How to Use Cardio Correctly in your Exercise Routine
There’s so much back and forth about whether or not cardio’s useful that it’s tough to know what to believe However, take the time to look into this subject matter and you’ll quickly realize that “traditional cardio” is what’s worthless, not cardio in general. Because of this assumption, cardio does become ineffective due to the fact that people are misunderstanding it.
But what exactly is “cardio”?
Most people would consider cardio to be pumping away mindlessly on a treadmill, riding a stationary bike, or coasting on an elliptical machine, while watching the TV screen at their state of the art gym. This is what I call “traditional cardio”.
But by definition, cardio exercise is considered any motion that strengthens the cardiovascular system or in other words makes you breath heavily. To keep it simple, if it gets your heart pumping, and gets you huffing and puffin, it’s cardio. I don’t care if you’re holding dumbbells or a barbell and everyone calls it a weight training exercise…it’s still conditioning your heart.
To the inexperienced, the bench press is considered only as a weight training exercise. But if you do it correctly for 12 reps and a challenging weight you will often find yourself out of breath with an increased heart rate, as if you just endlessly rode a stationary bike.
Even with something as simple as a push-up (which is not simple when done correctly), try doing as many push-ups as you can and when your finished you will be huffing and puffing gasping for air. How about trying squats for a set of 15 reps? Again, notice your heart pounding, sweat pouring off of you, and chest heaving for breaths!
Try and tell me you’re not conditioning your heart with this style of training! Conventional thinking leads you to believe that these exercises are strength training exercises only however; they are also cardiovascular training exercises. You can’t even deny the fact that these statements are true because from personal experience I have seen and felt it happen to others as well as myself. (Do you like the personal experience idea or not, you can always take it out if you do not like it)
So if today’s “weight training exercises” also are proven to strengthen your cardiovascular system then through these full body exercises you are strengthening and conditioning your entire body in nearly half the time! Now when you are pedaling on an elliptical machine for an entire hour, are you getting a full body workout? (NO!)
If you can watch TV while doing cardio in fact, I’d go so far as to say you’re doing it wrong Try making some changes and see if you don’t see better results, you’ll be surprised. However if you’re looking for specifics on better weight loss online, take a look at physical becomings.
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