More Effective Cardio Workouts for A Healthy Heart And Fat Loss

  So, are our bodies really designed for a steady state movement ? Not really – if you look at the animal world it is full of stop-and-go movement or bursts of activity followed by rest and recovery. Researchers have shown that varying our movement and activity with periods of rest will be far more effective , even in burning off body fat!. Most competitive sports also based on stop-and-go movement or short bursts of exertion followed by recovery.  Just look at the two types of runners  we see in athletics.  The sprinter has a physique which is lean, powerful and muscular.  The guy on the marathon is looking a bit thin and skinny and even emaciated!  Which physique would you rather have ?

What effect does the steady state endurance exercise have on the body ?  First, it increases the free radical production in the body, then it results in muscle wasting and can reduce immune efficiency.  Not a pretty picture!   Now if you vary your training program and go for the cyclic formula, you are more likely to produce more anti-oxidants, you will also produce a better nitric oxide response (great for a healthy heart!) and finally you will boost your rate of metabolism which is ideal for weight loss.

So, what is your heart doing or how is it responding when you only go at a fairly limited heart rate range ?  It is like driving a car at the same speed all the time.  Now if you have  a variable cyclic formula of training, your heart will have to react to a  variety of demands being made on it  and that means a more efficient heart responding much better to handling everyday stress and all the other things we subject it to. Now if you confine yourself to the old steady state jogging, your heart will not be so good at coping with fast changes in blood pressure or even the heart rate itself.

How the big difference in the two types of training is the fact of recovery or rest period. That is essential for the body to react in a healthy way to the exercise stress that it has been subjected to. Another great advantage of the variable training workout is that it is much less boring and has a lower drop out rate that the long cardio sessions.

So, go for the cyclic variable formula. These are some of the benefits :- 1. improved efficiency of the heart, 2. better production of anti-oxidants, 3. less wear and tear of the joints, 4. less muscle wasting.  The heart will be better able to handle all the stresses of every day life and not just in the gym ! So, go for it remembering that variable intensity training will reduce body fat and help define muscles especially if you perform wind sprints.

Let us not forget that most competitive sports (football, hockey tennis etc) are full of stop-and go motion. Also weight training  naturally comprises bursts of activity followed by rest periods.

High intensity interval training also uses activity and rest periods.  Look at what  a typical interval training session looks like :-

Warm-up for 3-4 minutes at a fast walk or light jog;
Interval 1 - run at 8.0 mi/hr for 1 minute;
Interval 2 - walk at 4.0 mi/hr for 1.5 minutes;
Interval 3 - run at 10.0 mi/hr for 1 minute;
Interval 4 - walk at 4.0 mi/hr for 1.5 minutes;
Repeat those 4 intervals 4 times for a very intense 20-minute workout.