked for me? Well, just before my 40th birthday, I was down to 13% BF (hello, abs!) with an exercise program built around lifting and once-in-a-blue-moon HIIT. That entailed too much attention to diet to be sustainable long term, so I'm now sitting at about 17% BF. I do a combination of crossfit and traditional strength training; it's rare that I'm in the gym for more than 45 minutes. Well, except on housecleaning days: for some reason, I simply must have a three-hour workout on days when DH and I are supposed to be cleaning.
YMMV, and all that.
Great post, but do oyu have any research about the production of cortisol after 45 minutes of cardio? I'd love to see it!
Huh. Definitely a YMMV sort of thing.
The only way I lose weight is if I exercise an average of 2 hours a day. (Not-so-high-intensity, and broken up into morning, noon, and night, but still.)
Your Combat class is different to any of the ones I've taken that's for sure- I'd love to Doe-see-doe and hold hands with my partner!
I think that the Q you ask is the holy grail of exercise. Without repeating myself 95 times in previous comments and posts, I was advised to lay off the high-intensity-for-long-periods of time as it was "eating away my muscle". When I did that, I lost fat and gained muscle. When another professional recommended me limiting my cardio to 20 min per session (vs 45-50 per my usual), I found myself gaining weight. I recently kibboshed that and am up to my longer cardio sessions and things are starting to improve.
So, I'm still not sure. We may all respond differently. I'm trying to find what works for me.
I know you said after that 1400 cal burning sesh you gained 2 pounds- if it was the next day, certainly that would be fluid fluctuations and nothing more. As for looking back on your old exercise records, that has much more merit for you.
that's actually a relief to me–the queen of hating cardio that doesn't look like dancing.
🙂
(and also, my arms look just like the body attack chica's–hyperextended elbows FTW!)
ps (new blog! http://cheekypinky.wordpress.com)
For me personally this does not apply. Over the summer I couldn't run and I was eating a low carb high protein diet and doin lots of heavy weight lifting with intervals for cardio…and gained 10+ pounds and 5-7% body fat. In October I started eating a non-dairy vegetarian diet(read high carb) began running again and took a twice a week class that did some strength training and some cardio…and I've lost most of the weight and fat I've gained and have developed more muscle than I've ever had….go figure…I think everyone is unique and has to find what works for them.
I think it depends on HOW much cardio you do. I think theres a point where it becomes absurd if you're not working toward performance results. For instance, people who jump from a 5km to a 10k to a half marathon to a marathon without working hard to perfect those different levels of running levels tend to wind up either excessivly skinny OR skinny fat. Where as people who work really hard to get a sub 20minute 5k look better then someone who slogs through a 10k – even though the person running 10k burns more calories.
I personally look better on Intense Weight Circuits that include full body olympic powerlifts combined with 3 days of 5kms, 2 days of speed work and 5 days of karate.
Oh and as for the Les Mills classes, I've heard of more people being damaged by them then getting fit on them. MY physio was telling me that he sees more overuse injuries now from cardio classes (as well as injuries from poor technique in the pump classes and the combat classes) then people who take up running without training. I like spin though.
very interesting post and comments! something to think about definately! i noticed the most change in my body when i was doing more lifting(in prep to teach Pump). I would have never taken on that much strength training on my own(love my cardio) so I was happy to see the difference from weights.
I love Attack class but my knees do not. You gave a very accurate(and comical) description of it too:) I teach Pump and RPM and can see how there can be injuries from some of the classes. It is so important for the participant to listen to the instructor's cues…and for the instructor to give the right positional ones. I bet this is true for any group classes that have moves other than jumping jacks and push-ups.
That would explain why, after hiking 30 miles in three days to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back, and subsisting on freeze-dried meals, I went home to a 3 pound weight gain (pretty ticked, let me tell you).
High cardio makes me ravenous, but if I start my session with 20-25 minutes of cardio, then work into weights and strength training, I seem to be able to avoid the munchies.
Thanks for this post- the idea of too much cardio is new to me and definetly giving me something to consider!
But…but… I love 2 hour runs. And weight training is booooooring.
…sigh. I know, I know. Training for long distance races = gain. Chillax and control my eating down to next to nothing = lose. Even if it ends up being the same calorie deficit. And it's NOT FAIR. Wah.
Gonna go run for an hour anyway. Thbpththth to everyone. (yes, I'm feeling fiesty today)
I love love love taking Body Attack. The Les Mills classes are what helped me learn to love exercise and at the same time helped me to loose almost 90 lbs! I am acutally a Body Pump instructor now. I also take Body Combat and Body Step on a regular basis. I love that I can show up for one of the Les Mills classes and get a great workout!
I run and exercise a lot, and I've noticed that I've gained 10+ lbs. The thing is, I've also noticed that I don't have super big cravings from exercising. In fact, the opposite; running seemingly suppresses my appetite 80% of the time. Honestly, I don't eat very much, and what I do eat is usually very healthy. WHAT IS THE DEAL!? So, this makes sense to me, it's actually very comforting! I am not alone!!!
Any suggestions on what I should do?
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