Fact Check: Metabolic Damage

I strongly prefer to present the affirmative truth, rather than challenge the claims of other fitness personae, but this rebuttal was specifically requested, and I'm not one to deny pleasures.

I've always had mixed opinions towards the ideas of Layne Norton, but it's safe to say he's not my least favorite person in the world. I recently watched his Metabolic Damage series (biolayne 9, 15, 16, 20). My assessment is provided below.

Opening disposition: 0 (neutral)
Bonus: +10 for hating Lyle McDonald
Penalty: -10 for exceptionally boring videos

biolayne 9

4:33  "...they essentially get no caloric value from that type of cardio"
In reference to people on very low calorie diets. It's one thing to argue about a reduced metabolic rate, it's quite another to claim that hungry people are able to create ATP without substrates.

8:28 "...it's also there to maximize your metabolic capacity"
In reference to ideal utilization of an offseason period. We are in absolute agreement.

10:33 "...really focus on slowly and deliberately adding calories over time"
In reference to intake progression during the offseason. Agree. There should be regular minute transition phases between the peak of a precontest diet and the peak of an offseason diet.  

11:03 "...you should eat the maximum amount of calories that you possibly can while still losing bodyfat at the appropriate rate"
In reference to not drastically cutting calories during contest prep. This guy seems legit, I'm starting to wonder why someone would consider us so different.

12:19 "...low intensity cardio has been shown to reduce metabolic rate over time"
Ah. Curiosity sated. It's technically not an inaccurate statement, it's just an irrelevant one. Aerobic fitness reduces your resting metabolic rate (2-5%). I sure hope so. If you get winded during the walk from your parking spot to your destination, you'll burn more calories on the trip than a fit person. I think I'll accept the trade-off and just park a little farther from the door.

12:46 "... you actually get to the point where you need that amount of cardio just to maintain your weight"
No. You don't get 100% energy efficiency from becoming aerobically fit. Over time, you'll require less energy expenditure to do the same task, but the decline in expenditure does not cover the increase in ability.

Running at 6mph for 1 hour may initially burn 1,200 calories
When you've become fit, it may only burn 900 calories
At that level of fitness, you can maintain an 8mph pace at the same PER (perceived exertion rate) for the hour, and burn 1,400 calories

Even if you choose not to progress, and even at maximal efficiency, that hour of running will still incur the energy costs of work. You still moved an object from point A to point B using ATP as fuel, even if you used 1/4 of the fuel an obese person would require. Energy efficiency is not energy independence!

13:16 "...I would even say one hour of low intensity cardio a day is complete overkill"
Sure sounds like it. If it's a 20 minute walk to the train station, and the elevator is broken at work, you need to be sure to bring a wheelchair, lest you destroy your mitochondria from such reckless expenditure. We are aerobic creatures! It takes about 90 minutes to even achieve maximum substrate efficiency (where your body is maximally reliant on beta-oxidation for energy production). Looks like someone needs to read The Seugio Unified Theory of Cardio.

13:33 "...but think about a marathon runner, or a swimmer, or somebody who does a ton of low intensity cardio. If you look at somebody training for a marathon, there is no way they should be able to eat enough calories to maintain their bodyweight, but they do (maintain their weight)"
You mean like Michael Phelps? Or triaheletes who eat 6-7,000 calories on a training day? The above quote is absolutely baseless. Layne might believe that endurance athletes simply exist at the same weight regardless of diet, but they're often just as dedicated to their nutrition as people in the strength world.

14:27 "...Anybody who's been through a long contest prep doing a lot of low intensity cardio probably knows exactly what I'm talking about."
I sure don't, but maybe I'm stupid. Maybe if you explained it to Jay Cutler or Kai Greene. Low intensity steady-state cardio seems to work for every Mr. Olympia ever, and Ronnie Coleman won eight straight. According to Layne, low intensity cardio stops working after an initial metabolic adjustment, but somehow, Coleman was able to get lean every year using the same stairmaster. Someone should go tell those guys that they're wasting their time.

