Archive | Cardio

Cardio Workout Routines

If like me you try exercise on a daily or weekly basis to keep yourself in shape and in good health, set yourself a goal with cardio workout routines to develop stamina and overall fitness, by changing your lifestyle incorporating cardio exercise it helps to strengthen the heart, lungs and keeping you in tip top shape.

For beginners don’t jump right in there and try to do everything right away you don’t want to cause an injury to yourself, start of gradually by walking and building it up to jogging, getting your legs, muscles and breathing used to the exercises, start with 10-20 minutes exercising even around your neighborhood, Once you get used to the workouts step it up to 20-30 minutes of jogging or incorporate swimming and cycling into your routine to break the monotony.

For the more advanced if you have time try to exercise twice daily, in the morning wake yourself up going for a run, you will find by starting the day off like this you will be more focused and sharp at within your workplace, in the afternoon if you have access to a gym go for a intense cycle followed by jog on the treadmill to act as a cool down.

For best results try to exercise at least 4-5 times a week before long the you will see the results from your hard work and effort, remember you will need to be strong willed and motivated, always a good idea if you have a training partner you can both motivate and challenge each other and most important have FUN at the same time.

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Cardio Home Exercises – Get Fit Without Leaving Your Home

Cardio, or cardiovascular, exercises have many benefits- they improve your general health and fitness, strengthen the heart and lungs and reduce the risk of developing diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. It can be difficult to find the time to exercise, and many of us do not have the time to go to a gym to workout regularly. Here are some ideas for cardio home exercises you can do without leaving your home;

Cardio exercises include those which raise your heart rate and leave you breathing slightly faster. They use the large muscle groups and are usually sustained for at least 20 minutes at a time for maximum benefits. If you can afford it, invest in some home exercise equipment. This includes stationary bikes, treadmills, steppers, elliptical machines and rowing machines. All of these will provide an excellent cardio workout and can even be used whilst watching your favorite shows. Buying a cardio machine can be expensive, so it may be cheaper to purchase a second hand machine or ask around family and friends- someone may have a piece of cardio equipment they no longer use.

Running on the treadmill, rowing, cycling or stepping can then be done in your own time or when the weather is too unpleasant to exercise outside. Many machines have built in features to vary your workout, such as an inclination function on the treadmill or difficulty settings. If you can, try out your chosen machine before you buy it to make sure you will feel comfortable using it.

It is possible to purchase cardio exercise and workout DVDs for home use. There is a vast array of aerobic workouts to choose from, so you should be able to find one that suits you. You may be able to borrow a selection from your library before making a purchase. For added fun, get a group of your friends round and have a group workout.

Mini trampolines can give a great cardio workout- bouncing gently up and down is fantastic fun and doesn’t even feel like exercise. They are fairly inexpensive and don’t take up much space. You can use your trampoline whenever you have a few minutes spare, or put the radio on and bounce to the beat!

Gaming consoles such as the Wii Fit has opened up a whole new way of working out. The Wii Fit will track your progress and fitness levels and is another fun way of exercising. Make sure you choose the cardio based activities, such as running, jumping or aerobics.

If you are on a budget, there are some cardio home exercises you can do without any equipment at all. When you have some free time, such as watching television, jump up and down or jog on the spot- start doing this for 5 minutes and gradually increase this as you become fitter. You can add variations such as lifting your knee towards your chest whilst you jog, or incorporating some star jumps. Alternatively, put on your favorite tunes and dance away!

With a little investment or ingenuity, you can easily incorporate cardio home exercises into your daily routine.

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Beginners Guide to Cardio Training

Surprisingly, cardiovascular training will always be an incredibly excellent solution to burn fat and get the physical body you want. The problem is that a lot of people are utilizing it mistakenly. Unless you’re a cross-country runner, you need to realise that monotonous aerobic cardio exercise will never give you the final results you really want!

It’s the time for you to begin to use high-intensity cardiovascular training. This form of exercise will provide you with quick fat loss results.

