I’m sure it’s no surprise to hear me say I will die on the hill that strength training is the single greatest thing you can do for your body as you get older. Bone density, joint resilience, independence, the whole case. I’m not taking any of that back.
But this week, I nearly died walking up my actual hill 😅 Ok, not exactly. But I did get very puffed. It caught me by surprise because somehow I hadn’t noticed that my regular walk had slipped; replaced by other priorities over the past few weeks. And with it, my cardiovascular fitness had quietly slipped too.
You know that feeling right? It’s not a nice one… Feeling puffed walking up stairs when you don’t think you should be. It’s uncomfortable, but it also feels like it’s going to be hard work to fix. Like the only options are putting it off until you can ‘do it properly’, or signing up for something punishing that you’ll dread every morning.
So you often do neither. You just quietly notice it, and quietly ignore it, the way I had been.
But the thing is, cardio offers benefits that nothing else can replicate (even strength training). Properly done, it improves your insulin sensitivity and metabolic health in ways lifting alone doesn’t touch. It’s protective for your heart. And true high intensity work, even just 1-2 short sessions a week, does things to your mitochondria (the energy centre of your cells) that Pilates or yoga or weights can’t.
It also builds your engine. The heart and lung capacity that lets you climb a hill, power through a long walk, or chase a grandchild round the yard without needing a minute to recover.
Strength training makes you capable. Lifting, carrying, holding your ground. But it was never going to give you that kind of stamina. That’s cardio’s job, and strength can’t quietly take over for it, no matter how heavy you’re lifting.
Now, you’re smart. You already know cardio is important. It’s not a new concept. Despite all of that though, it’s still so poorly understood. These are the three misconceptions I hear the most:
That pushing your intensity spikes your cortisol and stops you losing weight
That more cardio is always better, so you should be doing it most days
That going for a walk or being in an active job is cardio.
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