Cardio is something everyone can and should do. Below are some of the benefits derived from doing cardio:
• It's one way to burn calories and help you lose weight
• It makes your heart strong so that it doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood
• It increases your lung capacity
• It helps reduce risk of heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes
• It makes you feel good
• It helps you sleep better
• It helps reduce stress
• I could go on all day, but you get the point
Since you now know the benefits, the next question is how much?
Well it depends on who you are and your current health condition and what your goals are.
For me I want to stay lean and be able to eat a lot so I do 45-60 minutes/session 4-5 times/week. I combine this with weight training.
If you haven’t been very active you might want to start out walking for 30 minutes 3 times a week and slowly build up from there.
For those of you have special health conditions check with your doctor first.
Below are some tips to maximizing your cardio sessions:
1) Do cardio in the morning before breakfast. You have fasted all night and a cardio session in the morning will maximize fat burning.
2) Cardio after your last meal of the day helps to metabolize what you just ate. Just make sure you don’t do cardio right before bed time.
3) Cardio after a weight training session is another good time. After weight training your glycogen levels in your muscles have been reduced so the next thing your body will tap into is its fat reserves.
4) Keep hydrated and stay away from products with caffeine. If you are evenly slightly dehydrated you won’t burn fat efficiently. Remember in order to burn fat your body needs water and glucose.
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