Keep in mind, high-intensity training will certainly take 100 percent dedication and diligence to start to see great results. You’re gonna have to get pumped up for this form of exercise and gain the eye of the tiger! The most difficult component is the fact that you have got to drive your own self past restrictions you in no way assumed were possible.

All set to commence?

High-Intensity Sprint Training

I’m happy to go out on a limb and state that sprints are the most useful high-intensity cardiovascular exercise you are going to ever make use of. These kind of exercises will allow you to build up lean muscle mass and obliterate extra fat. What you should do at the moment is Google search a professional sprinter and you will certainly realize why sprints are extremely incredible.

The good news is, you won’t need to commit upwards of an hour performing cardiovascular training due to the fact a sprint regimen is only going to take approximately 15 minutes of your energy. In case you’re just starting out, I would advice the traditional sprint.

Regular sprints are performed on leveled pavement, and will assist you to build up a solid foundation for skilled variances such as incline sprints. A sprint must never go longer than sixty yards because it may possibly push your system into an aerobic state.

Body weight Exercises

Not only are body weight exercises a good muscle developing strategy, but they could also be a fantastic cardio training technique when included in a circuit. If you’re aiming to improve full-body strength and lean body mass, bodyweight workouts shall do the job.

To develop your own personal circuit just simply blend 4-5 various work-outs and do every one progressively with no relaxing. After you have executed each physical exercise, you may take a break for 90 seconds.

Body weight circuits are psychologically and physically demanding, but are very important for anyone seeking to get rid of some considerable excess weight.

High-Intensity Interval Training

For those who weren’t informed, HIIT is truly one of the most favored fat loss techniques there is. This well known training method is utilized by people of all health levels.

To execute high-intensity intervals you can expect to drive oneself to 100 percent level of intensity, take a break (walk/jog), and replicate. High intensity intervals can briskly increase both aerobic and anaerobic durability.

Among the best HIIT techniques is carried out on a track. To start out, jog the straight area of the track and sprint the curved. I highly recommend 3-6 laps in case you are just beginning.

Plyometrics

For some reason, women and men tend to ignore plyometrics as a cardio training method and are honestly missing out! Plyometrics will strengthen the quick twitch muscle fibers and thus boost your explosiveness. As a result of the high-intensity level, you can also strengthen anaerobic longevity and minimize fat levels while building up lean body mass. The good thing is you are going to merely need 20 minutes of your time and energy to accomplish a high-intensity plyometric regime.

There are a lot of high-intensity cardiovascular training physical exercises you can use to see the good results you seek. All you want to do now is put your plans into action and work effortlessly! It’s time for everyone get cracking!

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Cardio Workouts For Fat Loss Do’s and Don’Ts

If you’re going to do cardio workouts to lose body fat and get lean, it’s time for you to know the right and wrong way to do cardio to achieve the best and quickest results possible. In this article, I’ll go over some of the things you should and shouldn’t do with cardiovascular workouts to maximize their effectiveness.

Do: Choose your cardio workout carefully. It’s better to choose the more intensive and challenging workouts such as running, rowing, aerobic classes, etc. Less effective workouts will likely burn less calories.

Don’t: Judge the effectiveness of your workout by its length in time. Just because you do a workout for 60 minutes, it doesn’t mean that it burns more calories than another workout which lasts for merely 40 does. You need to make your workout intense, not just long.

Do: Perform your cardio workout after you weight training session. You need to be as fresh and focused as possible when you lift weights. In addition, you don’t want to be sweating too much when you start to life weights. It will feel less comfortable.

Don’t: Do the same cardio workout over and over. You need to change things up every once in a while. Do a variety of cardiovascular activities to challenge your body in different ways, keep things interesting for you, and to improve your fitness in a number of ways.

Do: Wear comfortable shoes. If you want to reduce risk of fitness related injury and to make the workout as convenient as possible, invest in some good shoes. It’s worth it.

