Can Cardio exercise be counterproductive?

We all know we need to exercise and improve physical activity. It has huge benefits to our overall health,m and can help prevent certain diseases.

However, if you have been doing cardio workouts to try and slim down, it is possible you have been counter-productive.

According to some experts, "steady-state cardio (like jogging, spinning, even walking) increases the production of a stress hormone called Cortisol. This causes your body to gain weight, especially around your stomach and makes it even more difficult to burn off stubborn fat."

Have you even noticed that no matter how much cardio you do, you just cannot seem to lose any more weight? That is because people do the same work outs every time. Your body actually gets used to what you are doing. It reaches a plateau and slows your metabolism down to a crawl.

Even worse, too much cardio can actually help to speed aging, When you put your nody under prolonged stress, you start producing free-radicals, which damage your cells and causes inflammation - and that is what helps you age!!

It is not all bad news. If doing cardio was harmful, then nobody would do it, we would not be advised to do it, and studies would tell people to stop. The trick is to mix things up. In the gym, people are advised to do some cardio, and have rest days, and intersperse that with resistance training and weight training. Do not allow your body to get into a routine. It is that simple. When walking or jogging, vary your pace, and try and find some good hills (you may not like the uphill parts, but it is pushing your body to work harder).

Enjoy exercise, and that includes Cardio. But try different ways.