The Cardio Secret: You Don't Have To Run If You Don't Want To

Now I'm sharing what I know with you fitness , nutrition and all the deeper stuff to help you discover your strongest body . Hello , hello , welcome back to another episode of your Strongest Body . Betsy , here I have a question for you to start this episode , and it is have you ever felt in your life like you needed to be a runner , you needed to run ?

This is if you said yes , that's very common . If you said no , I'd love to chat with you . I feel like it is really common and I've heard this a lot with clients , a lot with people who are seeking my expertise about training this constant feeling that they should be running . Some of that , I believe , just translates to I should be doing cardio .

That's what the feeling is I should be doing cardio , or should I be doing cardio ? It tends to manifest as I should be running , because running tends to be the most popular form of cardiovascular exercise . It's very popular . It has a low barrier to entry . You can pop on shoes and go for a run .

That is an overgeneralization , but in a lot of ways it's more simple . It requires less equipment . It requires less to get started . I think a lot of people think about running as a must do in their fitness plan . Similarly , I think you see it a lot If you're driving along the road . You see runners . You see runners on the treadmill at the gym .

You see runners at the track . You see running . It just tends to be more culturally present in the United States as a form of recreational exercise . I'm not sure what that's like in other places , but particularly in the United States . I want the focus of this episode to be you don't have to run if you don't want to .

We're going to talk a little bit about that . We're going to get a little clearer on the goals to have around cardiovascular exercise and what those can look like . If you love to run and you want it to be running , then it can be running .

If you feel like you don't like that , or every time you've given it a try , it's not been something that you've been able to stick with because you don't find a lot of enjoyment out of it . I'm going to give you some other suggestions and some ways to think about cardio as a part of your whole fitness program , without having to run .

The thing that made me think about this is I watched the New York City Marathon . I watched the New York City Marathon every year . I reignited an interest in fitness after a little bit of a break by deciding to run a half marathon . This was somewhere around 2010 . I was pretty sedentary after graduating from undergrad and was looking for a form of exercise .

At the time . I didn't have a gym membership . I was on the hunt for something to do . At the time , I saw that the Disney world has these races . That's what I signed up for because one , I could get myself a trip to Disney out of it . Two , it was something that I could train for .

I hadn't run more than a quarter mile when I signed up for this half marathon . I don't know what I was thinking , but I did . I built up , I did the run-walk method to complete this race and I did it . I really loved it at the time .

I really loved it because I loved the the nature of selecting a goal , training for the goal and then completing it , and it had such a finality to it , it had such a celebratory finish to it , which is like something that in a lot of cases resistance training does not provide . Actually had somebody just sort of baffled the other day .

They asked me in the gym . They were baffled that I wasn't training for anything in particular . I was like I'm just training for life and like I pick a few goals and I do it , and they kind of couldn't wrap their brain around it .

Because a lot of people need an event , an end point to train toward in order to stay steadfast in those actions that help you get to that goal . That just doesn't , at this point , the relationship I've built with resistance training . I don't really have that .

But I do look forward to those kinds of challenges and someday I may opt for something like that because it's so nice to have something to train for . Fast forward , I did some other half marathons . I did some shorter 5Ks , 10ks .

It was really something I was trying to carve out for myself , this identity as a runner , but I was having trouble sticking with it .

I had started working as a trainer at that time as well and was now more aware of resistance training , functional training , the different kinds of physiological processes that were happening in the body and had sort of fallen off this running idea but was still doing it and was hoping that this could be my training identity .

I guess I ran the New York City Marathon in 2013 . And it was the worst slash , really lovely experience of my life maybe not worst experience of my life , but it was not fun . I would say that 98% of that race was not fun . I was , like you know , under-trained , was not ready . I felt ugh . I just felt not good while I was running it .

I left my ring on and my hand swelled so much that I had to stop at a medical tent and see if that they could cut my ring off , and they couldn't . I tell this story where I was , like I was running the end of the race .

They told me to just keep moving my hand so you can't see it because this is an audio recording but I was just squeezing my hand back and forth the whole end of the race with it elevated in the air , probably for the last three and a half miles .

And you know , whatever , there are moments in there where you're like overwhelmed by the incredible community experience , the incredible experience of taking on and accomplishing such a huge goal . I was watching people just with joy and with excitement .

And then there's this beautiful element of , like you know , savoring New York City and it's many colors and flavors and sites , and things like that . I wasn't when I lived in New York , wasn't ? I would not call myself a huge New York City fan , even as a resident . I didn't have the same kind of like love for the city that many people did .

So it did kind of engender that a little bit . But like I don't know , just wasn't it . And that was pretty much the last time I ran like a long race and I and ran pretty regularly .

I had discovered for myself that like , oh , you know what , I just maybe do not think that I enjoy running and I've been trying to make it happen because I think it should be happening .

