Cardio training – what to do to make it more effective

People who work out treat cardio as part of a restful, relaxing experience after a hard day’s work. You choose a seated machine, begin a leisurely workout at a pace that allows you to operate your phone efficiently. You browse what’s interesting on the Internet. When you have completed all the exercises, you stand up, satisfied that the time has passed quickly and that, all in all, it wasn’t so bad. But was it really?

From an exercise point of view, you don’t feel fatigue and that the cardio training has cranked up thermogenesis. This means that, apart from knowing what you’re up to with your friends on FB, the workout didn’t do you any favours.

So what can you do to make your cardio workout effective?

First and foremost, remember that intensity is the key to success. We will not achieve anything just because we are present at the workout. In order for our body to derive energy from fat, it needs specific signals to trigger the hormonal cascade towards utilising the resources stored in fat tissue. If you don’t harness the potential that is cardio training, don’t write later on forums or tell your gym mates that this type of training doesn’t do anything.

In Arnold’s day, most bodybuilders used aerobic training when reducing, and the forms they displayed are commendable. They reached single-digit levels of body fat without too much trouble and boasted an ankle on their bellies. Popular methods at the time were moderate-intensity running, as well as long fast.

Nowadays, fitness rooms offer us cardio training equipment such as orbiters, rowing ergometers, percentage incline treadmills or stairclimbers. These are machines that will help us to overtrain our bodies at significant intensities.

Performing a cardio workout correctly should give us sensations that will strongly engage our heart to work. If we feel we are on the verge of breathlessness and find it difficult to talk to the colleague next to us, it is likely to be the right pace to reduce fat.

Summary

Cardio training is a less effective method of fat reduction than high-intensity HIIT training. However, this does not mean that it is completely useless and that you only waste time when doing it. However, for cardio/aerobics to be effective, they must be performed at the right intensity. Doing a workout just to tick it off, while expecting significant results, will unfortunately not work.