Don’t: Do cardio only at the gym. There’s something about doing outdoor workouts which makes exercise a lot more fun.

Do: Stretch before you do cardio. Especially if you haven’t done this particular workout in a long time, stretching will help to avoid sore muscles and reduce risk of injury.

Don’t: Avoid doing strength workouts. The best way to get lean is through a combination of cardio and strength training. Doing just cardio will delay your results.

Do: Perform interval training style cardio. Exercising in intervals is a way in which you can burn much more body fat and save a lot of workout time. This is the most time efficient way to workout.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways in which you can improve the results you get with cardio. follow these tips and you will change your body.

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Extreme Cardio For Fat Loss in 1 Exercise!

If you are wanting a superior cardio workout to help you to burn the fat then you have got to engage in body weight squats. Now you are probably wondering how this body weight exercise can be structured in such a way as to challenge your cardiovascular system. The fact is that there are several ways to structure body weight squats in order to be an effective cardio fat burning workout.

Body Weight Squats For Fat Loss!

You see body weight squats can be a highly effective and extreme cardio workout depending on what type of squat you are performing. In other words, body squat exercises can be done by executing single leg drills, squat jumps, and even rolling squat exercises. These are all highly effective and very dynamic ways to utilize the body weight squat exercise to be a successful cardiovascular drill.

However, one squat drill that I am very partial to in particular is performing the squats with the ladder structure. This can be done easily and without the need for any bulky gym equipment. For instance, get your hands on some small round objects or markers such as game piece checkers, water bottle caps, or coins. It doesn’t really matter, but just make sure that these small pieces or markers are small enough so that you can hold 10 of them in your hands. From here line up the markers in a straight line with about 8 to 10 inches between them.

To begin this drill simply walk up to the first marker and straddle it by standing with your feet at shoulder width apart in length. From here you are going to perform a proper squat and reach down to pick up the first marker. Now as soon as you pick up the first marker walk up to the second marker and perform a proper squat to reach down and place the first marker back on the ground next to the second marker. Next, squat down again and pick the first marker back up and then squat to pick up the second marker. From here you are going to walk to the third marker to squat one at a time to place the two markers down only to squat one at a time again to pick them back up along with picking the third one up. You see a pattern forming here, right? Keep executing this squats in a continuous manner until you have reached the final marker. After you are finished you will see why this body weight squat drill is such an effective cardio weight loss exercise!

If you haven’t already started to implement body weight squats into your extreme cardio workout program then you are missing out. Take the time to learn more cool tactics like this one by accessing more of my articles on the subject for free. Remember that most anyone can train hard, but only the best train smart!

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Cardio Exercise – Elliptical Machine Benefits

There are many benefits to using an elliptical trainers. Some of the elliptical machine benefits include weight loss, cardiovascular health improvements, muscle toning, and mental health and wellness. An elliptical machine is a great tool for improving health and puts less stress on the body than other types of workout equipment.

Elliptical Machine Benefits – Weight Loss

Elliptical trainer machines are great for weight loss. Elliptical machines can give you a great workout that can burn about 200+ calories in about 30 minutes at a moderate intensity level. It is also much easier on your feet, knees, and hips than a treadmill or running outdoors. As long as you are maintaining a healthy diet an elliptical machine can yield great results for your weight loss efforts.

Elliptical Machine Benefits – Cardiovascular Health

Another of the important elliptical machine benefits is the great cardiovascular exercise you can get from the machine. The cardiovascular system is composed primarily of your heart and blood vessels, the purpose of which is to deliver oxygen to the various parts of your body through the blood.

Understandably, the health of this system is very important to your overall health. Heart disease or clogged arteries can lead to serious problems. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death in many countries.