14:39 "...Low intensity steady state cardio is a mindless easy form of cardio"
I think someone is confusing an old lady falling asleep on a treadmill for a trained athlete maintaining a steady pace for 90 minutes.

15:06 "...An hour of steady state cardio at 3mph on a treadmill, either that, or doing six 30-second sprints"
In reference to a study demonstrating that the aforementioned sprint intervals proved more successful at targeting bodyfat. Somehow I feel it fair to infer that the people involved in this experiment were not exactly stellar athletes. Untrained people responding to severe adaptive stress vs. using artificially low intensity to ensure no aerobic adaptations occur. Perhaps this dumb shit can convince people with no background in science, but it's utter garbage to the trained eye.

15:50 "...I don't wanna hear about 'you burn a greater percentage of fat while burning low intensity cardio' "
I wonder why. Is it because it's true? Yeah, better to not hear it then; people hate the truth.

21:48 "...That dieting and binging cycle is about the worst thing you can go through"
Advocating slow diet transitions. Now he's making sense again.

23:32 "...They end up spinning their wheels over time"
In reference to people who plan unreasonably restrictive diets and compensate with a weekly cheat meal. I've warned time and time again about not underestimating the power of insulin. His rationale may be different, but we agree on planning diets with no cheat meals.

25:19 "...Or maybe even some low intensity cardio"
In reference to people finding ways to continue progressing without drastic cuts in calories. I agree with his statement. I don't think he agrees with his statement.

biolayne 15

7:10 "...I'm talking about anybody who wants long term fat loss"
In reference to the importance of metabolic capacity for the achievement of goals. Absolutely. There will be a Segugio article on this very topic in the near future.

9:20 "...Eating as many calories as you possibly can, doing as little cardio as you possibly can, while still losing weight"
In reference to weight loss at the beginning of a cut. It's valid to an extent, but the benefits of cardio generally far exceed the benefits of inefficient metabolism.

10:22 "...You add calories extremely slowly"
In reference to using very slow caloric progression rather than transition phases when starting a bulk. Again, I agree that his argument is valid, but he seems to have convinced himself that expenditure doesn't exist. He's advocating that calories be raised in very small (~30) weekly increments. It's not wrong, it's just almost impossible to do. Let's hope his athletes are mindful of the extra oat flake that fell out of the scoop. Don't eat it... he's watching.

biolayne 16

10:47 "...The bodyfat set point theory"
I don't care to discuss this at length at the moment, suffice to say we agree.

17:06 "...Exercise induced thermogenesis goes down"
In reference to steady state cardio (of course). Not incorrect, just entirely misleading.

19:04 "...The adaptations your body makes while you're doing that is trying to get you back to homeostasis"
In reference to the body's propensity to set conditions for fat storage during very low calorie diets. This is proven. I addressed it as a consideration when planning fasted cardio. Yes, my article really was that good.

29:07 "...If we go very low calorie with excessive exercise"
This accounts for two entirely separate conditions. Just because they're often done in tandem doesn't mean their effects are interchangeable.

31:36 "...And now you're doing that two hours of cardio a day"
False premise. This is again presenting cardio as an intrinsic by-product of a starvation diet.

33:00 "...Fat loss resumes"
In reference to slowly cutting intake to maintain rate of fat loss after creating an "energy cushion" (amirite) via increase of metabolic capacity. I agree. I'm just curious as to why someone who has championed maintaining the highest possible level of caloric intake doesn't first increase expenditure. The Segugio would. Ooooooh.

35:22 "...If you don't plan for this stuff, you're going to fail"
In reference to understanding your body's defense mechanisms deployed during periods of caloric restriction. Correct. This is why crash diets don't work. The reference used here was rather excellent.

biolayne 20

5:59 "...What I'm not okay with is suffering for the sake of suffering"
It doesn't have to be related to fitness. I addressed this concern in a piece I wrote while in service.

Closing disposition: -1 (slightly unfavorable)
(11 positive, 12 negative, 3 neutral) I started with a mixed opinion of his work, and I'm ending with about the same opinion. Alright then, cardio time.