Sunday, March 18, 2012

Cardio- What to do

When to Do Your Cardio

Contrary to popular opinion, there’s no "right" time of the day to do cardio. The most important thing is that you do it. There is an established misconception that cardio is most effective first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, the theory being that you won’t have eaten in 8 to 10 hours, so there will be less blood sugar available for fuel, which will force your body to draw on and burn more of its stored energy. This is absolutely untrue. A calorie is a calorie no matter what. It doesn’t matter if the calories are from fat or from carbs — as long as you are burning more of them than you are taking in, you will lose weight. If anything, working out on an empty stomach could make you feel weak and could inhibit your performance. The best advice is to do your cardio whenever you have the energy for it, whether it’s morning or evening, on an empty stomach or following a snack. All that matters is that you are putting as much into every workout as you can — do that, and you’re guaranteed to get the most out of it.

How Long to Do Your Cardio

When it comes to duration, you should do a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of two hours of cardio in any single session. On the one hand, the number of calories you burn in half an hour might not make it worth the trip to the gym (unless you’re going completely hard-core in your cardio session).On the other hand, you don’t want to exercise intensely for more than 2 hours straight, as excessive activity of this kind releases stress hormones into the body, such as cortisol, which inhibit weight loss, causing your body to react by storing fat and retaining water out of self-protection.

Choosing Your Cardio

There are a million and one exercises that you can do for cardio. So how do you know which kinds of cardio are best? Do you walk, row, spin, step, or climb your way to fitness? The answer is all of these. You should do whatever you enjoy the most.. If you only have access to one type of exercise, you can change the way you use it every once in a while so that you are avoiding the workout plateau and keeping yourself challenged and motivated

Finding Your Intensity During Cardio

When it comes to intensity, use your best judgment. If it feels too easy, increase intensity; if it feels too difficult or your form is compromised, decrease intensity. You will find that your abilities change as you move forward, so it is important to adjust your intensity levels as you increase your fitness level. Ideally, I want you to make sure you’re pushing yourself and keeping your heart rate at 85 percent of your maximum while you are doing it. I strongly recommend that you purchase a heart-rate monitor, which will give you instant feedback on how you're doing, letting you know if you're working too hard or not working hard enough..

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