Cardio should not be done too often, why?

Cardio exercise, or more familiarly called aerobics, is a type of physical activity to strengthen the heart and lungs. When the heart and lung muscles are strong, the fresh blood will be pumped more and faster so that more oxygen can flow into each muscle cell. This allows the body to burn even more fat stores.

That's why aerobics is the most chosen to help you lose weight. Examples of cardio exercises are walking, jogging, and swimming. However, that doesn't mean you can over-exercise just because you are tempted to lose weight quickly. The frequency of aerobics actually turns into a fruit simalakama which is harmful to health.

Your body can get stressed if you use cardio too often

Basically, any type of physical activity that is done excessively can be harmful to health. Including cardio exercise whose initial goal is to maintain fitness and lose weight.

The reason is, the body needs time to rest to recover from physical stress after being forced to constantly work hard. It is characterized by the release of the stress hormone cortisol immediately upon completion of exercise.

If your exercise sessions are too long or too frequent, the body will produce more of the hormone cortisol. The increase in the stress hormone cortisol after exercise will cause the body to go into a catabolic stage. The catabolic stage is the phase where many body tissues end up being damaged by the breakdown process.

You see, most cardio exercises (especially running) make the body do the same movement over and over again for a certain duration. This increases the risk that the muscle tissue and tendons (adhesives) in that part of the limb begin to experience super small tears which eventually result in muscle fiber damage. Imagine a piece of thin cloth that begins to tear and fall apart if you rub it over and over again.

If these repetitive movements continue as long as your body's tissues have not fully recovered, what happens is that the immune system will initiate an excessive inflammatory process, increasing the risk of further and widespread tissue damage.

Cardio too often is not good for the heart

Cardio exercise is a good physical activity for heart fitness training. But in fact, too much aerobic exercise will actually endanger heart health.

The principle is the same as above. The heart is basically made up of muscles and fine fibers that are constantly working non-stop to pump fresh blood around the body. When you continue to run or swim without knowing any rest, it means that your heart will continue to work extra hard to pump faster.

Gradually, the fibers of the heart muscle will break down and experience microscopic tears, just like in the leg muscles that are used to run excessively. These tears will eventually weaken the work of the heart.

Tearing of the heart muscle due to intense exercise can also have long-term effects. One of them is a decrease in body resistance in activities. This means that it is not impossible that you will get tired faster even though you do not do too much activity. The worst possibility is spontaneous heart failure.

What are the signs if I have had too much cardio?

If you experience the following things, maybe it is time to stop exercising for a moment and rest your body until you feel fit again.

No weight loss. Cardio exercise should be effective for weight loss. But when it's excessive, these effects can no longer be felt or even the weight increases because your body has become immune.
Body feels soft, does not get more muscular - The catabolic process caused by too much cardio not only causes the breakdown of fat tissue but also muscle tissue. Your body may look thinner, but that also means you are losing muscle mass.
Feeling tired all the time - An increase in the stress hormone cortisol can disrupt the balance of hormones that regulate energy balance.
Feeling bored with exercising - Saturated exercising is the most common sign that you are overdoing it.

How do I improve my cardio routine?

1. Alternate with other types of sports

If you still want cardio, you should reduce the intensity temporarily and alternate occasionally with the type of muscle exercise (strength training). For example, lifting weights, pull-ups, push-ups, or squats.

Strength training is useful for increasing the body's metabolism again while helping to increase the muscle mass that has been lost due to the catabolic phase.

Changing the type of exercise every now and then also avoids body parts that experience minor injuries or damage due to worsening cardio. Moreover, strength training such as lifting weights will specifically strengthen muscles and joints so that they are more resilient to damage.

In addition, muscle training tends to be done slowly. This means that the stress experienced by the body tends to be less than cardio exercise which is done at a higher intensity.

2. Rest is important

However, forcing to keep exercising is also not good. If your exercise motivation starts to decline or you find it easier to get tired after exercising, this is a sign that you are over-exercising.

It's best to stop for a moment to give your body time to recuperate before starting to exercise again. Your body also needs to replenish the nutrients it lost so much during exercise.