Cardio Exercises-A New Approach
Do you believe that cardio exercises are the best way to get in shape and lose fat? There is new scientific research surfacing that suggests this may not be the case at all.
Many doctors, fitness trainers, and other health professionals advise to their clients aerobic training such as low to moderate intensity jogging. They say "Do 30-45 minutes of cardio at a fixed pace for 3-4 times a week and boost your heart rate up to a moderately higher level"
Before you resign yourself to endless hours of boring repetitive cardio exercises you might consider that new research suggests that constant pace cardio (such as long distance running) may not be the ideal form of exercise for the human body.
You should realize first of all that our bodies are designed more for intense bursts of exertion followed by a period of rest, or recovery. So Variable Training "on and off" or "stop and go" movement instead of constant steady movement is more natural for us. Incorporating Variable Training into your exercise routine is an important facet of your training program.
This is confirmed in nature if you look at the type of physical movements that animals engage in. It is usually stop and go movement rather than long term "marathon" motion. Most of the sports we participate in (besides cycling and endurance running) are also stop and go type of physical activity. Think of football or basketball: intense bursts of effort followed by rest or recovery. This is Variable Training in its purest form.
Also consider the physiques of long distance runners like marathoners as opposed to say a sprinter. The sprinter will typically have a very lean, muscular and powerful body while the marathoner frequently looks thin, weak and even sickly. The sprinter uses Variable Training extensively. Who would you rather look like?
There is also increasing evidence that long term endurance type motion can lead to increased free radical production in the body, is very hard on the joints, can cause muscle wasting and even reduce the immune functioning which has been linked to a pro-inflammatory response in the body. This can lead to further complications and chronic disease.
In contrast to this, cyclic Variable Training has been shown to boost ant-oxidant production in the body, give a better nitric oxide response (this can help strengthen your cardiovascular system) and helps raise your metabolic rate (which can boost fat burning and weight loss). It also boosts your overall cardiovascular system to better withstand and respond to wider range of stresses and hence is less likely to fail when you need it the most. Or in other words, you are retraining your heart to better respond and then recover from a wide variety of demands and stresses being put on it. This is, incidentally, much more like the ordinary stress we experience in our day to day lives. Repetitive endurance training does not condition your heart to be able to handle rapid changes in your heart rate or blood pressure the way Variable Training does.
Another added benefit of this type of variable Variable Training is that it is much more interesting than repetitive long term boring cardio training so you are less likely to quit your exercise program. Remeber that it is important to allow your body to recover between cycles in variable training. That is when the body responds to the exertion and rebounds back.
There are many good exercise routines that incorporate this type of stop and go or variable training. Raquetball, tennis, basketball, and other competitive sports such as hockey are naturally variable intensity training. For those who do not like competitive sports then wind sprints are an excellent choice. Another good Variable Training routine is weight lifting. Lifting weights involves short bursts of intense exertion followed by a resting period.
Regular cardio training can be changed up as well to incorporate this variable intensity mode. For example, if you ordinarily hop on the treadmill at the gym and jog for 30 minutes try changing it up as follows:
Warm up at fast walk for 3 minutes
1. First Set: Run at 9 mph for 2 minute
2. Second Set: Walk at 4 mph for 3 minutes
3. Third Set: Run at 11 mph for 3 minutes
4. Fourth Set: Walk at 4 mph for 2 minutes
Repeat the four sets three times for a 30 minute workout. Now you have completed an excellent Variable Training routine.