Topic: Cardio Adaptation

[Jordan Davis]

Read an article that suggested since the body uses primarily fat for long distance runs, the body will work to store more fat for potential energy in future runs.
Any truth to that?

[KC Parsons]

Could I see this being possible? Yeah, kinda.

Could I see it as being significant? Not really. Don't forget that in doing cardio, your fat oxidation pathway becomes more efficient as well so it'd become matter of numbers. Unless I saw a solid study on this one I wouldn't worry about it.

Because, in the end, all that accepting this as true would do is open up a big ole can of worms: I can easily see this information as being propagated in a way that would essentially tell people to stop doing cardio. Which oftentimes is a bit silly.

[Steven Low]

Read an article that suggested since the body uses primarily fat for long distance runs, the body will work to store more fat for potential energy in future runs.
Any truth to that?

No.

The only reason the body would store more fat is that you ate in caloric excess of your expenditure amount OR you are under chronic stress where excessive cortisol is being released.

"Overtraining" can release lots of cortisol chronically. See Cushing Syndrome pictures for an example of how you may look with chronic cortisol secretion (abdominal fat storage and upper back).