I'm gonna get to what you can do if you don't like running next , but I wanna say one quick thing in that I watch the race every year because it , as a spectator , to me it is one of the most beautiful things . It really does make me love New York City and the fall . It makes me incredibly emotional to watch people's triumphs at that kind of race .

I think it was three years later I went and watched my sister run the New York City Marathon and that was almost the opposite kind of experience because I was so overwhelmed with joy for her , pride for her . We trekked the city all day long to follow her , to watch her set that goal and accomplish it . It was incredible .

So it helped me also sort of tune into the idea that , right , it's not . This is an incredible thing , and I think it's an incredible thing for some people .

It just wasn't my thing and I feel like people , especially those who have a weight loss goal or a physical appearance goal , sometimes cling onto this idea that running is going to be the answer , and I have to say that , from both a weight loss perspective as well as a body composition perspective , running just tends to not be the best option for that .

Now , for some people who are going to run consistently , enjoy running , haven't been moving a lot . That may contribute to more overall calorie burn , but it isn't the running , it's the calorie burn that is providing that needed stimulus for the weight loss .

When it comes to changing physique again , burning calories is helpful , but building muscle is what changes the aesthetic appearance as well as resistance training . So building that muscle ultimately creates a more efficient , better calorie burning system that you have over time .

So there's misinformation in a lot of people's idea that they need to start running , and so if you love training for something and you're like a race motivated person running races , then for sure that can be a great form of exercise .

You likely need some complementary resistance training to support the impact , support the wear and tear on your body and help with all the things that running does not provide in terms of health benefits . Same thing for those who just like to run to get a sweat and to go look at places or you know it's like their form of cardio .

Great , you are more than welcome to do that . Remember that , in terms of cardiovascular exercise , running is a lot of wear and tear on the joints .

So finding resistance training opportunities to strengthen particularly single leg exercises , core exercises and people don't know , but running requires a lot of upper body work as well because you are helping to propel yourself forward . So resistance training can really complement that .

Now , for folks who are in sort of the general fitness box , they don't really have a incredible desire to make running , the specific kind of cardiovascular exercise they do , then there are some options that may be better choices If you like to run run .

But if you want to minimize that impact , minimize that strain on the body , minimize the wear and tear , while still getting your heart rate elevated and being able to train with an elevated heart rate , there are going to be other forms of exercise .

If we think about walking , if we think about elliptical or cycling or any of those , you know , stair master , there are other forms of cardiovascular exercise that are going to elicit what we want without having to choose running as the form of exercise .

So you really need to ask yourself what you need For the general fitness client who isn't training for a race , who's training for health well-being . We likely want to have at least two categories met when it comes to our cardiovascular training , and that is the more anaerobic style fast , for a short amount of time , with a lot of recovery .

So that's going to be that zone five heart rate , really elevating the heart rate , having to try to maintain your exercise , your movement , at that heart rate for a short burst of time and then being able to recover and then getting in a little bit more of what we call zone two cardio or the low intensity steady state exercise .

Let me talk a little bit more about that . With that high intensity we don't need to get a ton of it in , maybe once or twice a week . Let me also clarify here I'm giving very generalized recommendations about this .

If you have specific questions about your own training , you're more than welcome to ask me , but I'm also probably going to refer you to the trainer that you're working with or encourage you to hire a trainer , because that is specific training advice .

Or if you trust the knowledge of your general practitioner or some sort of , if you see anyone for any cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular health issues , this would certainly be a question to ask them . So I'm telling you I'm making general advice you need to consult a doctor , consult your trainer and use your best judgment around you .

This does not apply to every single person . I'm making generalized recommendations based on the average individual with average , I would say , general fitness goals .

You can listen to this and decide what is best for you and consult the professional who is most appropriate to consult , as well as who has your individual needs and history in mind With anything as it relates to fitness . That's really important .

I give generalized fitness information to you and you have to be the responsible party to take this information and apply it to you and seek out the advice that you need . With my clients , I am more aware of their situations and can make specific recommendations for them . So when we're talking about general , I'm talking for the average person .

We're talking about getting one or two of those high intensity sessions in maybe a week , and these are short sessions . They're probably six minutes long and maybe when you're starting out they're more like four minutes long , maybe getting up to 10 minutes , but that's probably the max that you're going to do .

These can be done after a resistance training workout or on a separate day , but they're short burst of high intensity exercise . So we're talking again about that sort of 10 to 30 seconds . 30 seconds might be on the long end . 10 to 20 seconds of that burst that's like a sprint .

That's like a kettlebell swing , med ball slams , med ball tosses things that you can do at a high intensity level for a very short amount of time . If you're really sprinting , you're going to get to 11 seconds and be like yasst . Then you're going to rest at least three times that amount , if not four .

If I'm doing a 10 second interval , I'm probably resting for the next 50 seconds , or if I'm doing 20 , then I'm resting for a minute after and I'm doing five to eight of those intervals , depending you are gonna be done after that .

