DON'T MAKE CARDIO MISTAKES - CARDIO QUEEN SYNDROME

I made cardio mistakes for about two years and hardly lost an ounce until I decided to work with a personal trainer.

Karen Sessions provides tips on cardio

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Cardio Queen Syndrome
By Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

By now you are well aware that increased activity burns calories and fat. Exercise is essential to your health and well being, but could you be taking part in too much of a good thing? The old adage, more is not always better, is a good rule to live by.

When it comes to fat loss, you need to be in tune with your body and learn how to listen to it. The idea behind fat loss is to manipulate the body often. As long as you are a step ahead of your body's actions, you will be on top of the fat loss game.

What exactly does that mean? How do you stay a step ahead of your body? Let's explore this concept a little further.

Megan is an e-client of mine. When she began her fat loss endeavor she started cardio six days a week for forty-five minutes and saw great results in a matter of weeks. Her new cardio program was exhilarating. It pumped her up mentally and physically and gave her a newfound energy she hadn't felt in years.

It wasn't long before she extended her forty-five minute ritual to an entire hour for six days a week. With the extended time, she saw even more results. She was delighted.

Eventually, the daily hour cardio chore was wearing on her. Her changes ceased, she was constantly fatigued, and began to hate cardio with an intense passion.

To combat the plateau, she added yet...more cardio on top of fatigue and hatred for exercise. Her grueling hour sessions turned into an hour and fifteen minutes to even longer, an hour and a half.

Nothing is more aggravating than putting all your time and effort into something that takes you no where.

Her fat loss results stalled dead in their tracks and even seemed to reverse. How could something once so productive now be destroying her weight loss efforts?

What may surprise you is that excess cardio can be counterproductive. Any cardio or weight training session lasting over a continuous hour does more harm than good.


Get a Figure or Fitness-Ready Body in Weeks!

Keep Cardio Productive

Cardio is heart healthy and it's a great exercise, but if your goal with cardio is to burn fat, you need to take it with a stride and make it fat burning productive.

I come across many ladies who are quite active. This is all fine and dandy, but when they are active and top that with teaching spinning classes, kick boxing, high energy videos, and general cardio machines, this can be a recipe for disaster, setting your further back than when you started.

Don't go overboard with cardio. Keep it simple, yet effective.

Cardio Intensity

Cardio intensity is a factor to keep fat burning beneficial. This does not mean to do an all out killer cardio routine that leaves you crawling from the gym in a near death status, but to simply shake things up a bit to force the body to respond.

A good way to master cardio is with HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). There are many variations of HIIT and my favorite is the 2/2 ratio.

Example of 2/2 Ratio HIIT

Minutes 1-2 - Warm up
Minutes 3-4 - Low intensity
Minutes 5-6 - High intensity
Minutes 7-8 - Low intensity
Minutes 9-10 - High Intensity
Minutes 11-12 - Low intensity
Minutes 13-14 - High intensity
Minutes 15-16 - Low intensity
Minutes 17-18 - High Intensity
Minutes 19-20 - Low intensity
Minutes 21-22 - Cool down
With HIIT, your body never falls in a rut because you are constantly changing the intensity to prevent cardio adaptation.

Progressive Cardio

Another successful cardio tactic to use is Progressive Cardio. Your body can adapt to anything in a short amount of time and Progressive Cardio can stop adaptation before it occurs. Progressive Cardio is simply increasing your cardio each week by either the numbers of day or the amount of time to invite change and prevent staleness, provided you don't overdo it.

Example of Progressive Cardio

Week 1 - 4 times a week for 20 minutes
Week 2 - 4 times a week for 25 minutes
Week 3 - 5 times a week for 25 minutes
Week 4 - 5 times a week for 30 minutes
You will notice how each week is a step advanced from the previous. This is how you make cardio work in your favor to burn fat.

Get the Competitive Figure and Fitness Secrets!

Adopt Weight Training

Have you even seen someone in the gym doing endless hours of cardio and still look soft and unfit? That is because she is lacking lean muscle, which is built from weight training and excessive cardio burns muscle.

Weight training builds lean muscle mass. The more muscle you add to your frame, the less you need to rely on cardio. Muscle is metabolically active and allows you to burn more calories at rest and at play. Of course, this does not mean to kick cardio to the curve, but having a balance of both in your program will keep things interesting and will give much better body transformation results.


Summary to Cardio Queen Syndrome

Once you understand how you can manipulate cardio, you will be able to master the fat burning game. Realize that you don't need three or four different cardio methods stacked on top of one another. Just use cardio wisely and you will have the advantage. Remember, cardio is a fat loss tool, not the determining factor.

To learn more on how to make cardio more effective, check out my eBook Figure Competition Secrets. With this information in your possession, you can stop out fat and build a beautiful and fit body.

Fitfully Yours,
Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
aka: MsFit


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About the Author

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988 and is a certified personal fitness instructor and specialist in performance nutrition. She is a nationally qualified natural female bodybuilder, holding numerous titles in the southern states including two overalls.

