Whatever their goal people seem to do far too much cardio,
even if they are a runner. Part of this
is the common misconception that cardio is best for burning fat; it is not as
any, and all, exercise will burn fat.
If you look at simply increasing health and reducing markers
for heart disease any exercise is better than no exercise and carrying out any
regular exercise 2-3 times a week is enough on its own. You don’t have to do
any specific cardio at all as your heart and lungs will be working as you lift
weights if that is your chosen method of exercise.
If you are trying to lose weight/fat you have to consider that,
as you get fitter you will burn less calories for the same exercise/distance/intensity.
That is kind of what getting fitter is all about, doing more for less. So
therefore, to keep burning calories you have to regularly increase the distance
and/or speed/or intensity. The problem is that there are only so many hours in
the day so do you really want to keep increasing how long you spend on the
treadmill/bike/stepper? Increasing
intensity can lead to injuries and some people just aren’t built to run fast or
for impact. How fast can you go?
Also, cardio inevitably reduces muscle as the body tries to
decrease the amount of weight it has to lug around and source energy for. Less
muscle equals a lower metabolism equals less calories burnt. So cardio can be a
vicious circle.
If cardio is your thing then mix and match it up; running,
cycling, rowing, cross training, spin, circuits and so on but lift some
weights too.
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