If you’re not sure if your cardio routine is doing more harm than good, it’s time to read this blog post! In the pursuit of weight loss and general health, many people turn to traditional forms of aerobic exercise like running. While running can be a great form of regular activity for some people, other options might better suit your needs.
If you’re looking to lose weight and prevent heart disease, doctors often recommend low-to-moderate intensity cardio. It’s usually suggested that people do a steady pace of 30 minutes 5 times per week if they want the best health benefits like cardiovascular fitness and fat loss. Although it might seem tempting to perform endless hours on an elliptical machine or treadmill, science has shown there are drawbacks to this approach as well!
Recent research suggests that steady-state exercise is not the best type of training for our bodies. Stop-and-go movements are what we were built to do, which can be seen throughout nature as all animals take a break from their movement by sitting or resting periodically during bouts of activity. Humans are the only species in existence who try to pursue “endurance” types of physical activities without taking enough breaks and engaging in short bursts followed by periods of recovery. This could explain why so many people struggle with chronic health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.
With exceptions like cycling and running long distances or marathons, most competitive sports involve short bursts followed by recovery periods where you can focus less energy on your muscles – sprinting or jogging. You’ll find sprinters tend to look much leaner than anyone who spends hours pounding out miles every day because they don’t spend so much time recovering between reps while training using heavier weights.
Different forms of exercise can have different effects on the body. Scientists found that excessive endurance exercise, which might be more than 60 minutes per session for most days of the week, may reduce our immune function and cause chronic diseases like muscle wasting or a pro-inflammatory response in our bodies. A high degree of variable cyclic exercises has been proven to boost antioxidant levels and anti-inflammation response instead, meaning it could prevent us from getting sick!
Staying in a stable state of endurance training doesn’t train the heart to cope with stress. On the other hand, highly variable cyclic trains your heart to respond and recover from an array of demands. Your chances are higher for success when it’s needed because this is how it works:
Exercise that trains your heartbeat rapidly increasing or decreasing its rate will make you more capable of managing everyday stresses which can lead our blood pressure rising quickly or slowing down too much depending on what we’re feeling at any given time. If you allow rapid changes in either heartbeat or blood pressure while exercising, all signs indicate failure. Still, if you stay resilient by constantly reminding yourself why exercise has been so beneficial, then there’ll be no stopping us!
Let’s suppose you’re running and jogging for 45 minutes. You should have a similar heart rate throughout, as long as there were no hills involved. Let’s assume your heart rate was 135 beats per minute before experimenting with different techniques like wind sprints and alternating walking periods of around one minute in length between the two exercises to make it more effective! The only way that this would work is if we go from 110-115 bpm during our walk breaks to 160 bpm during the 1-minute bouts of high-intensity exercise – which are also known colloquially (and appropriately!) as “wind sprints.”
The best type of cardio for the body is variable cyclic exercise because it gives you a better chance to recover and stay fit. The key difference between this form of training and regular, boring cardio programs is that with each burst, there’s a recovery period in which your muscles are working at different times, so they don’t get too worn out or exhausted before the next interval starts. This also keeps things interesting when exercising instead of those long hours on an elliptical machine where nothing changes but your heart rate!
The potential benefits of variable-cyclic training over steady-state endurance are:
- Improved cardiovascular health.
- Increased antioxidant protection.
- Improved immune function.
- Reduced risk of joint wear, tear, muscle wasting.
- Increased residual metabolic rate after exercise.
- A greater ability for the heart to deal with daily stressors.
It is important to have a well-rounded fitness routine that includes cardio, strength, and flexibility training. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms listed above or know someone who does, please consult your doctor before continuing with this workout regimen.