One of the things you can do to improve your cardiovascular health is to get about 30 minutes of exercise 5 times per week. This exercise should be vigorous enough to raise your heart rate to what is known as the “Cardio Zone.” To figure out what heart rate you should be targeting, first find your maximum heart rate by multiplying your age by 0.67, then subtract this number from 206.9. Here’s the formula:

Maximum Heart Rate = 206.9 – (0.67 * Age)

So, if you are 30:

206.9 – 20.1 = 186.8

70-85% of this number is your cardio heart rate zone. So, going with the example of 30 years of age, the cardio zone would be between 130 and 159 beats per minute. An elliptical machine can easily help you reach this target. It may be a good idea to find an elliptical machine that has a chest strap with a very accurate heart rate monitor to help you stay in the zone.

In addition to this, if you want to improve your cardiovascular health you should eat healthy. Avoid foods high in saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol. Smoking is another contributor to cardiovascular disease, so it may be a good idea to quit if you are a smoker.

Elliptical Machine Benefits – Muscle Toning

Toned muscles can also help you to lose or maintain weight. This is because your body exerts energy just to maintain muscle tissue, which raises your metabolism. Basically, you are burning more calories even when your aren’t doing anything.

To tone muscle with an elliptical trainer you should spend part of your workout using your arms to pump the ski pole like hand bars rather than pedaling with your feet. This can help build muscle tone in your arms. Also, pedaling in reverse and changing incline and resistance levels can help you target different muscle groups.

Elliptical Machine Benefits – Mental Health

As with any exercise routine, working out on an elliptical trainer machine has mental health benefits. Exercise is a great way to get rid of stress. In addition, you can generally let you mind wander freely while doing your exercise. I find this to be a great time to reflect on my day, to think of my plans for the future, and just to work though any unresolved thoughts going on in my head. In fact, I think best when I am in motion.

I often find that when I am in a mental funk that a moderate exercise is just the thing I need to pull me out and get me going again.

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Workout at Home Routines – Quick Cardio and Ab Workout

Being fit and healthy and looking good is an aspiration of every individual, even if the majority is not able to fulfill this aspiration. There are many reasons for this inability, ranging from busy schedules to sheer laziness and motivation or inspiration.

However, many people do make the effort to keep in shape. They are trying every possible effort within their capacity. A lot of people try some sort of walking exercise to get fit among other workout at home routines such as a workout on the elliptical to get a quick cardio workout at home or a sit-ups for a quick ab workout at home. Of these people some are seeing pretty good results and can be very beneficial and suitable for most, unless you hit a plateau, these random workouts rarely produce the results that one may achieve by following a routines designed by professionals.

There are many good reasons why one would choose to go with a program developed by a professional. One would be that the person who developed it is a professional, they have the knowledge and training to know what works and in the least amount of time for your effort, given you stick with it. These professional workout routines not only keep the average person’s limits and requirements in mind, but also eliminate the possibility of suffering the numerous injuries that can afflict a person, when they are not using proper form in an exercise. While a person may feel that the routine that he or she has adopted and made up on their own is perfect for his or her requirements, people often fail to understand the possibility of serious injuries that haphazard non-professional workout at home routines can lead to.

Besides major injuries such as broken bones, there can also be the occasional pulled, strained, ruptured or sore muscles. However, this risk can be easily eliminated through the usage of home fitness programs designed by trained professionals.

When it comes to finding the best home fitness programs, you are bound to get confused by the available options. There are so many of these program with big claims. However, two of the best workout at home routines are Tony Horton’s 10-Minute Trainer and the 10-Minute Trainer Deluxe. Designed specifically for people with busy schedules and who are concerned for their health, these two workouts are designed to give the body a complete workout and, that too in a matter of minutes. The 10-Minute Trainer incorporates a Super Stacking Technique which negates the need for cardio warm-ups and combines the toning, sculpting and abs workouts in a super-fast ten minute workout.

Horton has designed four different ten-minute workouts, each catering to a different body zone. While the Total Body is the complete overall workout, the Cardio workout involves kicking, lunging and punching that serve the simple purpose of improving your cardio health and burning fat.

The Lower Body workout is designed specifically to tone your thighs and buns, all in a span of 10 minutes. The Yoga Flex workout, on the other hand, is for people who prefer to stretch and flex their bodies into shape. It tones the muscles and gives them perfect shape.

