Replace Your Cardio Workout for Better Health

Most people think cardio or aerobic exercise is the most effective way to lose weight. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Cardio is not only ineffective but it is also hard on the joints and can break the body down more than build it up, which, after all, is the goal of a workout in the first place. I will say that there can be a place for low-moderate level cardio for really overweight or deconditioned people, but even in those cases, there can be more effective methods.

With traditional cardio, jogging or running on a treadmill, most people don't continue at it very long anyway because it can become too boring. There can be some therapeutic value to getting outside and looking around while jogging, but if a person jogs the same path each day even much of the value of that is lost.

Look at the bodies of most people who are long distance runners. They are often frail and almost scrawny. Compare that to a sprinter's body, who does an entirely different type of workout that I will describe in a minute. The sprinter is lean and muscular. I've known many people who did a lot of long distant running and they had little pot bellies on top of being frail. It's not the type of body most people are trying to achieve when they are working about.

The ideal workout is one which is done in short bursts of exercise that creates an oxygen debt. By that I mean you are working the body so hard that you are forced to stop or slow down to catch your breath. While sprinting is an ideal example of this it is not even close to being the only method of doing this type of workout. So please don't be scared off and say, "I'm too far out of shape to sprint."

This type of workout can be tailored to any level of fitness and be very effective. It is sometimes called interval training. By that it is meant that you do a short burst of a workout then catch your breath and do another short burst and rest, etc. and repeat this 5-6 times and you will have a very effective and efficient workout which is far less boring than thirty or more minutes of jogging. This workout by contrast can often be done in 10 minutes.

Interval training builds strength and stamina and increases the metabolism of your body long after the workout is over, thereby continuing to burn off unwanted calories, i.e. fat.

You would, of course, tailor this workout depending on where you are starting out physically. For someone who is extremely out of shape and overweight you would have to start out with short bursts of walking as fast as you are capable of, stop and rest for a short time and repeat as noted above.

For someone in very good shape sprinting on hills with a 2 minute break in between sprints would be very effective.

Anything that you enjoy doing as a workout can be incorporated into this method. I've done it with rope jumping, swimming, bicycling and many other things. Body weight calisthenics are good and it can even be done with weights, but if you were doing that I would suggest hiring a trainer to help you at least devise the program.

Your fat busting workout doesn't have to be long and boring and it definitely shouldn't be cardio. Incorporate these methods into your workout and you will be happier and healthier for it.

Article Source: http://articlewagon.com

If you're interested in taking your proper diet and fat-loss efforts to an entirely new level, go to the following site and see a free video that will give you methods for boosting your metabolism, losing belly fat and getting into the best physical condition of your entire life- d0c89oklm0jpfw5ioep5ryum5c.hop.clickbank.net/

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated