London: If you think that jogging can
help you stay fit, better consult your doctor, for a leading
British expert claims that it may not always help -- in fact,
it can cause cellulite, heart attacks and joint strain.
For many years, running has been considered to be
the ideal form of exercise. But, Greg Brookes, a London-based
personal trainer with a clientele that ranges from celebrities
and high-fliers to housewives, disagrees.
"Lots of people start running to lose weight and it
doesn`t always work -- and this is why. Small muscles use less
energy and are more efficient. The heart is a muscle and if
you force it to keep working for long periods of time it will
naturally shrink to use less energy and become more efficient.
"If you want to increase the size of your heart then
you must strength, train your heart, not endurance, train it,"
the `Daily Mail` quoted him as saying.
The next is that running causes injury through
repetitive movements -- an accusation that will be familiar to
many whose knees or ankles have proved unequal to the demands
placed on them, according to the expert.
"When you run, two-and-a-half times your bodyweight
is transmitted through your joints. If that force is repeated
over and over, eventually your weakest joint will give out.
"Usually the ankles or the knees are the first to go,
generally because of poor hip and core stability. Wearing a
brace exacerbates the problem by moving the strain on to next
weakest joint while maintaining old injury," said Brookes.
Long-distance running will often deplete your energy
stores and then start breaking down your muscle tissue to use
as energy. "If you want some serious muscle wastage and to
reduce your metabolic rate, then keep running," Brookes said.
He also claims that far from making your body leaner,
running can cause it to gain fat.
"Fat is one of our body`s favourite sources of energy.
The more you run, the more your body prepares itself for your
next run. You will actually start to hold on to more fat,"
Brookes said.
PTI
