Growing up I spent a lot of time with my Finnish immigrant grandparents. They were very hard working people and brought up a family of 12 children on just my grandfathers simple carpentry income. Most of my memories of my grandad include him working hard on the property making or repairing something. It was a similar story with my grandmother. She was one of the most hospitable people I have ever known. With any visitors she would refuse to sit down and would run around endlessly to ensure everyone was well fed and with coffee.
With all this hard work my grandfather was a very large man despite never lifting any weights. He hilariously loved to show off his arms and wear a cut off flannelette shirt. I can still remember his impressive front bicep flex. As a boy I remember hanging out with my grandmother as she was hand washing some clothes. She was going on about how silly all the exercise equipment is that we see on the TV as she vigorously churned the clothes in an old concrete laundry tub. I guessed she was right and I was amused but didn’t really think much of it at the time. Looking back she was right.
Humans are meant to move around in the world. Not sit at a computer all day or toil on a stationary cardio device. My grandparents lived long healthy lives and never required cardio equipment to keep in shape and stay healthy because hard work was their cardio.
Cardio equipment is a solution to a first world problem where we have too much excess energy stored. We’re living in a really terrible time where there’s just so much damn food around. Due to modern conveniences people also have so much more spare time to veg out in front of the TV or on the internet.
You can’t outrun a poor diet.
While cardio can have it’s place see this as one example. The point is for the average person looking to get in better shape (more muscle mass and less body fat), cardio is simply a poor investment of your time. You really don’t burn an appreciable amount of energy on a treadmill. Or to do so you have to consistently spend half your day on one. My grandparents didn’t count calories but did enjoy very energy dense meals with lots of bread. But they burnt it all doing their cardio (hard work) all day every day.
Treadmills get you nowhere.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been there too. That is, going on a fat burning mission, clocking up hours on treadmills and cycles. Mixing up steady state cardio to get into that “fat burning zone” and sometimes HIIT to get some of that Post Exercise Energy Expenditure (EPOC) goodness. I even bought an elliptical cross trainer for my first ever bodybuilding contest prep. But the truth is cardio equipment are evil torture devices and are a waste of the gym realestate where extra squat racks and olympic lifting platforms could reside.
I have a workmate that is always telling me I should go on a run with him at lunch time instead of lifting weights. He says that it’s good for your cardiovascular health. I don’t think he understands how hard I work at home. Sometimes the work is so hard I feel like my heart is going to explode.
The thing is I own a small farm and there are always highly physical jobs that need doing:
- Lopping down trees, loading 7 foot logs onto the truck, debarking.
- Erecting fences.
- Chopping firewood.
- Shovelling manure.
- etc, The list of work is never ending.
Now I know not everyone lives on a farm and work like the Amish but there is always work that needs to be done in everyones life. Perhaps you own a regular house. You know there’s always something to do:
- Whipper snip and mow the lawn.
- Surely the house has repairs or maintenance tasks.
- Weed the garden.
- Renovate, improve the value of your property.
Or even if you rent or if you live in a unit or with your parents, there’s always something that needs doing (mostly cleaning):
- Vacuum and mop.
- Do Laundry.
- Wash your car.
- Clean the bathroom and toilets.
- Walk your pets.
All this stuff requires energy. Energy that people feel they need to burn on cardio. A lot of this stuff probably doesn’t sound like fun but it is enjoyable if you take pride in the state of where you live and the improvements you make to your property. With any of these tasks you are actually accomplishing something that needs to be done and that you can feel satisfied with afterwards.
Now life isn’t just about work. You need to have fun too obviously. There are so many great leisure activities that burn calories. Activities that you could be doing rather than grinding away on a spin bike. Activities that burn way more calories but don’t feel like it because they’re enjoyable.
Just to name a few:
- Hiking/Bushwalking. Explore nearby National Parks. I guarantee a 10km hike will burn more calories than a 10km treadmill walk. Bring your partner or a friend.
- Do something with your dogs. So many dogs don’t get out enough (which is just plain cruel, kudos if you walk your dog everyday). Walk them around the block. Take them to the dog park and socialise them and yourself. Take them to a dog beach.
- Go camping. A lot of work and energy goes into this process.
- Volunteer in the community if you have so much spare time and energy.
- Join a sports team.
Then there’s people who will actually drive to the gym to jump on a treadmill. Instead why not walk/run/ride to the gym and then lift some weights?
While on the matter of transportation, you can always walk or bicycle more. If you are within a few kilometres of your shopping centre. Just walk there to pickup some milk instead of driving. The same is for the daily commute to work. Get off the train or bus early and walk.
At my previous house I was not within cycling distance to work. Annoyed with the cost of the public transport system. I would drive to some commuter parking with my bicycle in the back of my car. I would have to take off and reattach the front wheel to fit it in my regular sedan but who cares, more energy burnt. Then I would ride several kilometres to and from work. I was saving money and burning calories.
To wrap this up, the point I want to make is that unless you genuinely enjoy cardio equipment (the same goes for cardio like jogging and cycling), life is too short to be wasting hours doing it. You can burn more calories (and improve your health) by putting more effort into something that actually counts for something. Finally, if you are really battling the bulge, while activity is important, your focus should be on your nutrition.