If you are not accustomed to that high intensity level exercise , you may need to start with more rest and shorter working bursts . Your body is definitely going oh another , you know , like an assault bike . An assault bike is something that does that . I had been doing those for a little bit , but these are supposed to be high intensity intervals .

Again , you may need to be training for a little bit before you incorporate this , but you can also adjust it to your level of fitness . So somebody's high intensity might be a little different than your high intensity , depending on their level of athleticism , length of time trained , things like that .

But what this is is using a system in our body , an energy system that we need to train , which is this anaerobic we're not using any oxygen , and then we and our energy stores are used very fast when we are giving that much energy .

Now we also probably more frequently and particularly for those who are older or who for whom , maybe , athleticism is not high on the list of things that you're trying to accomplish . We're trying to get more of this , at least zone two , cardio in meaning low intensity , steady state . Zone two typically means between 60 to 70% of your max heart rate .

Max heart rate is 220 minus your age , but also realize that that's an estimate . So if you think about how , what your max heart rate is , you can use that equation or you can use your averages to tell you where around 60 to 70% of that is .

The Apple Watch has a feature and I'm sure that many other fitness trackers have the feature where it will tell you if you're doing zone , what zone you're in and while you're in your workout you can actually slide to that screen and pay attention to that information . But you're trying to stay within that 60 to 70% heart rate .

This is a I can have a full conversation while I'm walking . Maybe sometimes I have to take a little bit of a breath , but this is the system in which our heart rate is elevated and we're using oxygen Really helpful for heart health .

Again , depending on your own cardiovascular health , your physician may have different suggestions for you , but this is generalized that it is a form of cardiovascular exercise that is also not putting excess strain on the body and you're able to recover faster .

This is the kind of zone that they're most often talking about when they make recommendations about how much you should exercise you should be getting . When they're saying cardiovascular , you should be getting 150 minutes a week . So that's 30 minutes five times a week . That's what they're kind of talking about here .

But you can start if you're not doing that much , start with less than that , because you may be getting some zone two work with other forms of training . So again , you can use anything . If it's running for you , that's great . But let's think about this For some people , zone two is gonna be a harder exercise than for others .

So for me especially or I don't know if it would be for me , for individuals who don't run often , and I think that would be me Zone if I'm running , for the most part I'm above zone two .

I need to be on a Stairmaster or on the treadmill or on a bike or something like that for me to be at a place where I'm not using more effort than 60 to 70% of max heart rate . Now , for someone who runs a lot , they might have a speed that they can go where they are doing their slower runs at 60 to 70% of max heart rate .

So again , it's going to look different for different people and you have to determine . If you see somebody who puts out a video about zone two cardio and they're huffing it , they might have a more efficient cardiovascular system or they're lying to you , you can be surprised how sometimes zone two cardio is hard if you don't do it a lot .

Because the way training works is we get better at the things we train . So for our overall health we should be better at this low intensity cardiovascular exercise .

Now there are some other forms of cardiovascular exercise and some other systems we could be working on , but these are the two I'm going to provide today because I think if you're thinking about sort of a well balanced training program , it probably includes two to four days of resistance training , a few days of zone two cardio and one or two high intensity training

. And those high intensity for some people might be the last eight minutes of their training session where I'm pushing them a little bit and forcing them to recover , but for others it might be more like these sprint intervals that I'm talking about before , where we're getting to that zone five and then giving ourselves plenty of time to recover .

I coach cardiovascular exercise within the confines of my resistance training programs as well as sort of advise people around that , but my expertise or my specialty is not cardiovascular training .

So if you are looking to run a race and you aren't focused on the resistance training portion of that like getting stronger , supporting your joint health , things like that there are resources that you can look for and I'll try to link a few coaches who specialize in cardiovascular training in the show notes so you can take a look at their resources , because there

are people who really just coach on cardiovascular exercise . I use it as a tool to improve the health of individuals who are resistance training and , if you were to ask me , my personal bias is that your priority should be resistance training and overall general steps and movement .

Then , once we get that down , I'm happy to talk about how to build up your cardiovascular training plan . If you are someone who is trying to train for a race or train for something that is really cardiovascularly demanding , we would maybe turn that around and start with some of those cardiovascular elements of the program . Okay , I hope that is helpful to you .

I hope that , if you feel like you've been trying to make running work and it doesn't work for you , that you have enough confidence now to try something different and still get incredible cardiovascular benefits for your overall health and well-being . If you love running , continue to run and let me know when you're racing , because I love to watch people race .

I want to remind you that I'm having or I sent it to my email list , but I don't think I've said it on the podcast I'm having a one-day only , black Friday sale . I do not want to spend my whole holiday pushing a sale , so I'm just going to do 24 hours only . People have started their Black Friday sales already anyway .

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You get the PDF downloads . They're like 35-page booklets . They're really thorough . I'm so proud of them . So if that is of interest to you , just keep your eyes peeled . This has always for listening . Until next time , go build your strongest body and I'll talk to you soon . Bye .