Is There a Best Way To Do Cardio?

Ah, Cardio. One of the most reviled forms of working out, but one of my favorite. There’s a lot of confusion and mystery surrounding cardio. What is “cardio”? Well, the word cardio refers to your cardiovascular system so really anything that gets your heart rate up and gets you breathing heavier can be considered a cardio workout.

But what makes the “best” cardio? Well, that depends on who you are and your personal goals. There are many forms of cardio so I’ll explain a few of them here.

One of the most common forms of cardio is starting to get a bad rap, being called “long slow hamster-on-a-wheel” cardio. This includes things like walking or jogging or sitting on a stationery cycle for countless minutes or hours. I’ll agree, some of that stuff is pretty boring. But that doesn’t negate it as a valid and good form of cardio for many people. If other forms of cardio are too difficult for the very overweight, or out of shape, or elderly, this kind of cardio may be the only option until they can improve their fitness levels to sustain more difficult forms of cardio (as listed below).

Another type of cardio is referred to as Interval Training. This can be done with many kinds of exercise including running, cycling, biking, rowing, swimming or even walking. This type of cardio includes going faster for a set period of time followed by going slower for a set period of time. For instance you could sprint for 30 seconds and then walk quickly for 60 seconds. This is a great way to burn a lot of calories in a very short period of time. Another way to incorporate Intervals into your cardio might be to include many hills in your endurance run or bike ride. The hills provide the natural ‘harder’ phase while the flat areas and downhills provide the ‘active rest’ phase.

Yet another type of cardio is to incorporate intensity into your weights routines such as putting two or three exercises together into what is called a “SuperSet”, where you work one muscle group, then another (and possibly another) without resting in between sets. One muscle group rests while the other muscle group works but overall you don’t stop moving completely from one set to another. But the time all your sets are done for that SuperSet, you’ll definitely feel a spike in your cardiovascular system.

Finally, incorporating cardio into a weights routine can also be done by doing “full body compound” moves instead of isolation moves. These include exercises such as Squat Presses (a squat and a dumbbell shoulder press done at the same time). When you are doing these types of exercises, because your full body is working very hard to do move that many muscle groups at once, it definitely gets your heart rate up substantially. Make it even harder by putting your two favorite full body compound moves into a SuperSet. That’ll make you sweat!!

So, next time its time for your cardio workout, try any of these as a way to change things up and keep your cardio interesting.

For more cool info on this subject, check out Truth About Six Pack Abs - The Truth

Jackie Burgmann is a Registered Weight Trainer and Registered Personal Trainer who also runs a popular fitness-oriented video blog using the pseudonym Girlwithnoname at Girlwithnoname.com

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