The dictionary defines cardiovascular exercise as a "conditioning that exercises the heart, lungs and associated blood vessels." This means to say that when you undergo a cardiovascular activity, you are giving your heart, lungs and circulatory system a good workout. Regularly exercising your cardiovascular system is very beneficial to your health since it acts as the body's engine.
There are many differing opinions out there about what amounts and type of cardio need to be done for health and for fat lost. For the average person trying to cut back on fast food and incorporate a little exercise into their life, just merely getting into a gym and stepping on a treadmill, regardless of the speed or incline, is a great first step! For those above average people who are trying to take their strategy up a couple of notches, it would be a good idea to sit down and decide on a specific number of sessions that you will commit to each week in order to get you closer to your goals.
So how long and how hard should your cardio sessions be?
The debate over high and moderate intensity is a difficult one to solve with just one specific answer. In my opinion, for those who are overweight and just trying to get into shape, the moderate intensity cardio performed at longer lengths of time seem to be more beneficial. I find more moderate, longer sessions to be less intimidating and allow for a higher degree of certainty than extremely high intensity type of cardio sessions. It is a proven fact that burning calories on a regular basis WILL assist your body in burning fat. A good place for you to start would anywhere from 30-45 minutes and then work your way up to a 60 minute max.
How much and how often?
Well now lets say you have been going to the gym for a few months now and staying pretty regular with doing the moderate cardio. You lost a few pounds and you feel like it’s something that you can handle. Well, its time to kick it up a notch and commit to a weekly cardio training plan. At this point you will want to choose a specific amount of days that you will do your cardio and how long of a time you will do it for. In my opinion, 3-5 days a week at around 35 minutes usually is a great place to get your cardio program started. Not everyone’s body will respond the same to cardio, so you will have to do some experimenting and figure out what works for YOUR body.
Another level!
So now it's been several months on that program and you are quite proud of yourself that you have been so dedicated to stick to the plan and have only missed a few cardio sessions. You like how your new smaller clothes are fitting and you are pleased with the admiring looks you are starting to get on the street and in the gym. But you still would like to see a little more of the muscle you are trying to build in your newly added weight training program. So now what do you do? What's the next level?
You have 2 options. First, you can add more sessions to your plan. For example, you could go from 5 to 7 sessions per week. Or you could go for a more intense approach to your cardio training. Intensifying each session, this in my opinion, is your better option.
Interval training is a great way to kick up the intensity of any program. This means going faster and pushing harder for certain bursts and then coming back down for specific amounts of time until your session is complete.
Remember that the human body is adaptive. You can not pick one type of cardio and expect it to work for the rest of your life. Follow the FITT principle:
-Frequency
-Intensity-Type
Change up how often you come in for your cardio sessions. Switch up the intensity; turn up the speed or add more resistance to the machine you are using. For time make sessions longer as you continue to improve (try not to go much further then 60 minutes.) If it’s easy for you to go that long, then its time to bring up the intensity. And type means if we are used to running, why not try using the stair master or taking a spin class.
As far as machines go, my theory is lazy machine equals lazy results. For example, if you are sitting on a bike then you are only using half your body, so in effect half of the fat burns you could be getting. Changing it up will allow you to continue the weight loss and help you achieve the results you want. Yes, there are lots of choices to make when you are contemplating starting a cardio plan. Some cardio is better than none for sure, but there are also more efficient/effective ways to make the most of your time and also help you achieve the specific goals you are trying to accomplish.
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