Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Cardio: How Much is Too Much?

   A question I am posed by numerous people everyday in the gym is, "How much cardio should I be doing?" Well, this question really is multi-faceted. It depends on what results you want, if you're training for endurance or if you just want to get cut-up. It also depends on how much your attention span will allow before getting bored on any given piece of cardio equipment. Let me just get this out of the way now, if you are killing yourself on the treadmill to the point where you're making copious amounts of noise and banging your feet on the belt, you are not achieving anything. The only people that should go over 10 miles an hour on a treadmill are advanced endurance runners; that's it. For everyone else let me give you some alternatives.

  1. Slow, steady pace cardio
This is my favorite kind of cardio by far. This kind of cardio can be preformed using any cardio apparatus in your gym or home or even outside in the fresh air. This cardio is for anyone who mants to burn straight fat without tapping into their muscles. This is the only kind of cardio that does not lead to muscular atrophy (muscle shrinkage). If you take your heart-rate up to high, your body sees this as overwork and burns muscle for quick fuel and amino acids. Fat is only burned when you keep it slow. For this kind of cardio I would recommend a session of 20 minutes or more.

  2. HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
A place called Orange Theory openend in my neighborhood about 6 months ago. Like most people that live in my community, I went out to try it one morning at 5 am. I was interested in seeing if this new, HIIT fad had any substance behind it. All-in-all the workout was good, but left me wheezing and depleted. HIIT isn't for everyone and it certainly isn't for me but if you enjoy it, it's a great way to stay in shape and burn some fat. What's interesting about it is that you raise your heart-rate very high and then rest. Your heart-rate is all over the place durring that one hour class. Resistance training (weights) is also used for about half the time. I would recommend this to anyone who is training for a marathon or some athletic competition. Bodybuilders, stay away from this kind of cardio.

3. Cardio not done on an apparatus
This is possibly the healthiest of the 3. This kind of cardio includes swimming, hiking, biking, surfing; anything you can do outside really. I love to swim and anytime I get a chance that's what I usually do for cardio. It doesn't impact your body in anyway and really strengthens muscles not usually worked in the gym. I would say do 30 laps (one lap consists of one there-and-back) and then see how you feel. You can stop there or continue.

  Cardio is very important guys! It keeps you healthy as well as making all the muscles you work so hard to build visible. But remember to get a good mp3 player and some headphones. Cardio can get very tedious.

Thanks for reading and lift strong!

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