Get The Most Out Of Your Cardiovascular Workouts

Maximize Your Cardio in 4 Simple Steps

The goal for all of us is to get the most out of our exercise. In the past, many people thought just getting some cardio in, like a morning stroll with your best friend, or casually riding your bike through your neighborhood was good enough to burn body fat and get toned and tight. As an athlete/fitness and nutrition expert for the past 20 years, I’ve learned that getting the body you want takes much more than just casual cardio.

The most recent, and up-to-date research proves that using the “talk test” to measure if your cardio intensity is in the optimal range is a sure fire way to minimize your results and prevent you from taking your body to the next level.

Ok, so the big question is how should you do your cardio? I know we are all pressed for time and pulling 2 hour cardio sessions is challenging for anyone’s schedule. You see, it’s not about doing more, it’s about being better at what you do.  By simply making four minor adjustments to your cardio routine, you will activate the muscle you’ve worked so hard for, burn the maximum amount of fat, and drop any unwanted body fat which will greatly improve your overall endurance.

Tip 1:  Do both types of Cardio

Body fat is primarily burned in muscle. So your number one goal when doing cardio is to make sure that you are activating all of your muscle fibers. We all have red and white muscle tissue. Most of us have approximately 50% red muscle and 50% white muscle. Red muscle is used on your slow and steady cardio (fat burning), like a brisk walk, slow jog or climbing stairs (the optimal exercise for burning body fat). The key is to keep your heart rate at a steady pace (between 130-145 bpm for most individuals), during fat burning cardio. Your white muscle is used during high intensity cardio (interval training), like sprinting, running stairs or spinning. High intensity cardio focuses on principles like a 1 minute burst of all-out effort, which produces a higher heart rate, followed by a 1-2 minute recovery; this is repeated several times for a duration of at least 30 minutes. If you are only doing one type of cardio, then you are only using 50% of your muscle and definitely not making the most of your time. The goal is to get at least 4-5 days of 30-45 minute per session fat burning cardio as well as 2-3 days of at least 30 minutes per sessions of High Intensity (interval training) per week.

Tip 2:  Push the Limits with your Heart Rate

Rather than focusing on the “talk test” to measure your heart rate, use a heart rate monitor or perceived exertion. Always know that if you can talk steadily throughout your exercise then you’re not working hard enough and your results will suffer. Perceived exertion means if the exercise feels too intense, it probably is, and if the exercise feels too easy, it most likely is as well. The goal with fat burning cardio is to push yourself to the point where you are almost out of breath and then back down a bit on the intensity and maintain that level of exertion throughout your entire session. Again, this is typically around 130-145 bpm for most people.

For your high intensity cardio, your goal is to go as intense as possible for 1 minute (totally winded) and then recover at a very slow pace for 1-2 minutes. Depending on your level of fitness, your heart rate will typically be around 155-170 bpm for the 1 minute of intensity, and once you get back to 120-125 bpm from your recovery period, you repeat the interval.

Tip 3:  Always do your High Intensity Cardio before Your Fat Burning Cardio

Fat burning cardio does exactly what is says, it burns fat. High intensity cardio mostly burns sugar, the glycogen stores you naturally have in your blood and liver. It’s important to know that it takes your body about 20 minutes to deplete your stored glycogen and really start burning fat.  Because of this, you need to do your high intensity cardio first, again, because high intensity cardio uses your sugar stores and will get your body ready to burn optimal amounts of body fat. Once your high intensity cardio session is complete, (about 30 minutes), go right into your fat burning cardio. This simple adjustment to your cardio can burn up to 40% more body fat per session!

Tip 4:  Choose the Best Exercises

As I’ve stated, the goal with your cardio is to activate maximum muscle. A big part in doing this is choosing the right cardio exercises. Your best exercises are movements that range from low to high impact (impact is determined by how hard your foot impacts with the ground), but more importantly, activate the maximum amount of muscle fibers. For example, during fat burning cardio, walking on a 15% incline on a treadmill will burn more fat than walking on a flat surface. For high intensity interval cardio, sprinting or running up stairs are excellent exercises that will activate more muscle fibers than spinning. Avoiding exercises like the elliptical trainer and stationary bike are best because they are non-impact exercises that recruit fewer muscle fibers than higher impact movements.

Any exercise is better than no exercise at all, but if you incorporate these four tips into your cardiovascular routine, it will help you take your fate burning potential to the next level; which in turn, will help you get that tight and toned body you’re working so hard to achieve!