Crank Up Your Cardio

A lot of people have questions about cardio-vascular training. Is doing cardio the best way to lose weight? How can I make my cardio training more effective and less boring? Here’s my take on why everyone needs to do cardio and how it can enhance your fitness program in exciting ways.

Cardio workouts are indispensable to every successful training regime. They can be any activity – power-walking, biking, swimming, wrestling, martial arts, climbing aboard a recumbent bike or elliptical machine – that raises and maintains your heart rate over a predetermined amount of time. By doing this you strengthen your cardiovascular system and lower your resting heart rate. Performing regular and monitored cardio will make your heart and lungs stronger and help you live longer!

Any fitness program must include some form of cardio and resistance or weight training. Cardio workouts burn fat and challenge the cardio-vascular system to work harder and stay healthier. Weight training maintains and builds lean muscle. An hour or half hour of cardio will use up more calories than lifting weights. Yet the more quality lean muscle you build with weights, the more calories your body will burn all the time, even in a resting state.

Although cardio training programs can vary from individual to individual, here are some pointers that can benefit everyone.

• Drink water before, during and after any cardio workout. Stay away from sports drinks that are loaded with sugar and caffeine.
• You can perform cardio on an empty stomach, preferably early in the morning if you need to jump start fat loss. But remember that early in the AM your body is already in a catabolic state, so you may need to eat an hour and a half or so before you hit the treadmill so that you won’t pass out from hunger or lapse into a hypoglycemic episode.
• Always include a 5 to10 minute warm-up and cool down.
• Many cardio machines have heart-rate monitors that are built into the equipment. Use these to monitor your heart rate. Or, consider investing in a heart-rate monitor. Purchase a model with a timing device, especially helpful for interval training sessions.
• Learn to calculate your target heart rate range to maximize the benefits of your workout. Ask a certified trainer about the Karvonen Method which is the most effective, but more complicated way of determining target heart rate range. In general, tabulate maximum  heart rate or MaxHR by subtracting your age from 220. For example, 220 – 40 = 180. This is the starting point for all your calculations. Depending upon your age and fitness level, determine a safe, but challenging range to work with. For example, a beginner may try a range between 55-65 percent of his maximum heart rate range for best cardio and fat burning results.
• Remember to consult your physician or health care provider before beginning any new exercise, nutrition or supplementation program, especially if you are on medication or being treated for a medical condition.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/09/19/crank-up-your-cardio/