The Pee-X-90 “Insanity”…Is indeed QUITE insane:

The research is showing over and over and over again how long sessions of cardio are absolutely NOT the way to go for the most effective and most productive results.

This is becoming so clear, that I’m beginning to wonder, seriously, if there is some sort of industry-wide “conspiracy” in place to keep people yo-yo-ing just enough to keep them coming back again and again for more (products?).  

I just don’t know, and I just do not understand it.  It is sheer lunacy to me.

High activity and effort levels DO have a place under certain carefully monitored circumstances and conditions; if a person is excessively overweight, the very intense and drawn-out cardio and resistance sessions can have a place as long as the person is monitored closely so that they do not hurt themselves in the process.

But for the more average person seeking weight and fat loss for fine-tuning purposes, perhaps a 40 pound weight loss like my aunt referenced elsewhere, or that “last ten pounds” a person wants to chisel down to get their abs to show through, it is being unquestionably proven now that the hour-long cardio “kill yourself” sessions are crazy for one reason above all else: they adjust a person’s metabolism against them, such that the body expects and needs that taxing, over-working mode in order to continue to achieve the same results.

This is too hard on the body for the long term, depletes the body of nutrients, weakens the immune system, robs too many sugars and proteins, beats up the joints, and in general can make many people quite miserable.

Distance athletes, or other competitive athletes who lives their lives in this sport or hobby are one thing.  They are also taught and trained how to compensate for the expenditures on their bodies.

But look at many of these distance athletes, and note how clearly draining it is for a great many of them.

Shorter-term, short-burst tactics are in order.  They work.  The science is there.  The results are there.  It’s where the future of fitness and health is going, and needs to go.  Every time I see one of these new “kill-yourself-insane” programs, I’m wondering WHY.

Of course the participants are getting results.  Work your body insane and it’ll take off the pounds.  But do you want to have to do that for the rest of your life?

I sure as hell don’t.