Hitch Fit Living Magazine Volume 5 - March/April 2016 | Page 36
The four major aspects to transformation are nutrition, anaerobic resistance
training, aerobic cardiovascular training and recovery. If you’re not sure what to do
for cardio portion, don’t worry you’re not the only one. Most of the time people who
are on the cardio equipment are doing the wrong type of cardio for their end goal
results. Some popular questions are; “When should I do cardio?” “How long do I
need to go?” “What intensity level?” and “How many cardio sessions each week
should I be doing?” There are several different types of cardiovascular training but
really you only need to focus on three main types of cardio. The type of cardio you
do really depends on your goals. In this article I’m going to explain what cardio is,
how to perform each type, and I’ll break down my own personal cardio program
and how I utilize all three of these forms of cardiovascular training as I believe a
balanced approach supplies you with the best results.
Cardio involves the conditioning of your entire circulatory system which is
composed of your heart along with your lungs and all the blood vessels. Cardio is
done to burn fat and to increase your Vo2-max. Vo2-max is the maximum amount
of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal effort exercise.
There are two major variables for cardio training, the duration and the intensity
level also known as heart rate (HR). Cardio is all about your heart rate which is
measured in beats per minute (BPM). A common misconception is that in order to
effectively burn body fat you must go all out and run like someone with intention to
do harm is chasing you for several miles.