The best CARDIO TRAINING – not your regular treadmill jogging
Probably one of the most asked question for someone that are looking to lose weight is “what cardio are you doing”? We often ask this because someone in history has made the statement that cardiovascular training will cause you to lose unwanted body fat. While that may be true, there are so many different factors that cause you to lose body fat. Factors such as nutrition, weight training, stress management, sleep, etc.
For the sake of his article we will focus on the single factor of cardiovascular training for fat loss.
First let me explain how it WILL NOT work – because it simply is not sustainable for long term progress. For significant results, it must stress the body hard enough and for long enough. Simply staying in the “fat-burning heart rate zone” will not stress the body enough to dissipate the body fat. And also it is a very boring activity so its longevity is jeopardized. In this article I will give some methods that are a more efficient way of losing body fat. Ask your personal trainer in Richmond about different types of cardio training.
Treadmill SPRINTS
Don’t be misled by the title! I didn’t say the treadmill was bad. I just said jogging for prolonged periods is bad.
Sprints are great for multiple reasons. The first and probably most important is that it keeps you athletic; sporty I should say. It keeps you moving well. In this case it keeps you running fast. In most, if not all, sports the faster you can move the higher your chances of winning. Sprints allow you to pump your legs hard and work those quads, hamstrings and calves. Another benefit of sprinting is that it works your entire leg and trunk as a whole “chain”. You cannot run without the linkage between your body and leg. Thus, sprint training is very beneficial for increasing athleticism.
In terms of cardiovascular, sprint training allows you to increase and decrease your heart rate in a predictable manner. It is very hard to sustain a sprint, thus you will need to slow down or even stop during the training. During these stops and starts your heart rate will naturally raise and drop. Because of such drastic changes, your heart (cardiovascular) will need to work even harder to bring itself back to match the work level. In short with sprint training you are challenging the heart to match the workload you are giving it.
Circuit Training
The definition of circuit training is simply moving through different stations with very little or no break. These stations can be exercises using weights, bodyweight or a variation of cardiovascular exercise. You are going through these stations at a particularly high intensity.
The benefit of this type of training is when you tax the muscular system; the cardiovascular system must also match the workload in order to provide the circulation of blood.
So when we use this type of training, we are pushing ourselves to compete muscularly as well as cardiovascular. This is a two birds with one stone type of deal. Ask your personal trainer in Richmond for types of circuit training.
Competitive Sports
This one is my personal favourite. This can be used with any type of sports that pushes you to the next level. Ice hockey would be mine. With sports it forces you to compete against other players and often you will push to your maximum limit. With contrast to gym activities, majority of the time you will not go to your 100%.
Sports offer a few benefits such as expanding your physical capabilities, exercising your team work and improving your mental game. All of these can be achieved while playing a sport you are passionate about.
With the spirit of winning, sports allow you to push as hard as you can with no regrets. Because I want to be the winning team, I am going to exhaust my every physical capability to win. Often with this mindset, cardiovascular training is never an issue during sports. Ask your personal trainer in Richmond why competitive sports offer the most benefit to cardiovascular training.
Until next time,
Coach Marco
