Cardio is more than just jogging on a treadmill while your texting your best friend, or running down the street. The secret to successful cardio training is applying different types of cardio into your workout which will help you reach specific goals. Let me tell you a little more about it.
Cardio training, which is short for cardiovascular, relates to the exercise of the heart muscle. When you perform this type of training it elevates the number of times the heart has to beat per minute. The reason for this is that more oxygen has to be delivered to the muscles that are doing the work in order to sustain the energy needed to do the work. Exercising this way consists of anything done for an extended period of time. Swimming, jogging, sprinting, biking, and even resistance training for extended periods of time with limited rest are all cardiovascular exercise. When you train this way the heart becomes much more efficient at its job. Some reasons why you should do cardio are: elevated energy levels throughout the day; better sleep at night; decreased chance of cardiovascular disease ( THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE U.S.A!!!); burning a ton of calories; loss of weight; etc.
The big secret to losing weight is going to be the same anywhere you look. If you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight. Cardio training is one of the key components to achieving that. There are two main types of cardiovascular training:
Intervals are when you do a cardiovascular exercise for a short but very high intensity burst and then bring the intensity down for a short period. The time between intense exertions can vary. Examples of this are running sprints, bike sprints, or even resistance training in extended bursts with short breaks in between. We will get into more details later when we discuss specific workouts. The point of this type of cardio is to get the heart rate at a very high level, and then bring it back down. This style is a very potent fat and calorie burner. The reason is that the body is being tricked into putting out all energy stores available to work at such a high rate. One of the main energy stores being fat.
Endurance is the type of cardiovascular exercise that last for long periods of time with no breaks in between. This consists of long runs, long bike rides, rowing, etc. The heart rate is at a steady increased level. This style of cardio has great health benefits. The aesthetic benefits are not as potent. During a prolonged cardio session, the body thinks that it will be exerting that specific amount of work for an extended period of time, so it tends to be more stingy with the burning of fats as energy. Although, don’t get me wrong, fat and calories are still being burned. Glycogen (a carbohydrate stored in the body) is usually the primary energy source during this style.
Even if your goal is to bulk up or body build, cardiovascular training in some form is an important component of your workout. One misconception about this type of exercise is that people with those goals may not want to bother doing cardio because it will not allow weight to be put on. In order to put on lean mass you need the specific type of cardio (intervals) that will supplement your workout program properly. Another very important part of putting on lean mass and losing unwanted weight is your daily diet.
I hope the secret to successful cardio training gave you an idea of how to implement a specific type of cardio in to your workout for your specific goal. But no matter what your workout looks like, if you do not put the right stuff into your body it will not give you the best results. Go check out All You Need To Know About The Practical Diet to find out tips on what you should and shouldn’t be eating. If you have very specific goals and you still have some questions go check out the FAQ section and contact me so I can help you out.
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