I read something today that TOTALLY blew me away. If you like to do aerobic exercise, you really need to read this to make sure you aren't actually doing an anaerobic workout by mistake!
http://www.shapefit.com/exercise/biggest-workout-mistake.html?utm_source=MailingList&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=April+2011+-+Week+#4.UAGV3DqpqA8.facebook
This hit home for me. It's about a common workout mistake people make, thinking they are doing an aerobic workout that is actually anaerobic. In other words, working too intesnsely or at 80-85% of your max heart rate. When you do aerobic exercise, you need to be around 65-75% or it can work against you. Only elite athletes can train at 85% of their max and still be in an aerobic state.
This totally explains how I felt like I was busting my ass all that time and not seeing results take shape from it. I simply cannot wrap my mind around this! The harder I pushed myself, the more intervals I ran, the more I was just stressing out my adrenal glands, overtraining and causing hormonal imbalances and fatigue. No wonder I was getting fed up!
Aerobic exercise should be slow and long duration. When you are done, you should be able to feel like you can do the exact same workout again. If you can't, you are working too hard and not making it aerobic. But then why has HIIT gained so much popularity? Probably because you can burn a great deal of calories in a short time. But where are the calories coming from? Stored carbs and muscle, not fat, according to the article above.
Yikes! I think I might give HIIT the boot. At least no more than one session per week. I think I'll stick with a good uphill walk or a light jog for my cardio days.
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