Back away from the treadmill. Chicago personal trainer Jim Karas - - the man who dared to tell Diane Sawyer she needed to drop 25 pounds -- is out with a new diet book claiming cardiovascular exercise kills joints, motivation and weight-loss plans.
The only thing left after cardio's reign of terror on your body, Karas says, is the most vicious enemy of weight loss: a voracious appetite.
"Your body thinks you are running from a wild animal," Karas says. "It makes you really hungry. It's psychological, too. You think you've got to keep fueling."
That means no more treadmills, elliptical trainers or spin classes. Say goodbye to Billy Blanks, Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons.
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With Karas' plan, these cardio weapons and beloved warriors are on the losing side of America's obesity epidemic.
Karas' book, The Cardio-Free Diet, guides readers through a series of free weight lifting and resistance band exercises he claims will take no more than 60 minutes each week. There are diet plans and recipes, calorie counting and tips for what to order when you're eating out.
Desperate exercisers everywhere are willing to give Karas' work smarter, not harder approach a chance. His book spent the week in various spots on Amazon.com's Top 10 best-seller list.
Wearing tight blue jeans ("Jeans don't lie!" he says) in his Lincoln Park office, Karas admits he once was a cardio junkie.
Now, he works out only three to four times a week for no more than 40 minutes each time.
"I don't plan on changing an ounce between [age] 46 and 96," he says.
Karas' Chicago-based career expanded to New York City in 2001 when he started training "Good Morning America's" Diane Sawyer.
He since has worked with Oprah's best friend Gayle King (lost 20 pounds and 5oe inches from her waist) and actor Hugh Jackman (who told Karas he was in the best shape of his life before filming "X- Men: The Last Stand").
Karas' book is causing confusion for clients of Kelli Christensen, an exercise physiologist at the Northwestern Memorial Wellness Institute who helps people lose weight and control chronic illnesses.
Cardio, she says, is an essential part of a weight-loss plan along with strength training and working on flexibility and balance.
Karas' claims that cardio causes injury are misleading, she says. If running is too stressful for a client, he can try swimming or cycling.
The book's message is derided on some exercise message boards as a gimmick. Karas, not surprisingly, prefers the word revolution.
"My goal is two to three years from now we laugh at the fact we used to do all that cardio," he says.
Bill Fitzgerald, director of training for the Chicago Area Runners Association, says he can't dispute Karas' claims that certain cardio activity can cause injuries. Light weight lifting and core strengthening are encouraged for runners, he says.
"I think we as humans are great running machines," he says. "We're designed to run."
David Barton, owner of David Barton Gyms in Chicago, New York and Miami, says he agrees cardio alone won't help someone lose weight and keep it off.
"The most important tool for weight loss is not a treadmill, it's dumbbells," Barton says. "It goes against people's intuition."
kspak@suntimes.com
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