By That’s Fit, Jonny Bowden

Everything we think we know about cardio is just about 100 percent incorrect.

Dr. Al Sears, a medical doctor, nutritionist and leading thinker in the field of integrative health, believes that the key to effective exercise for weight loss and overall health is not duration, but intensity. He thinks the long, slow constant speed aerobics that we’ve all been trained to believe is so good for us is exactly the wrong thing for us to be doing.

“After 30 years of working with extremely fit athletes, patients with failed, diseased or injured hearts and average people in between, one thing is apparent: Doing continuous cardio exercise is a waste of time,” he says.

For many people in the exercise community those are fighting words, but Sears backs them up with some strong scientific arguments. “[Long, slow constant cardio] just doesn’t build what your heart needs,” Sears says. “It doesn’t increase your heart’s ability to respond to real demands. In fact, for all your effort, you only reduce your ability to handle lifes’ stressful circumstances-the last thing you want!” Read more…