The Total Body, however, remains the optimum workout as it is the most complete of home workout routines. Building upon its huge success, Horton has designed the 10-Minute Trainer Deluxe, a fitness regime incorporating 9 essential workouts that result in the dream body in no time. These 9 workouts are listed below to give you a fair idea of what to expect and the sheer ease with which you can fulfill you aspiration for the best possible body:

  • Total Body 2: The complete workout, which is the basic building stone of the 10-Minute Trainer Deluxe.
  • Upper Body: Innovative moves that keep your upper body in the best possible shape.
  • Plyo Intervals: Designed to give you the fitness and stamina of an athlete.
  • Cardio Intervals: Intense drills designed to burnt any excess fat off and keep your heart up for the 10-Minute Trainer Deluxe challenge.
  • Friday Night Arms: Your arms and their toning are the center of attention.
  • Core Cardio: Burning fat but this time focusing on your mid-section.
  • One on One Lower: A combination of moves, with each minute a surprise for your lower body muscles.
  • One on One Upper: Why let your upper body off the hook? Fast-paced moves to give you an upper body you can be proud of.
  • Chest and Back: Essential moves for these two major muscle groups.

Apart from being the best amongst the numerous home workout routines, Horton’s 10-Minute Trainer and Deluxe comes complete with a nutrition plan and DVD guide that provides that vital information and the free coach you get, given you utilize them, will provide the motivation when you need it the most. So, if you are interested in doing all the workouts and training at home and are pressed for time, then you know a good choice, Tony Horton’s 10-Minute Trainer.

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Cardio and Strength Training – How to Combine the Two!

Cardio and strength training work best together to get the most burn. Many people like to do either “cardio” or “weights” to build a better body, but experts agree it is better to combine the two for best results.

People will choose cardiovascular exercise because walking, running or biking seems to fit in a daily schedule easier, and this is better that doing nothing at all but really the goal is to make both a part of your fitness program.

In a perfect world we all would be doing both cardio and strength training in very workout we do. By so doing wee would burn the maximum amount of calories possible.

Just lifting weights will certainly help build muscle mass which increases metabolism and burns calories, but doing both burns more calories and builds muscle to burn more calories in the future.

To lose weight you need to burn more calories that you’re eating, but the benefits of cardio and strength training extend beyond losing pounds. You will lower bad cholesterol and blood pressure while boosting good cholesterol and your overall mood.

Strength training helps with injury prevention and combats two issues everyone encounters as we get older and that is loss of both bone and muscle mass.

Strength training can be misunderstood and as a result totally avoided even though there are a lot of benefits.

People think they must be in a gym using weights or machines for strength training. You can use your own body weight, tubing or hand weights which can be inexpensive and effective.

You can also use a buddy for resistance.

Face a partner placing your hands on their shoulders and have them resist while you push them across the gym floor or a school field if outdoors.

People need to do things they like or they will not stick to it. You may have to try a few things before finding something suitable for you.

Why not try teaming up with your spouse or friend and this winter try snowshoeing, cross-country skiing for cardio and for strength use your own body weight or sign up for a gym session with a trainer. It’s easier when you have a partner to be consistent and it will also be more fun.

Don’t think of your workouts as cardio or strength based only.

Instead choose a full-body strength workout with short cardiovascular bursts mixed in to get the maximum effect of your workout session.

This way you are getting everything in one workout and the most bang for your buck.

As an example you could do a set each of pushups, seated rows and overhead shoulder presses – and then a cardio interval ranging from one to five minutes long. Repeat the circuit a few times for best results.

You don’t need to have long tiresome workouts. Keep them short and intense. About 60 to 75 minutes is ideal or your stress hormones get to high and you actually break down muscle tissue.

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Best Intense Cardio Workouts For You!

