Many people question if cardio workouts or weight training is more effective with their attempts at losing fat.
Today, you are reading an intriguing discussion about the effectiveness of cardio workouts that may get you to thinking a little differently than you have in the past and may get you to try something new.
While you may have read a lot of anti-cardio material before, consider the importance of cardio training to get your body lean and into great shape. Although traditional cardio may be ineffective, some changes to a cardio program can make it a very effective workout.
While a lot of fitness buffs and weekend warriors consider cardio unavoidable to accomplishing their goals, they may be misinformed. Still many never question the routine, but just go with it.
Many readers may find it surprising to know that many of the meanest and leanest people they will ever meet, both men and women, never use traditional or normal cardio. Spend some time hanging out in gyms and all types of athletes and you will find this to be true.
Cardio may have its place for those that are really overweight or out of shape people, but even such people can benefit from a different model of how to get into shape.
A Definition of Cardio
For most people, cardio includes pumping away with mind disengaged on a treadmill, stationary bike or elliptical machine. The individual may be watching television as they go at it in their fancy gym. This traditional model of cardio is boring, leading many people to become bored with the routine and give up before they ever see results from the program.
However, a truer definition of cardio is any exercise or activity that strengthens the cardiovascular system. This is not considering the technical definition of increasing the VO2 max or any medical jargon. Simply stated, cardio will get the heart pumpin, you huffin and puffin. That means you can do cardio while holding dumbbells or barbells. While it might be called weight training, it still offers conditioning for the heart.
Here are a couple of examples. Choose your favorite weights, whether it is is a barbell, dumbbell or kettlebell and do some presses. Lift the barbell from floor level to the shoulders and then press it overhead. This works for women as well as for men. You do not need to lift 250 pounds, but should be what is challenging to you. If that is 45 pounds and it is challenging, you will benefit from the exercise.
Many people think of using the barbell C&O as a weight training exercise or strengthening exercise only at first glance. However, take the challenge of a hard set of 10 to 15 reps using the C&P. If you selected a truly challenging weight, your heart rate should be elevated to 80-90% of the recommended max. You should be breathing hard just as if you ran a 100-meter sprint. By the way, thee sprint beats jogging any day if you are looking for an easy way to lose the flab.
Now, try the same routine, this time using a set of one-arm snatches or swings in sets of 20 reps using the dumbbell or kettlebell. Your legs should be burning; your heart racing and you should be gasping for air. Another choice is 5 minutes of uninterrupted bodyweight squats, pushups or lunges without the rest time. Once again, you should feel the heart pump and sweat should be pouring out of your body while you heave for breath.
If you do these exercises as printed, you are going to condition your heart while also doing strength training or weight training exercises. You are fulfilling the needs for cardio workouts as well as meeting other needs for your body. You are doing time saving exercises that will help you reach your goals more quickly.
This allows you to condition and strengthen nearly every muscle you have by using full body exercises, as long as you are doing them with intensity. The same is not true for a boring treadmill run or stationary bike ride while reading a book or watching television.
If you can read a book or watch television while you workout, your workout is a joke.
Any exercise you can do while engaging in these activities means you are not concentrated on what you should be doing. In addition, it is likely your workout is not hard enough to give you the results you want.
Take the challenge. Give your traditional cardio workout a rest for 8 weeks and start training in the way described above. You will find yourself getting more defined, leaner and see that six pack beginning to show through that former stubborn stomach fat deposit.
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