(GUEST) Cardio: Expectations vs Reality

 

written by Preston Pilgrim

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Cardio is talked about a lot when it comes to fitness. However, there is a common perception about cardio. Many people think about long jogs or other low intensity activities that take hours. There are some people that see that as boring. Fortunately, there is a different method for cardio that is sure to help burn off the fat. These forms of cardio are more effective and take a lot less time for people to get an effective workout. They fall under the name of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Before going into that, it is important that traditional cardio is talked about.

Cardio is highly thought about when it comes to fitness. However, there are a lot of disadvantage to the typical low intensity exercises. People who practice only steady state cardio may not have as much muscle mass as people who use HIIT. This should be compelling enough for people to want to give this activity a try. However, even HIIT has bouts of low intensity. For one thing, it is the alternation of high intensity exercise and low intensity exercise. One example of this is sprinting and then walking.

While it was believed by physiologists that the body uses more fat during lower intensity workouts, it has been found that this is not the best method for burning fat. When it comes to total burning of fat, a higher intensity work out is more effective. One other thing to look at is what is known as the excess-post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). This is where your metabolism operates at a heightened level after a high intensity workout. This allows you to burn larger amounts of fat for up to 24 hours after HIIT. Jogging or other lower intensity workouts do not have that.

Other Benefits  

To go along with the extra fat burning, HIIT has some other benefits for people that give it a try. These benefits add to the overall sense of well being for the person. Among these benefits are:

Increased Capacity for Aerobics – Your body can use an increased amount of oxygen as a result of HIIT. Steady State Cardio has this effect as well, but to a smaller extent.

Increased Threshold for Lactate – Your body increases its ability to handle lactate build up.

Improved Sensitivity for Insulin – Your muscles will have a better ability to suck up more of the glucose. Less glucose will go into fat.

Anabolic Effect

According to some studies, if you consume more calories than you burn while participating in HIIT, you may ceate an anabolic effect which enables you to build muscle. Your muscles will build and you will have a much greater muscle mass compared to Steady State Cardio which does the exact opposite. If you participate in Steady State Cardio for long amounts of time, you will actually lose muscle.

For beginners, it is very important to look at the activity before trying it. For one thing, you could cause more harm than good if you do HIIT wrong. If you can’t do cardio for 20-30 minutes at up to 85% of your maximum heart rate, then you probably don’t want to do the maximum HIIT. You can start off at a lower exercise intensity. It is also important to have a heart rate monitor with you in the beginning. Before starting interval training, you should participate in a warm up that is at least 3 minutes long, and 5 minutes maximum. Then after the training, you should cool down for 3-5 minutes. This prevents nausea or dizziness.

There are plenty of simple HIIT activities you can do. One of the simplest forms of HIIT is sprinting for 30 seconds and jogging or walking fast for 60 seconds. This can be done with jump ropes, on a treadmill, and other activities.

The key factor that makes HIIT work well for fitness is that it is explosive. When muscles use explosive energy, the body will be more likely to build it as opposed to the other type of work out. While there are benefits to Steady State Cardio, people who want to build muscle and greater agility would do well to give HIIT a try.

As with other workouts, HIIT works well with a good idea in order to maximize its effect. Since HIIT works similarly to resistance training, you may want to consume more calories than you would with jogging. However, it is probably better to not go for more than a few times a week so that you don’t strain your metabolic system and joints, especially if you are a beginner. It is best to start small. However, if you keep at it, you will be able to train for 30 seconds while taking a 15 second rest. HIIT is a good way to build your body.

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Thanks for reading my post, if you have any questions or concerns regarding fitness, HIIT or would like to learn more about myself, you can reach out to me through my website at Krush Fitness and I will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.