Cardio, easy, effortless and fun… How is that even possible?
Doing Cardio is always a hassle…
Going to the gym, doing cardio on a treadmill or bike, watching mind numbing TV shows, while looking like one of the Lemmings… running and running for hours!
It doesn`t have to be that way.
There are different kinds of cardiovascular training.
HIIT
High intensity interval training
Should be handled like weight training, because it is exactly like weight training.
If you sprint a day before a leg workout. You won`t be able to perform at your best.
A HIIT Session can look like this:
Sprint all out for 10seconds, walk for 50seconds, sprint all out again for 10 seconds, walk for 50second and repeat.
Do that for a total of 15minutes!
MISS
Medium intensity steady state cardio
is the method I wouldn`t recommend at all.
It is inihibiting your regenaration too much and is mostly for endurance athletes and not as healthy as the other two.
Going for a jog can have an immense pressure on your joints and on your heart.
People that run multiple marathons usually look older than they are!
Do you know what happened to the person that ran the first marathon?
LISS
Low intensity steady state cardio
In my opinion the best form of cardio for weight management, fatloss and health.
In this category belongs all low intensity stuff like walking, riding a bike without effort, slowly swimming and so on!
It is not taxing to the body at all!
You can do this for several hours and it won`t inhibit your progress in the gym as much as MISS or HIIT and you will be able to lose a decent amount of bodyfat,
since it is easier to integrate in your daily or weekly routine.
Not losing muscle is always one of the highest priorities on a diet… this is where LISS shines!
As you can see, I only advocate LISS as a form of cardio, but that does not mean you are not allowed to do any other form of cardio…
Just do not force yourself to go out for a jog if you do not like jogging. Do what you enjoy!
If you like playing soccer, go for it!
Optimal does not mean anything else won`t work at all!
How to integrate LISS Cardio and why it is so easy to burn extra calories!
You can do multiple things during your cardio
If you wanna read a book:
Walk on a treadmill and read a book
If you are going to watch TV or a movie:
Why not sit at home on a bike and do some chill cardio in front of your TV and watch a show or movie
If you wanna play a videogame:
Why not start playing one while doing your LISS cardio?
If you want play Pokémon GO:
Why not combine it with a solid diet and do some extra walking?
This has the nice side effect that you are not focused at all on food, so you won`t be hungry!
Go for a walk during your breaks (like lunch) or while doing groceries
Do it without a shirt, if you wanna enjoy the sun and get some extra Vitamin D3 and tan (only if it is allowed of course!)
Listen to an audio book or podcast, while walking and explore a new city
I recommend Eckhart Tolle`s The Power of Now as a must listen to audio book.
A park in Tokyo – Get a cup of coffee for an additional hunger blunting effect and do some walking!
How much calories do you burn during cardio?
Most people say you burn “300 or 400” calories in an hour, but that is not exactly true!
First and foremost… It is an individual thing!
Those “300” calories are not only burned through your cardio session…
It is the sum of your NEAT (Non Exercise activity thermogenesis, the calories you burn through just being alive and breathing) and the cardio itself
So it is impossible to determine how much you burn during your cardio session.
Bodyweight, hormones, NEAT, age and so on are just to big of variables here.
In the end
It comes down to looking at your day and trying to combine an easy way for some additional fatloss with activities or errands you want or have to do anyway!
If you do not have the time or energy to do any kind of cardio… Well, do not force yourself to do it.
Only if you are doing a bodybuilding show, you should feel obligated to do any type of cardio!
The most important aspect of any diet is that you can stick to your diet:
“Adherence”, if you do not enjoy the process, if you can not adhere to do your diet…
You are bound to fail at one point…
It could be in a month or at the end of your diet, depending on your willpower…
You can not stick to a diet forever, which you hate
Only if you have an external source of motivation, that can keep you going, would make it possible … like being sick or injured.
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