Ok, so I realise that most of the posts in this blog with regard to exercise have focused on mostly weight loss through the use of weights rather than cardio. So I thought that I'd just devote this one post to Cardio routines that definitely helped me get so much fitter and strip off some fat. As always with cardio however you do run the risk of losing a bit of muscle mass, but as long as you compensate with a decent enough weightlifting workout - it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Obviously depending on your goals you could opt to do more cardio than weights, in which case you can say goodbye to really intense muscle mass, so the alternative is to do maybe 1-2 days a week cardio, with 3-5 days a week weights to keep your mass up. With regard to using cardio primarily to strip fat and gain some fitness - I found that high intensity interval training did the job very nicely. Obviously you can choose what form of cardio that you'd like to try with interval training, from cycling, to running, to swimming, even to rowing. Any form of cardiovascular exercise can be converted into interval training. I myself opted for a mixture of running and rowing as I felt that they worked best for me, but everyone's different. Cycling is also a good cardio exercise due to the fact that its low impact, so if you've got weak joints or arthritis, then cycling or even swimming will be perfect for you. Anyway, if you're not clued up on interval training; it speaks for itself. The whole premise is to perform a cardiovascular exercise at different intensities for certain intervals of time. For example, my old interval training program for running was performed on a treadmill - It was 12 minutes long, and each minute was a different interval. I'll run through the 12 minutes below.
1. Speed - 9.5 kph, Gradient - 2%
2. Speed - 11.5kph, Gradient - 2%
3. Speed - 13.5kph, Gradient - 1.5%
4. Speed - 11.5kph, Gradient - 1.0%
5. Speed - 13.5kph, Gradient - 0.5%
6. Speed - 11.5kph, Gradient - 0.0%
7. Speed - 13.5kph, Gradient - 1.0%
8. Speed - 11.5kph, Gradient - 2.0%
9. Speed - 13.5kph, Gradient - 1.0%
10. Speed - 11.5kph, Gradient - 2.0%
11. Speed - 13.5kph, Gradient - 1.0%
12. Speed - 15kph, Gradient - 0.0%
As you can see, it's a pretty straightforward routine, with regard to calories burned during the exercise, it should range from 300-400 calories for an average person. Obviously the speeds and gradient can be altered to suit you, and you can lengthen and shorten it. However I'd recommend that the sprint at the end is kept, its a good way to finish off the exercise. Think of it as the home stretch, giving your all for 60 seconds at the end of the routine. You'll have to dig deep, but trust me its worth it. This is where I see the cardio machines having a slight advantage over an outdoor cardio exercise as you can adapt the gradient and speed with ease. You can do this outside as well, its just with the gradient side you'd have to choose your route carefully. As well as cardio such as running, cycling, rowing, swimming etc; there's exercises such as skipping. Some of you may feel slightly stupid doing it, but trust me, its a brilliant exercise for improving agility, speed, stamina and co ordination. You can also try various punching drills on a punch bag, just 10 minutes on that will help you work up a real sweat and it definitely works as one hell of a stress reliever. One cardio exercise that I wouldn't like to recommend is the X Trainer - this machine relies very heavily on momentum rather than constant effort. With these machines, if you put in enough effort at the start, you can cruise through the rest of the exercise with little effort at all, there are plenty of other cardio exercises that you can do instead of this that will give much better results; so don't waste your time. So to sum up, the key to interval training is to mix it up, keep your body guessing! Have fun with it, you don't have to stick to a certain plan, you can make your own rules and change intensities when it suits you; its a very accommodating and effective way to train.
Obviously the other form of cardiovascular training is just straight up, measured sessions. You can measure your cardio on time, distance or even calories burned. Even though it might seem straightforward, its important to choose the exercise that best suits you and your goals. I mean if you're looking specifically to gain stamina, then obviously distance will be your key goal, and if you're training for a race, then time will be your priority. If you're not training for any particular sport, then this leaves a variety of different cardio exercises open to you, and my best advice for those people, is to again mix it up, try everything! Just bear in mind that running/jogging has been proven to work your core very effectively. Also, swimming is a brilliant full body workout and the amount of calories that you can burn by doing it is unbelievable. Cycling is again an amazing exercise, with a big focus obviously being on your legs. However, the key to successful cycling is cadence and rhythm, don't try and hammer the pedals to build up to a decent speed and then drop because you're completely gassed. Keep a steady but decent paced rhythm, honestly it helps so much. If you decide to try rowing (machine) then be careful to execute the proper movement, otherwise its a waste of time. The exercises that I've run through are just few of many. My advice to you all is to get out there, research different cardio exercises, and try them all, that way you can find out what works best for you and what you enjoy the most; because lets face it, there's nothing fun about doing an exercise that you hate, and as cardio is so important, you need to be doing something you like to keep your motivation up and to help you keep doing it over and over. I hope that everything I've talked about has been of use to you, I'm going to focus my next post (which will be either later today or tomorrow) on core exercises and my personal favourite core exercises that promise to blast your abs and leave you wanting more! As always, any feedback, questions, or suggestions, you can comment on here or follow and tweet me @_Bazinga_Punk_ . So until next time,
Keep testing the limits!
Alex
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