The Vertue Podcast

Cardio has become unnecessarily confusing.
One expert tells you to walk. Another says Zone 2 is the key to longevity. Someone else insists HIIT is the fastest way to lose fat, while another warns it'll spike your cortisol and damage your hormones.
So... what should you actually do?
In this episode, we cut through the noise and build a simple framework for making better cardio decisions. Rather than asking, "Which type of cardio is best?" we explore a much more useful question: "What do I actually need cardio to do for me?"
We'll cover:
Why walking, running, Zone 2 and HIIT aren't competing—they're different tools for different goals.
The biggest myths surrounding fat loss, cortisol and the so-called "fat-burning zone."
How cardiovascular training actually changes your body, and why becoming fitter is about building a more capable, efficient system, not just burning calories.
How much cardio you really need for meaningful health benefits.
Why consistency beats chasing the perfect workout every time.
If you've ever found yourself wondering whether you're doing the "right" type of cardio, this episode will help you stop second-guessing every workout and start making confident, evidence-based decisions.

If cardio has you in a chokehold because summer is around the corner, this episode is going to free you.

This episode was inspired by two DMs we receive constantly. The woman who’s already doing cardio most days and wondering if she should just do more. And the woman who’s been lifting consistently for months, getting stronger, but not feeling any leaner, and wondering if weights are actually overrated for fat loss.

If you’ve ever been either of those people, you’re in the right place.

We then unpack a 2026 study from Tel Aviv University published in Frontiers in Endocrinology (PMID: 41625248), 304 real people, real(ish) context, that makes the case for resistance training more clearly than almost anything else in the current literature. Including a finding about visceral fat that will completely reframe the way you think about belly fat.

The wellness industry doesn't need to make things up anymore.
They've got something more powerful, real studies, real journals, real credentials. And they know exactly how to use them to get you to open your wallet.
In this episode, I'm breaking down how it actually works. How a real study gets twisted into a claim it was never designed to support. How statistical significance gets mistaken for proof. How an animal study becomes "clinically backed." And why your doctor dismissing something that's genuinely helping people is its own kind of problem too.
I want to be clear, I'm not standing here as an authority. I'm in my honours year, learning how to read research properly in real time. But that's exactly why I made this episode. Because the more I learn, the more I see how easy it is to manipulate people who haven't been taught this stuff. And that's not your fault. Nobody teaches it.
By the end of this episode you'll know:
- Why "studies show" is one of the least meaningful phrases in wellness marketing.- The difference between a result that's statistically significant and one that actually matters.- What a control group is and why its absence should be a dealbreaker.- Five questions that will expose a bad claim in under two minutes.- Why academia is just as responsible for this mess as the people exploiting it.

Please send this on because this is a PROTECTIVE podcast, really important in this era of information AND manipulation.

You've packed your gym bag. You have every intention of going. And somehow ... you don't. Again.
If you've been blaming willpower or discipline, this episode is going to reframe that completely. Today I'm breaking down the science of why your feelings are running your training behaviour, and why that's actually good news.
We get into the Affect and Health Behavior Framework, a research model that maps out exactly how your emotional state influences whether you exercise or not, why the version of the gym session in your head is almost always worse than the reality, the genetic finding that explains why some people find movement easier than others; and it has nothing to do with character.
This one is for anyone who knows what they should be doing and can't figure out why they're not doing it.

Resources:
Stevens, C. J., Baldwin, A. S., Bryan, A. D., Conner, M., Rhodes, R. E., & Williams, D. M. (2020). Affective determinants of physical activity: A conceptual framework and narrative review. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 568331. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.568331

What should you actually do when you’re chronically sleep deprived?
If you’re a parent, shift worker, insomniac, or coach people who are, you’ve probably asked yourself whether training is helping or harming you.

In this episode, I dive into the research on acute and chronic sleep restriction and its effects on:
• Cognitive performance
• Strength and endurance
• Hormonal signalling (testosterone, AMPK, mTOR)
• Mood and perceived health
• Recovery and long-term adaptation
We examine a 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis of 45 experimental studies (from 18,127 initially identified papers) looking at sleep deprivation and performance. We unpack one of the longest chronic sleep restriction protocols to date (6 weeks of restricted weekday sleep with weekend “recovery”), and what that tells us about cumulative sleep debt.

We also explore:
• Why early waking may impair cognition differently than going to bed late
• Whether moderate aerobic exercise can offset some cognitive effects of sleep loss
• What experimental data show about testosterone under sleep restriction
• Why resistance training under chronic sleep deprivation may require adjustment
• The difference between narrative reviews and higher-quality meta-analytic evidence
Essentially, we look at how to train intelligently when sleep is broken, short, or unpredictable, and what the science can (and cannot) tell us right now.

Main Reference
Systematic Review & Performance Effects
[2025 Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis on Sleep Deprivation and Performance – 45 Experimental Studies]

Chronic Sleep Restriction with Weekend Recovery
Smith et al. (2021). Chronic sleep restriction during a 6-week protocol with weekend recovery and cumulative sleep debt analysis.