Cardiovascular conditioning, or cardio exercise, is the most popular form of exercise practiced because it requires no special equipment and anyone can do it in any location. It is also the favorite among those looking to lose weight. However, if weight loss is your goal you better incorporate resistance training into your routine for the best results. Better yet, why not combine resistance training and cardio exercise into one workout.

Most people think of cardio exercise as a separate form of exercise, when in realty any program you do contains a component of cardiovascular conditioning. For example, when you are lifting weights the body is under stress; blood pressure goes up, heart rate rises, respiration increases, all to deliver oxygen to areas of the body that demand it. So, when you are lifting weights you are actually doing a form of cardio exercise. The difference is -it is not a continuous movement. However, if you’re lifting weights you can adjust your workouts to include the cardiovascular system more just by modifying repetitions, intensity and rest periods.

The whole purpose of working out is to place high demands on the body so it will adapt and function more efficiently at rest and…to increase your metabolism. So, instead of looking at your cardio exercise as a separate program why not save time and combine it with another workout such as lifting weights. Here’s how you can do it. First, it is best to include movements that use your body weight as resistance, or perform exercises that use multiple muscle groups such as: squats, lunges, push ups, bench press, pull ups, seated or standing rows, shoulders press, planks or standing twists. Better yet, incorporate plyometrics. Plyometrics are fast explosive movements like jumping or medicine balls passes/tosses.

You can save yourself time and gain more benefits from combining resistance training and cardio exercise into one workout. If you take this approach to working out you can increase your metabolism, strength, and muscle tone while you burn calories and train the cardiovascular system. Otherwise, you will receive limited benefits from performing an isolated cardio exercise.

Dr. Kevin Dobrzynski DN