What is cardio?
“A life with running is not worth living” – wise people say. But keep such wisdoms for the pub time when you talk philosophy to strangers. People usually misunderstand its principle. They mostly think it’s just for cutting, to lose fat, but no. Cardio is an important factor of your overall health condition and well-being. Cardio is an exercise, where you don’t specifically target certain muscle groups, but increase your pulse, thus training your cardiovascular system. In fitness in general, people basically just use it to lose fat or to stay fit. The point of it to inflict an additional calorie deficit, but also to slightly kick your metabolism, aka you’ll burn fat on a higher level even after the cardio itself, not only during it.
Benefits of cardio:
- stronger heart
- better circulation
- better regeneration (if done moderately)
- better lung capacity
- better mood
- better sleep
- better sex life
- fat burning (you can eat what you want)
Do you need cardio?
Well, it won’t hurt you, of course. But, it can cost you time and energy that you can spend on something more important. I don’t want to suggest to consult everyone from your doctor through your financial advisor to your kindergarten teacher that what is the best choice, just take off your shirt in front of a mirror, and ask yourself the big question. However, the truth is not that easy in this case, not at all. If following a good training routine and diet plan, then time can carve down the greasy ugliness from your belly anyway, but if you want to speed up the process more, or just some cheat meals or drinks broke through your discipline firewall, then a little cardio might do good. The important thing is not to think about it as an atonement or a prepayment for a future sin, but as an enjoyable activity you like to do.
Can you do cardio while bulking?
Why not? You can still gain muscles and strength, tone up yourself. There is no “absolute fat burning mode” and “absolute muscle gaining mode” in your body. Don’t believe in mainstream bodybuilding bullshit, when they force you to get fat while gaining muscle, it doesn’t make any sense at all.
When is the best time to do cardio?
The scientific answer: anytime you want, especially if your goal is to merely cause an additional calorie deficit.
The practical answer: Morning on empty stomach. You just wake up, get it done, and start your day. If you are cutting, it may work after a workout too, but the empty stomach version is pure perfection. Not only it will keep you more energetic throughout the day, but it will wake you up easier, and let’s admit, that’s what everybody dreams about.
How can I maximize the fat burning result?
By sticking to your diet plan. A cardio session that won’t interfere with your muscle & strength training and won’t make you want to jump off a bridge is no secret weapon. Remember, you cannot outrun your mouth!
What are the types of cardio?
Low-intensity cardio
Basically you just walk fast, that’s it. Personally, I prefer this the most, because it doesn’t affect too much the regeneration, while brings sound results. If you do it on a treadmill, set very high incline, and you won’t need to walk too fast. You will see how you will tolerate it. With this intensity, you can watch a movie on a treadmill on your phone, listen to a podcast on your walk, or walk your dog fast. Oh, and you can play Pokemon Go too!
- just walk fast
- the intensity is good as long as you can maintain a conversation
- you don’t actually need to talk the whole time, just to check the intensity, you know…
High-intensity cardio
Basically, you jog. This will moderately affect your regeneration and can save you time compared to its low-intensity brother. You can still take your dog with yourself. The important factor is how hard you train and how much you sleep. If you feel that this type of cardio uses your leg muscles too much, and notice they are sore for a longer time than usually after a leg workout, then it’s time to go back to low-intensity cardio, and just wake up 20 mins earlier.
- warm up
- jog
- stretch
HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)
This stands for walking fast and doing sprints. This is the most efficient way to burn fat, because it is the most physically demanding. The general rule is to walk 2 times more than sprint (2:1 ratio). For example, you walk for 1 minute and then sprint for 30 seconds. You can adjust it based what you tolerate more. However, this will fuck your regeneration right in the ass. The sporty types of professional bodybuilders use this method, but they also use steroids, sleep like a baby and eat like a wooly mammoth, so you probably won’t fall into this category. However, if you are limited in time, and can only do 1-2 cardio sessions a week, and you also enjoy this more than jogging, then here you go!
- warm up
- walk 1 minute
- sprint 30 seconds
- repeat
- stretch
(DIC) Dog-Intensity Interval Cardio
This is the bestest version from all of them. This you cannot do on a treadmill, only outdoors. Just take your doggo, walk as a warm up, then fast walk, jog and sprint, while stop whenever you see some attractive tree to pee on (not for you). Get used to sprint with a poobag in your hands until you find a bin. This can never become boring, and will easily become a daily routine regardless what happens in your life, thus keeping you in shape and your dog happy at the same time. Maybe you get into a relationship, maybe you plan to sell yourself weight-based, maybe you accidentally listened to some fat-empowerment podcast, or maybe you just lost your leg. These all can prevent you from doing cardio, however, none of them is as much powerful as imagining your dog’s sad disappointed face after he or she finds out that you won’t go for a walk.
- warm up
- walk 1-2 minutes
- fast walk, jog or sprint whenever and wherever is suitable
- don’t miss the pee spots!
- pick up the poop
- stretch
Bottom line: adopt a dog. You will make your dog’s life happy and yourself lean. If you can do good, why not doing it?
They put way too much pressure on your leg muscles, but if it works for you, or you just like it, then why not. You are the boss.
It has begun!
Hey all, it took me almost a year, but my blog-website combo is finally ready to go public. It's still not completely ready though, but I hope that by publishing I'll motivate myself more.