Cardiovascular Exercise part 1

What is a cardio exercise? The definition is simple, and it applies to all sorts of sports activities. Any exercise that stimulates the heart to pump more blood in the organs and tissues bears the name of cardiovascular training. It may be running, jogging, stair climbing, simple aerobic, step aerobic, swimming, brisk walking, cycling, hiking, rope jumping and many more.

However, there are degrees of effort intensity in the examples we've given above. Thus, swimming and walking will range low on a scale from 1 to 10, while step aerobic lies right at the top of the list, because it requires the highest effort.

Opinions are divided as to whether a cardio exercise is necessary in the regular training routine of the average person. Some experts claim that heart stimulation through physical exercise is essential, while others argue that there is a negative health impact too.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle. While cardio is essential to improve resistance to effort, it is not suitable for people who suffer from chronic health problems (heart disease in particular). Professional athletes on the other hand, benefit from cardio exercise training because it allows them to keep weight under control and develops physical endurance when paired with muscle training.

Cardiovascular exercises burn fat! This is a fact! If you want to burn calories quickly, besides regular gym training you have to do cardio regularly. However, staying in the fat-burn zone is not ideal at all. You have to constantly make it more difficult... and you have to understand why.

The bad thing about a cardio exercise is that you don't feel comfortable with it from a physical point of view. I'm talking about effort and constantly pushing the limits of physical endurance. You are certainly not going to use the same type of cardio exercise routine indefinitely because that will lead to the installation of the plateau phase. Every two or three weeks you have to increase the effort level so that the resistance level keeps growing.

Pay attention to the combination cardio-weight training because it may be counterproductive for muscle enhancement. The reason behind this lies in the fact that cardio exercise routines consume the glycogen in the muscles. Hence, you should consider interval training, to alternate anaerobic training with cardio exercise. That should keep you in the safe zone without any negative impact on the muscle growth. You can thus stay healthy, in great shape and full of energy.