Cardio!

For general health, aerobic exercise for the cardiovascular system is more important than weightlifting!  More important than that to most people is that aerobic exercise helps get you ripped.  It is really amazing illusion but losing weight and getting ripped makes you look more massive even though you have lost weight!   I can't tell you how many times people come up to me at the end of the beach volleyball season when I am really ripped and comment on how massive I look and ask  how much muscle I have gained even though I have lost 10lbs.  Not everyone can gain 10lbs of muscle in a year, its really difficult; however, almost anyone can get ripped in a year if they focus on doing their aerobic exercise and proper nutrition. 

Here is a video explaining what "good cardio" is. Its clear that there is a lot of confusion about cardio, its really quite simple. In this video I show you what is good cardio and how to tell at a glance if a piece of cardio equipment is good or not. The purpose of cardio is to elevate your heart rate and keep it target zone for at least 20 minutes, if your exercise does that then its good cardio! Watch in fullscreen.

When should you do your cardio? 

Before eating breakfast?  Can you do it on the same day as your weightlifting?  Should you do it before or after lifting weights?  The answer is whatever works best for you!  There is probably some truth to the fact that you will burn off more calories if you do cardio before breakfast but its also probably true that if you do cardio when hungry you will stop sooner because you feel faint so it doesn't really buy you anything.  If you can avoid it, try not to do intense cardio right before doing weights as that will keep you from being able to give 110% percent effort to lifting.  If that's the only time you can do cardio though, its not a big deal and its better to do cardio at a non-optimal time than not to do it at all.  Best is if you can rest 4-6hrs after your cardio before doing weightlifting but never skip your cardio because of this!  Repeat after me, "cardio is more important for your health than weightlifting".

Cardio Is NOT Boring!

If you find cardio boring then you are doing something wrong and you need to fix it. How can you do this? Well, try doing your cardio outside in the real world if you can. Go for a bikeride thru the park, go jogging alongside the river. Join a soccer team or play ultimate frisbee, team sports have a way of making your cardio time fly by. If you are stuck indoors because of weather, you can still make those dreary stationary machines exciting. Watch your favorite TV show while you are doing cardio or read your favorite trashy magazine. Another way to make cardio engrossing is to download lots of interesting podcasts or music to your iPod/iPhone. An iPhone remote can make your iPod/iPhone much easier to use while doing cardio and makes it much less likely you will drop it.

The Importance of Cardio

If you don't have time to do aerobic exercise then skip weightlifting so you can do it.  Aerobic exercise should not be boring, it should be fun!  If you have to do cardio at the gym then find a good book, listen to the radio or books on tape - find a way to make it interesting and enjoyable.  Better yet, find a sport you love and do it with a spouse or friend and the time will fly by.  Walking, jogging, cycling, soccer, skateboarding, or whatever it takes.  If you don't have much time then jog to the gym, walk you kids to school, walk your dog, or start using your bike for transportation.  If you don't belong to a gym, and don't have a thousand dollars for a good stationary cardio machine, buy a jump-rope!  Jumping rope is an amazingly intense aerobic workout, in fact, you will probably have to start with just a few minutes and work up to 20-30 minutes a day.  Jumping rope is not only an amazing aerobic workout but is great at increasing coordination.  Contrary to popular belief, jumping rope is not monotonous either if done properly and takes a lot of concentration.  One drawback is that you need a room with high ceilings to jump rope or you need to do it outside.  Here are some great reasons to do cardio:

How much cardio? 

If you are happy with your body fat percentage and just want to keep your heart healthy then follow the American Heart Association's guidelines and do 30 minutes of  light exercise (walking, gardening, etc) a day.  If you want to lose body fat then try and do 30-60 minutes of strenuous cardio (swimming, running, fast biking) every day or 60 minutes every other day.

If you are lacking in time then find some part of your week where you can bike for transportation instead of driving, to work, the gym, or the grocery store perhaps?  Time sitting in your car is not only expensive but it is a waste of time, try and find some way of biking instead of driving the car.  If you are overweight enough that you don't feel comfortable biking then walking is a great option.  Try walking as transportation, beats wasting time sitting in traffic.

What is "good cardio"? 

Its clear that there is a lot of confusion about cardio, its really quite simple.  Lets start with the basics.  The purpose of cardio is to elevate your heart rate and keep it (in the purple zone) there for at least 20 minutes.   How elevated does your heart rate need to be?  Depends on your goal, your age, and your health.  If you have medical conditions, ask your doctor what is appropriate for you.  If you are in good health, you can use these charts from the AHA

 

Age

Target HR Zone 50–85 %

Average Maximum Heart Rate 100 %

20 years

100–170 beats per minute

200 beats per minute

25 years

98–166 beats per minute

195 beats per minute

30 years

95–162 beats per minute

190 beats per minute

35 years

93–157 beats per minute

185 beats per minute

40 years

90–153 beats per minute

180 beats per minute

45 years

88–149 beats per minute

175 beats per minute

50 years

85–145 beats per minute

170 beats per minute

55 years

83–140 beats per minute

165 beats per minute

60 years

80–136 beats per minute

160 beats per minute

65 years

78–132 beats per minute

155 beats per minute

70 years

75–128 beats per minute

150 beats per minute

  http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4736

So if you are wondering if a particular activity is good cardio, its simple to find out.  Do it for a minimum of 20 minutes then measure your heart rate (15sx4) and compare it to the above chart.  If your heart rate is in the target zone, then its good cardio - simple as that.   With many forms of cardio, like cycling or walking, its easy to get lazy and just lolli-gag along.  Its important that you monitor your heart rate during the cardio to make sure that you are not slacking off.  Just a note, walking has the lowest dropout rate of all forms of cardio - probably because its so enjoyable.

OK, now lets talk about cardio equipment. I get lots of questions asking if a particular kind of cardio equipment is good.   First of all, I don't recommend buying ANY equipment.  I'd much rather see you get exercise outdoors by cycling, jogging, or playing soccer, its cheaper and more enjoyable.  If you have to workout in your home, I would recommend a cheap jump rope.  Having said that, if you are determined to spend money on equipment for indoor use, here is how you can tell if a piece of equipment is good. 

First of all, good cardio equipment is very expensive and typically costs over a thousand dollars  and has three main characteristics

OK, some common questions I get about cardio.  Many people seem to be looking for shortcuts to cardio.  What if I sprint, can I just do 1 mile?  NO! You must do your cardio a MINIMUM of 20min, preferably 40-60min.  What if I do interval training, can I just do 15min - NO!  You must do your cardio a MINIMUM of 20min, preferably 40-60min.  I get questions about interval training all the time so lets talk about that a moment.  Interval training is alternating bursts of speed followed by short rests, for example in running you might sprint for 60s and walk for 30s.  Studies have shown that exercising in this fashion can burn off more calories than steady cardio.  If you want to do interval training

  1. you still need to do it for a min of 20min daily
  2. don't rest so long that your heart rate drops below the target heart rate zone (purple)
  3. Be mindful of injuries, make sure to stretch - you are much more likely to get injured sprinting than

Wow, I'm really groggy myself.  Time for me to do cardio before I fall asleep.

Some important references:

http://www.depression-help-for-you.com/exercise-and-depression.html

http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/abstract/69/7/587

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080228112008.htm