I read somewhere in this thread reference to cardio workouts and increased belly fat.

I'm on the run here, but I want to mention that I saw numerous studies online and elsewhere suggesting that cardio and aerobics can cause stress on the body, increasing cortisol and belly fat. It depends on how long the session is and if there is adequate rest between reps. When a person runs for a long time, the body reacts as though it were an emergency, like running away from a cheetah! Anyway, this is something to consider.

There was also an article about 10 myths about exercise and health, and there was a sobering number of deaths discussed that were due to athletes running in marathons. That was at www.biblelife.org/exercise.htm.

Here's another reference: http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybu...itness_tip.html

What affects the release of cortisol?
Potentially, one of the largest factors that can affect the release of cortisol in the body is stress. When you are under a great deal of stress, be it from work, your relationships or financial matters, and if and when it reaches a very high level, the body will start releasing more cortisol.

Another cortisol trigger is increased stress on your body during your workouts. Overtraining is a fast-track way to ensure muscle loss takes place. If you are not allowing enough recovery in-between your intense weight-lifting sessions, cortisol is going to preside in the body and start causing problems.

Note that this is much more predominant when it comes to weight-lifting sessions in comparison with cardio sessions. Unless you are regularly performing intense cardio session after intense cardio session, cardio work alone will not effect cortisol all that much, strictly from a training standpoint.

OFF TOPIC: I'm trying to figure out what dumb keyboard stroke I've done more than once where I lose my message I am typing. Maybe left arrow? It's right below my right pinky finger on my laptop. Then I try hitting the arrow keys on the browser to restore that page, but the typed text in progress is gone. Please PM me if you have experienced this and know what has happened, and if there's a way to avoid it or get the text in the box back. Thanks! I'll be away a few days; will check back by Monday.