Karen has written six eBooks on fitness. She also writes articles for several fitness websites, and distributes two monthly newsletters regarding weight loss and female bodybuilding.

Karen has helped hundreds of clients reach their goal of transforming their body. Her success and success stories speak for themselves.
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**The contents of this newsletter should not be considered as medical advice. You should consult a physician before starting a fitness program.

This newsletter is protected by copyright, 2005, Karen Sessions, All rights reserved. You may use this newsletter in your e-zine or website as long as the copyright and links remain intact.**

© Copyright 2005 Karen Sessions All Rights Reserved

IT'S OFFICIAL. I AM A RUNNER UP IN THE TOSCA RENO EAT CLEAN CHALLENGE CONTEST

I have an official letter from Tosca Reno advising me I am a runner up in the contest along with a $1000 cheque which is going into my figure competition training fund.

I would like to thank Tosca Reno, Robert Kennedy Publishing publisher of Oxygen Magazine and other muscle magazines as well as publisher of Tosca's books, as well as Editorial Assistant Vinita Persaud for encouragement.

Tosca who still competes at almost 50 years old, along with Oxygen Magazine have inspired me to train to develop the figure/fitness physique at almost 61 years old.

There are a few before and after pictures of me on this site. I have posted Tosca's before and after above. If she and I can achieve this level of fitness at our ages, so can you!

WOMEN'S WEIGHT TRAINING MYTHS

I find Karen's ebook IRON DOLLS a must have resource for women who are interested in weight training or body building. I have learned SO MUCH!

She is allowing me to publish this article. I hope you enjoy it!

4 Myths on Women and Weight Training

By Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

Guys...your wife is watching your biceps getting bigger! Is she jealous? Does she want to start “bodybuilding” but is afraid of getting TOO big? She’s secretly want’s that finely chiseled body, too!

Here’s how she can build muscle for a lean, sexy physique without the fear of embarrassing you with bigger arms as you walk down the beach...

There are a lot of myths around women and bodybuilding and they just don’t seem to die. I’d like to share with you an article that sheds light on women and weight training that will pave the path for your wife or girlfriend to adopt the bodybuilding lifestyle with you.

That’s right. We’re going to bust the women and weight training myths right NOW!

Who better to do that than a woman who weight trains and understands your wife’s fears regarding women and weights?

Women and Weight Training Myth #1 – Weight training will make woman huge and manly.

BUSTED - Like most people, when you think of women and weight training you automatically relate that image to the professional female bodybuilder strutting her oiled-up mammoth physique across stage and striking a pose.

What’s NOT mentioned is that 99.9% of the professional female bodybuilders supplement with steroids to develop superhuman muscles.

By the law of nature, women do not produce near the amount of muscle building hormone, testosterone, necessary to build huge swollen, vein-popping muscles. A woman is just not capable of building that type of massive muscle simply by lifting weights.

Bottom line: Weight training will NOT make a woman big and overly muscular.

Women and Weight Training Myth #2 – Women who weight train will lose their breast size.

BUSTED – (pardon the pun) Breast tissue is made up of primarily fat tissue. A loss of body fat will result in smaller breast size.

Weight training develops muscle tissue. Adding strength training will develop the underlying chest muscle on a woman and can add more shape to her upper body, creating those eye-pleasing and sexy curves. In addition, a good chest training program will add stunning high cleavage for that perfect fit in a dress or bikini.

To put it bluntly, the only way for a woman to lose her breast size is if she loses a lot of body fat.

Women and Weight Training Myth #3 – A woman’s muscle will turn into fat if she stops weight training.

BUSTED – There is an astronomical amount of women who won’t weight train for fear their muscle will somehow magically turn into fat if they stop weight training.

Again, muscle and fat are two completely different tissues responsible for their own functions. Muscle is metabolically active (calorie burning) and fat is metabolically inactive (fat storing).

Muscle CANNOT Ever, In Any Case, turn into fat any more than fat can turn into muscle. One can only build or lose muscle OR gain or lose fat. The two separate tissues are not interchangeable.

Women and Weight Training Myth #4 – Muscle weighs more than fat.

BUSTED – It’s no wonder women believe this ridicules statement. Dr. Phil has been known to say it in his highly publicized weight-loss book.

It’s a fact that a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same, a pound. What most women don’t realize is that a pound of muscle is denser and takes up less space than a pound of fat.

Therefore, having more developed muscle on the female frame with less body fat will make her leaner, tighter, and give off that “toned” look they are after.

Bottom line: Adding natural muscle mass through weight training accentuates a lady’s femininity.