High intensity cardio workouts are the best cardio workouts in terms of your health. If you are going to engage in cardio workouts then your workouts have to go beyond the act of just jogging or cycling. Now, I’m not saying jogging and cycling are bad, but I am saying that cardio strength training should be an integral part of your cardio training whether or not you jog or cycle!

Best Intense Cardio Workouts!

The best intense cardio workouts have to include interval and cardio strength training combinations. In other words, you can’t just expect your cardio exercises to solely be “aerobic” in nature. Aerobic means with oxygen, but remember that cardio can be anaerobic too. This is where the intensity factor comes into play with the cardiovascular conditioning side of your workouts. Keep reading if I have your attention.

Anaerobic conditioning means that you basically perform a high exertion form of exercise which causes an oxygen deficit that isn’t made up until the actual bout of the exercise is slowed down or stopped. For instance, if you perform a series of kettlebell swings, sprints, or a series of burpee calisthenics you won’t be able to sustain the high level of exertion and intensity as long, but the benefit comes in the intervals of work when the bout is performed. This is where you get used to combining the elements of both strength and cardio into the equation and this allows you to structure your workouts in order to manage your bouts of work to rest intervals.

This more intense interval or cardio strength training combination is where you stand to burn off a ton more calories and speed up the overall progress of your fitness and overall conditioning. These types of cardio workout exercises are much more impactful in terms of you getting into shape than by engaging in some low impact lower intensity bouts of exercise. The fastest way for you to get into shape is to learn how to challenge your body, but within proper measures of course.

If you haven’t started to implement cardio strength and interval type drills into your intense cardio training then you haven’t fulfilled your workouts. Take the time to learn more by accessing more of my articles on the subject for free. There is no substitute for effective training and this is effective my friend. Remember that most anyone can train hard, but only the best train smart!

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Kettlebell Swings For Cardio!

Kettlebell swings are a very dynamic and highly effective method for you to achieve a superior cardiovascular and strength training workout at the same time. A kettlebell swing workout is one that is certainly in it’s “own league,” especially when comparing it to other so-called traditional forms of cardio training such as running on a treadmill or rowing the elliptical trainer. This is about total body strength and cardiovascular conditioning.

Kettlebell Swings Cardio!

More and more everyday I get questioned about the training exercises that are possible to perform with the ancient kettlebell. I basically end up explaining that the possibilities are endless. You see there are so many variations of drills that can be done with the ancient iron bell to cater to just about any form of training irregardless of your purpose or goals for training. However, the one constant variable that tends to get noticed first is the superior cardiovascular conditioning that can be gained from this device.

Both new clients and potential prospects all acknowledge the rapid elevation of their heart rate after executing a bout of swings. The swing lift is the base strength endurance lift of the kettlebell and is wonderful for showing people that there are alternative ways to achieve a superior cardiovascular workout. The common thread is that with this lift and most all kettlebell lifts there is a quick elevation of one’s perceived level of exertion. This is accomplished with the kettlebell because it involves such effort and coordination of such a large amount of the musculoskeletal structure in order to pull it off. There is just simply not that many resting parts when pulling off a set of kettlebell swings. This single lift is great for helping you achieve a mind blowing level of cardiovascular conditioning for this very reason. So many muscles and total effort must go into being able to efficiently and successfully move the kettlebell along it’s arc of motion when performing the swing lift.

The great thing about this particular lift is that it can be altered many different ways in order to achieve different levels of cardiovascular intensity. This can be done by either swinging a single bell with both arms, a bell in each hand, a single bell in one hand, or by manipulating the range of motion by swinging the bell a full 180 degrees from between your legs all the way up to above your head. By executing the swings and altering the variations you stand to achieve an amazing level of fitness that you probably would never thought would be possible. As a strength and conditioning pro I can tell you that this is the absolute truth!

If you haven’t already started to implement the use of kettlebell cardio into the structure of your workouts then you are missing out. Take the time to learn more by accessing more of my articles on the subject for free. Remember that most anyone can train hard, but only the best train smart my friend!

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