We hope youve all enjoyed our recent mini-series exploring the different styles of working out that comprise fitness. We conclude it today with this post about the loved and hated topic of cardio. Lots of people have heard about cardio but few people understand how it really works. Typically, there are 2 generally accepted kinds of cardio- low intensity/steady state cardio and high intensity/HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) style cardio. Low intensity cardio usually looks like an hour on a treadmill or an elliptical machine whereas HIIT can take the shape of a high intensity full body circuit or even sprints. While trainers often times like to produce cookie-cutter cardio programs for people, everyone responds differently. When cardio is implemented for the main purpose of burning fat, some people respond optimally to HIIT training while others respond optimally to the low-intensity hour of fasted walking on a treadmill. While we recommend that if your goal is to lose fat, you adjust your diet first and program around your changes in nutrition, cardio can also be a useful tool in shedding a few more pounds of fat off. So how does it work? Regardless of which type of cardio you choose, both affect your metabolism and will increase the amount of calories youll need to remain at a homeostatic balance. When implemented correctly (with the goal again to lose fat), you will be in a caloric deficit and your body will have to look to other forms of energy to fuel your body - in this case hopefully it is pulling energy from the fat stores (as opposed to muscle) in your body. Employing cardio to burn fat is a complex program and needs to be highly individualized to take into consideration certain factors such as age, height, weight, level of activity, metabolism rate, etc. If you have any personal questions, let us know either in the comments below or in a direct message or email! Regardless of what your goals are, however, getting your heart rate up is an important part of maintaining a healthy body and mind! bodybuilding/fun/is-fasted-cardio-the-best-for-burning-fat.html
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 20:08:11 +0000
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