Endless Benefits for Women Who Weight Train:

* Has training partner by default * Improves stamina
* Improves sex life * Lifts and shapes the booty
* Relieves depression * Builds a shapely physique
* Improves posture * Controls weight
* Builds positive self-image * Creates a positive attitude
* Builds character * Boosts immune system
* Clears the mind * Creates more energy
* Benefits other sports * Raises resting metabolic rate
* Slows the aging process * Decreases chance of injury
* Builds a stronger heart * Creates anti-aging effect
* Improves digestion * Relieves chronic pain
* Builds stronger bones * Improves circulation
* Improves flexibility * Lowers LDL (bad)
* Increases HDL (good) * Lowers hypertension
* Lowers risk for cancers * Lowers risk of heart disease
* Lowers the risk of diabetes * Makes you a happy partner

A woman with a well-shaped body through weight training will feel better about herself. In addition, she’ll better understand the process you go through to develop your physique, and have a better appreciation for weight training.

There’s a special bond with a couple that trains together.

Fiftully Yours,
Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit


P.S. If your lady want's to develop a stunning and feminine body, Iron Dolls - Women's Bodybuilding Secrets is the ultimate guide for such goals.


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About the Author

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988 and is a multi-certified personal fitness instructor and specialist in performance nutrition. She is a nationally qualified natural female bodybuilder, holding numerous titles in the southern states including two overalls.

Karen has written six eBooks on fitness. She also writes articles for several fitness websites, and distributes two monthly newsletters regarding weight loss and female bodybuilding.

Karen has helped hundreds of clients reach their goal of transforming their body. Her success and success stories speak for themselves.


**The contents of this article should not be considered as medical advice. You should consult a physician before starting a fitness program.

This newsletter is protected by copyright, 2007, Karen Sessions, All rights reserved.

NATURAL BODY BUILDING - IS IT? NATURAL?

I gotta tell you when I read ahead (I am a control freak what can I say) about figure competition, I seriously thought I just might not be able to make it jive with my new found love of health and fitness or my nursing “hat.
"Why you say?"

Well I was not feeling that there was anything natural about natural body building and figure competition.You know, the muscle hypertrophy, the tanning, the leaning or cutting, the 5” heels, the supplements, the temporary lost breasts,dehydration to make the muscles pop, pre-comp enemas, preparation H muscle wraps. I have been wrestling with this for some time.

It hasn’t kept me from continuing training – I love that too much to give it up..but I was concerned. Then I really thought about it (not much else to do on the commute to work) and figured, what the heck IS natural these days. Even NATURAL stuff can make you sick.Some examples..people who try to grow 'organically' and are not aware of some dangers like – improperly composted or rotted heifer dust (manure) AND can infect themselves with Ecoli.

I read about a person who took all kinds of Chinese herbs without proper advice and ended up hallucinating and becoming psychotic. Have you BEEN to a natural treatment appointment? Bet you can’t leave without a whack of medicinal herbs supplements, and testing with a plethora of strange machines for which there is no or little scientific research to support. Most of our foods have been tinkered with over the years to produce better bigger more copious crops while we have not evolved as fast to be able to assimilate the end result. So what is ‘natural’ about what we eat?

But still...there are some challenges I will have to work on and see if I can come up with a compromise.Tanning for example. I have spent years protecting my skin. I thought in this day and age there would be a product to put on topically and there are…but apparently you still need a ‘base’ such as the sun or tanning beds or the products look streaky. That really is not an option for me - tanning that is.

My clinical esthetician says it well “A tan is damaged skin.” Not to mention the skin cancer risk. So I will have to do more research on that.

During my initial weight loss program which had worked too well for a short period I lost weight fast and furiously (my trainer adjusted everything very quickly to slow the weight loss down) but for a brief period I had lost quite a bit in the ahem…hooter department. Actually with my weight loss I actually enjoyed that part of the downsizing – it sure spared my overtaxed shoulders and I had a lot more clothes choice. Not to mention I could wear some of most gorgeous bras comfortably from Victoria's Secret or La Senza. Before I was only able to wear ugly elastic garments.

Now I feel am am the perfect size but I worry after perusing numerous body building pics devoid of breasts (except for the obvious tear drop silicone ones) that I would have a boy figure. I guess I should have tried to find some ‘off season pictures’ because apparently the cutting and leaning is a very brief period for competition and everything including the ‘girls’ come back when out of the competition mode.

Phew.. I really really did not want to be mistaken for a boy – I was once on the beach when I was 12 and I certainly do not want to relive that experience!

In a later post you will find out how you actually get a breast lift through weight training - along with a healthy body fat level - you will retain and enhance your breasts better than ever before.

So..onward … I have a strong feeling that everything will work out fine. If you want to know a lot about figure competition or women’s body building you may want to check out Karen Sessions ebooks. They are excellent.

Iron Dolls
Figure Competition Secrets
The Competitive Edge

Her books are very professional, and detailed and she gives great online support. You can also train online with her and it is very very reasonable.

And always remember to Eat Clean AND DRINK LOTS OF WATER - IT IS FREE (well at least till they put the water meters up - but still good value for the money ;)