The first words that came to mind when I heard about "The No Cardio Diet" were, "What an idiot!"  But then I quickly thought, "What a genius!"  Why the quick change of opinion?  Because the author is a marketing genius.  What better hook than to give millions of people that he has never met hope that they can indeed achieve the body of their dreams without doing aerobic exercise.  And amazingly enough he claims you will "see results within 2 weeks."  Man oh man! Sign me up!  That claim alone should sell millions of books and skyrocket him to the top of the bestseller list.  Please keep in mind that was always his intent from the start.  Do not be fooled into thinking he has only your best interests at heart.

Let me first explain a bit about the publishing business before I address the sheer lunacy of his claim.  The first thing a publisher wants to know from an author is what hook he has to capture attention.  What will set his book apart from the others?  In order to make the biggest impact, the hook needs to run counter to whatever is popular.  It must be controversial.  It must seem cutting edge.  It must attract attention.  Good or bad attention hardly matters.  Just get attention and the book will sell.  Once a controversial diet comes out it gets media coverage. So now you'll see it on the Today Show, Good Morning America Show etc. As the media interviews the author it gains more attention which generates more book sales.  As the sales move up the ladder and gain attention it then calls upon the scientific community to dispute the claims of the book within the media.  That in turn gains more media coverage which sells more books.  So is it the great information selling the book or the media food chain mechanism generating the popularity of the book?  It's the job of the author is to write the book in a manner that will convince the reader that his way is indeed the best way even if it is completely opposite of what science and the experts have proven to be true.  A good author can get into the psyche of the reader and convince the reader that he has the answer to what they have been searching for all along.  That sells books.  Then if the plan is good enough to give some people results then he can count on those people telling two friends and they tell two friends and so on and so on then he and the publishing company know that books will be flying off the shelves.  The more the book sells, the higher up the ranks the book climbs which then gives the illusion that the program must have merit or it would not be selling. Therefore, more books get sold.  And guess who is laughing all the way to the bank? Not you.  Now I am going to let you in on another dirty little secret that can happen in the publishing world.  I know of an author that bought the first run of books that he published in order to immediately get it on top of the bestsellers list.  Deceptive? Yes.  Genius?  You bet!  Now, I am not claiming the author of "The No Cardio Diet" did that but he definitely has worked the system well.  He got what he bargained for and proudly displays the controversy on his website.  And guess what?  His book is selling like hotcakes.

Now, what about his claim that cardio does not work for fat loss and that it even kills?  I beg to differ.  Although research studies can be done in a manner to prove whatever point the researcher wants, an overwhelming amount of research claims that cardiovascular exercise is beneficial rather than dangerous.  The majority of studies have proven that moderate cardiovascular activity strengthens the heart muscle, lowers resting heart rate and increases lung capacity.  It has also been proven to reduce the risk of coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and stroke.  Cardio is even more effective when teamed up with a regimen of strength training to ramp up metabolism and thus helps decrease body fat.  But in the spirit of fairness, some studies have found dangers associated with excessive exercise.  Excessive cardio can lead to an increase in cortisol levels which is a stress hormone that leads to muscle wasting over time.  So hours and hours of aerobic exercise will never burn body fat alone.  Eventually the loss of lean body mass will affect the metabolic rate.  In addition, thyroid levels also decline with prolonged exercise combined with low calorie diets.  The result will once again be a slower metabolism.  For men, there is an additional concern with testosterone levels because heavy exercise can cause a drop in testosterone which in turn decreases lean body mass and shifts the metabolic rate downward.  Additional dangers of too much cardio were determined in a study on long distance runners who had died in their 30s and 40s.  The dangers found include excessive wear on the joints, loss of muscle mass, depression, a decrease in immune function, inflammation of the blood vessels and inflammation of the heart. Interestingly, the studies determined that these men all had healthy cholesterol levels, no arterial plaque, and very strong heart muscles and no heart anomalies.  However, these distance runners did have very high levels of vascular and heart inflammation which closed down the blood vessels leading to the heart and/or brain.  The author of "The No Cardio Diet" uses the marathon runners in these studies as "proof" of the dangers of cardio.  So he is not exactly lying but he is not exactly telling the complete truth either.  All I can say now is, "Give me a break!"  Think about it--most people are not marathon runners!  In fact, most people spend an hour or so in the gym a few times a week -- if at all!  Please don't fall for the comparing apples to oranges trick simply because you are looking for the easy way out.

I am not saying everything this man believes in is wrong.  I agree with certain concepts. Weight training done in a circuit fashion does indeed help people burn calories and can in some cases add muscle.  But I stress.not in all cases.  However, if you take an average woman that has not previously weight trained and now feed her a balanced 1200 calorie diet like he suggests and add in a little weight training then she will probably gain some muscle and will definitely lose some fat.  The new muscle will help stimulate fat loss up to a point.  After that, it is simply the calorie deficit from food reduction helping her to lose weight.  No surprise there.  Wouldn't it make more sense to avoid deprivation and hunger and eat a balanced diet that promotes more muscle gain than his plan and then add a moderate amount of cardio into the mix in order to foster cardiovascular fitness as well? After all, a healthy lifestyle involves more than aesthetics.  At IEM, we have had incredible success with our clients by having them follow a program low in fat and sugar and balanced appropriately to their body composition and goals.   We also add in a moderate amount of cardio and possibly weight training to help the client drop fat without having to decrease the calories to the point of extreme hunger.  Balance is the key to a healthy lifestyle change and weight loss.   Unfortunately for the consumer, balance does not sell books so expect to be barraged with more new and cutting edge nonsense for as long as we live in a capitalist society.