A Review on Traditional Cardio Workouts

Cardio

Over the years, we have this perception that when it comes to losing weight, we tend to think that cardio workouts are one of the best options. But what we forget is the fact that cardio workouts are not the only option we have and it may not even be the best. You may be wondering how this could be especially if you are an avid fan of cardio workouts.

Traditional Cardio Workout:

There really is nothing wrong with doing cardio workouts. First of all, there is this thing called traditional cardio where all you do is do endless running to nowhere while you watch the TV, talk over the phone or do something else. At first we may think it is indeed convenient and even allows you to do multi-tasking but this is where the real deal comes in, when our minds our set to losing weight or staying fit, we must remember that dealing with it with your mind and body coordinated plays a crucial part.

Whether you’re overweight or just need to maintain conditioning your body, there are by far better workouts other than doing the traditional cardio workouts.

What do you really mean by CARDIO?

Cardio is actually short for the term cardiovascular activity or cardiovascular workouts. It is referred to as activity that involves the heart. It is perhaps one of the most crucial types of physical activity that every person should get into.

Cardio workout 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and the American College of Sports Medicine, a person should perform at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio workouts on most days of the week if doing it daily would not be possible. There are different types of cardio workouts that are classified according to intensity. Most often, people tend to think that when the word cardio is mentioned they right away think of typical exercise machines that people use while indoors and usually watching TV.

Having said that, you now understand what traditional cardio means. Most of the machines used in this type of cardio workout involve the use of an elliptical machine, a stationary bike or a treadmill. As mentioned earlier, you may think that this kind of cardio workout seems too good to be true as you can watch TV, read a magazine, talk over the phone or do something else while working out but doing this in the long run can get pretty boring. Some even give up on it in just a span of weeks and end up frustrated.

Strengthening the Heart through cardio:

As we delve deeper into what a cardio exercise really is, any sort of activity or exercise that helps in strengthening your heart is considered a cardio exercise. You don’t need anything technical to understand what cardio is, as long as gets your heart working, that’s already cardio. Whether it’s sprinting, lifting dumbbells or a barbell, because it keeps you worked up especially your heart, then consider it as a cardio workout.

Working out with the use of a barbell or dumbbell clean and press, where you will have to lift a barbell from the floor going up to your shoulders, regardless of the weight you are carrying, doing it around 10 to 15 times will make you sweat as much and your heart rate racing to a recommended range. Notice that this kind of exercise is referred to as strength exercise or weight training exercise but because your heart has worked out too, then this is as good as a cardio workout only this time, the benefits you get are much more compared to just doing boring indoor traditional cardio workouts.

Cardio warmup 

Another example would be doing sprints. You may think that jogging and sprinting are the same but these two actually have a difference. First of all sprinting and jogging differ according to their pace, stride and the distance that you go for. When you jog, your pace is slower and your strides are much shorter whereas when you sprint you basically give it all that you’ve got; your pace becomes really fast and your strides are longer. Sprints also take up more distance and is the most intense compared to jogging and running.

When you do sprints, you don’t just strengthen your legs but your heart benefits as much too. Try doing a 100-meter sprint if you are looking for a fast way to lose flabs. Plus, enjoy the breath of fresh air and the view as you do this outdoors.

There are numerous workouts that also get your heart pumping. One of which are doing pushups with less rest time, bodyweight squats and even lunges. Doing these type of exercises for five minutes straight will keep your heart pounding and sweating off. These kinds of exercises will really get your mind and body set to losing weight plus notice the changes in your body and feel how much lighter it is when do this on a regular basis.

The mentioned exercises above clearly show how much cardio activity is involved. Regardless of what you called these exercises, whether its strength training or weight training all of them help in improving the condition of your cardiovascular activity levels. This is beneficial because you don’t just get to improve your heart condition but you also get to condition and strengthen your muscles in your body. Losing weight does not happen in an instant. It takes discipline and hard work and most importantly the determination to really do it.

Do not allow yourself to stick to just the traditional cardio workout most especially if you are really serious about losing weight. Find out more about other workout options that may work for you. There are lots of other exercises that are not only beneficial but may also be just what you are looking for. Remember, an intense workout may not be for everyone but if you have the stamina to do it then don’t hesitate to give it a try. An added tip, it would really be helpful if you did more fully body exercises and with intensity because it helps more in losing weight fast.

Cardio training 

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