Understanding Cardio(part3)
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009In the next session we will look at ways to fine tune your cardio to be more beneficial to your goals. A few things we have determined so far is cardio is good for you, everyone should do some cardio, and it has a host of benefits for your body. The one thing we have not touched on though is all cardio is not created equal. Different ways of doing cardio can provide many different benefits. Now we are going to get more in depth about fine tuning your cardio for more benefits.
Understanding working planes of movement-
Different planes of movement will provide different cardio benefits. The two planes of cardio are horizontal and vertical. Cardio on a horizontal plane is anything done on a flat surface. Walking, running, aerobics, and or playing sports are all good examples of this. Cardio on a vertical plane is anything that is elevated or going up and down. Stair Masters, Step Mills, Running hills, Wall climbing, running hills, and running stairs are all good examples of this. While both are great for your cardiovascular health there is a bit of a difference between the two. Since our bodies do not normally work on elevated or vertical planes, when we do this it causes the body to work harder. By working harder you will automatically burn more calories. Since the workload is much harder on a elevated plane you may have to decrease the intensity the more you increase the plane. I often see people elevate the treadmill up, hold on to the handles and try to sprint as fast as they can. They are holding on so tightly and moving so uncontrollably they are really not fully working. When working on elevated planes you want the movements to be as natural as if you were outdoors going up a hill on your own power. When moving on elevated planes you want to do most of the work yourself and if you have to use a ton of support you need to lower the intensity. If you run on a treadmill, each 1 percent increases in elevation causes you to expend 4 percent more energy. Simply put the steeper the incline the more energy will be needed to work.
Moving on vertical planes also causes more explosive power. Running on an incline targets the legs a lot more. While horizontal plane movement tends to emphasize the quads more, inclined movements hit the butt and hamstrings really hard. The muscles you use to overcome inclines are almost exactly the same as the ones you use for sprinting. If you’re main cardio goal is to target the butt and hamstrings more work on elevated planes.
Understanding what heart rate works for your goal-
We now understand a little about target heart rates, but does working at different percentages of your target heart rate produce different results? The answer is a yes.
Once you determine your target heart rate you can tailor your cardio workouts better to suit your goals, by working in certain percentages of your heart rate.
*Find your target heart rate (click here)
| Light Exercise |
Active Rest Zone Maintain Healthy Heart/Get Fit Least Calories burnt |
50% - 60% |
| Weight Management |
Fat Burn Zone Lose Weight/ Burn Fat Most calories burnt from fat 60% Fat Burning |
60% - 70% |
| Aerobic Base Building |
Aerobic Zone Increase Stamina Aerobic Endurance Some fat burning but muscle glycogen also starts to be used 45% Fat Burning |
70% - 80% |
| Optimal Conditioning |
Anaerobic Zone Maintain Excellent Fitness Condition Develops Lactic Acid System Muscle Glycogen starts to become the primary fuel 30% Fat Burning |
80% - 90% |
| Elite Athlete |
Red Line Zone Maintain Superb Athletic Condition Most calories burnt Most Muscle Glycogen Used 15% Fat burning More Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers used Shortest exercise time |
90% - 100% |
Whether you want to be a better sprinter, improve your aerobic ability or just burn fat better, all these things can be accomplished through various levels of intensity. As shown by the chart above, depending on what percentage you want to work at can dramatically alter your fitness results.
Understanding not all cardio calories are created equally-
You now know that working in different percentages of your heart rate will yield different results but did you also know that they burn calories in a much different way also. At a lower intensity level the body is much more efficient at burning fat for fuel during cardio workouts. The best zone for this is right around 60-70 percent of your target heart rate. As you start to increase the percentage of your target heart rate you’re using you start to burn more total muscle glycogen and less total body fat. So why not avoid all high intensity training and stay in the fat burning zone if that is your goal? Well it is somewhat of a double edged sword. You burn more calories from fat in the 60-70 percent range but you burn few total calories. With higher intensity training you work a lot harder, forcing the body to burn more calories. You may burn fewer calories from fat but you would end up burning more overall calories. High intensity training works well for fat burning because you can burn more calories in much shorter amount of time. So which one is better??? Neither!!! The best one is the one that works best for you. How much better one works that the other is going to be based on how well it works for you. Based on your nutritional program, time constraints, individual needs, and just general preferences will be the determining factor on which works for you. Some people swear by high impact and some swear by low impact, the ones I have found most successful are the ones that do something no matter if it’s high, low, or both.
Understanding cardio is only as evil as you make it-
Some people swear cardio is the most evil thing invented to man. The question is why? Is it the cardio or what you’re doing for cardio. With the vast array of things you can do and the many pieces of equipment you can use why should cardio be viewed as torturous. If you don’t like doing things like the treadmill, then do not slave away for hours on one. You can get outside, swim, run, or even a pick up game of basketball.
“Well I don’t like cardio because when I do it I have to do it for hours at a time!!!” Well honestly you should not be doing that much cardio anyway. You want shorter more intense cardio workout look into things like high intensity training methods. People should and need to understand lots of cardio will not make up for poor nutritional and life practices. Cardio should be a tool to help you towards your goals and not a crutch to aid your bad habits.
No matter what your goal is or what type of cardio you like or do not like with a little planning and focus you can make cardio a handy tool to use toward your fitness goals.
For more helpful articles like this one, check out Taylorednutrition.tripod.com
View all comments | Leave Comment