Most people agree that doing cardio is one of the best ways to get in shape and lose weight, but what some people don't know is that there are different sorts of cardio workouts. What cardio (or aerobic) exercise essentially means is that you work large muscles to increase your resting heart rate to a point where your body starts burning calories. Your body basically starts burning calories and body fat after approximately twenty minutes of sustained physical activity.
If the thought of being on a treadmill for more than half an hour puts you off cardio altogether, then don't despair because there may be a way to optimize your time doing cardio without feeling like a mouse on an exercise wheel.
There are two types of cardio: high intensity variable training (or high intensity interval training) and steady state training. The one that in all likelihood put you off cardio for life is steady state training. Steady state training means maintaining a steady activity for a prolonged period of time; sort of like the mouse on the wheel. It can become dreadfully tedious and may not be the best way towards reaching your goals as you will soon find out.
High intensity interval training means using short bursts of exertion and constantly varying your workout. Not only will you spend far less time on your cardio than with steady state cardio, you'll burn far more calories too! You basically shock your body with intense bursts of activity combined with periods of recovery while varying your workout. This prevents your body from adjusting to a regular routine and conserving energy. This mechanism of conserving energy makes your body more resistant to weight loss, but with high intensity interval training you're constantly surprising your body with physical exertion and different routines, it doesn't have the chance to adapt and conserve energy, you are in essence tricking your system into burning the maximum number of calories possible.
Another advantage of high intensity training has over steady state training is that with the latter, studies have shown that there is an increased risk of wearing out your joints and sustaining damage, but with high intensity interval training you vary your exercise routine and allow for periods of recovery. Therefore there isn't constant wear and tear on a particular muscle or joint.
The benefits of cardio are endless: increased and improved metabolic rate, reduced risk of joint problems, increased fitness and muscle definition and it's a great stress buster too!
Author Resource:
Matthew has written on lots of varied topics over the past few years. Have a look at one of his websites http://twinxlmattress.org which gives information about purchasing custom mattresses .
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")