It has become a long standing myth that performing cardio exercise means to execute the exercise at a steady pace over a long period of time.

It’s also paired up with what we call aerobic exercise meaning in the presence of oxygen. During aerobic exercise oxygen is consistently delivered to your lungs and muscles.

A large proportion of people as illusrated in the gym enevironment for one are accustomed to this type of cardio training as shown by the large proportion of joggers.

However not all cardio is equal and using the method outlined above is not that efficient at burning fat tissue.

An outcome that we desire is to work the muscle tissue sufficiently in order to create an increase in metabolic rate and in doing so burn fat tissue instead of wasted muscle. This is what we call anaerobic training.

In this case we are still talking about cardiovascular exercise and what options to use but now it is defined as NOT in the presence of oxygen.

Sounds harsh but there is no need to be alarmed and fear that you are going to stop breathing. All this simply means is that the conversion of oxygen to energy is not enough to complete the activity and so your body moves to other energy systems to create movement.

What are the benefits of this type of cardio training?

Time – It can be performed very quickly, no requirement for a 1 hour window.

Fitness – Anaerobic exercise can improve all components of fitness including aerobic. However, aerobic cannot offer the same cross benefit

Metabolism – Anaerobic energy system training burns calories hours after the exercise is finished. The net result is that your are burning more fat tissue. Aerobic training will actually bite away at your muscle tissue and slow down your metabolic rate. In doing so your body will become less efficient in burning fat.

Picture this image of a sprinter and marathon runner next to one another. Sprinters carry less body fat than long distance runners because of their muscle mass.

Stands the test of time, there is no end point – Consistently performing aerobic exercise will get you fitter but as mentioned above will not increase your metabolic rate. By performing this type of exercise only over and over you are adapting so much that it will be harder and harder to get any gains from it. Anaerobic exercise does not get easier and will consistently bring results because the muscle will always try to work harder or you can challenge them more.

On question that will always come up with this format of training is whether you are getting any “fitter” and why it never gets easier?

Trust me; this is a good thing because as you are getting fitter you are able to increase your effort which results in better results and a system that you can benefit from for life because small changes can be made so that you never adapt.

The same method cannot be applied to aerobic exercise. If you try harder, it will then become anaerobic so the question becomes why not utilise anaerobic type training to begin with and save loads of time?

And when you adapt to aerobic exercise you do not need to expend as many calories and so less fat is burned!

One form of anaerobic training that is cardio vascular is interval training which prevents and adaptation and will improve your fat loss results.

Interval training is simply performing a period of intense activity followed by a period of active rest meaning you can perform at a higher intensity using your muscle tissue for a longer period of time. The ratio of the work to rest periods and actual length of them can be changed to serve all manners of purposes and in doing so means there is no end in sight. As you progress, so will the challenge, there is no down side!

Here is a simple structure for performing interval training using running.

After a warm up of 5 minutes

Perform a run/sprint for 60 seconds as fast as you can. The level of exertion rated at at least a 9 out of 10. On completion, walk at a moderate speed or a perceived level of about 3/10 And repeat 5 more times

Understand that the speed and intensity will decline as you do repeat and as you get closer to the conclusion of each work interval.

if you then include a cool down to end the session, the total time from start to finish would be about 25 minutes.

Then as you get better reduce the active rest to 60 seconds also making a total of 15 minutes end to end.

Nothing to it and time to spare. Trust me; your improvements in burning fat tissue and creating a better body shape will explode as will your general fitness.

Visit Your Personal Trainer Manchester for more information on his methods and beliefs.

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Tired of visiting the gym regularly? Nowadays, you don’t actually have to visit a fitness center just to burn off calories. This is because you can just buy your own treadmill and do your exercise routines while watching television at home. However, there are drawbacks in getting your own exercise equipment. So before making your purchase, you have to weigh the benefits and the disadvantages of buying a treadmill to make sure that you are going to spend your money wisely. Below are some things that could help you in making that decision.

Advantages

As mentioned earlier, you don’t have to go to the gym for your regular workout sessions. You don’t also have to run or walk outside to burn off calories if you have this home fitness machine. You can even do some other activities such as watching TV or reading a book while using your treadmill. Aside from these, some home fitness equipment are built with heart rate monitors that could allow you to view your progress when working out.

Disadvantages

Although there are many benefits that you can get from using this machine at home, it also has a lot of drawbacks. One of these is that this would be costly compared to running or walking outside. Aside from this, you can grow bored with your routine especially if you’ve been doing the same thing for months. Another important point is that in using a treadmill, like in any other cardiovascular exercise equipment, your chance of suffering from cardiac arrest is increased. This is especially true if you are using the machine in an airconditioned room, where you won’t easily feel the exhaustion that would make you stop naturally.

Other factors to consider

If you still want to have this equipment despite the disadvantages and health risk you can experience in using one, you should consider several factors before you shop. One of the factors that you have to put into consideration is your budget. There are various brands out there, so just be patient in finding the one that is less expensive. You can search the Internet to get an idea regarding the different brands. Aside from this, you also have to consider if you’re comfortable in using such a machine. Make sure that you try using it for a few minutes at the store before you pay for it. It is also best that you visit various shops and compare the rates and the quality of different machines.

Jim Smith is a fitness expert who currently works in a popular fitness center in Ohio. She also written articles online on the advantages of getting your own pieces of workout equipment such as the treadmill.

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What if you were performing those hours of cardio for nothing and it was actually causing you to gain weight?

I appreciate and wholeheartedly agree that LOW intensity (>30%) WALKING will primarily burn fat. But when you think about it you are only burning energy 30% more than if you were at home or at work?! Not very productive is it? Why did you go to the gym? Walk OUTSIDE! It’s nicer out there!

If you are serious about burning fat and developing the lean athletic look, go to the gym to TRAIN. Sorry ladies, but this also means staying out of the aerobics studio and away from the bums and tums toning classes. You have real work to do if you truly want to develop a lean and sexy feminine physique, and becoming a cardio queen and doing those aerobic classes and bums and tums classes at your local gym just don’t cut it.

Low intensity exercise has two uses in my opinion – active recovery (from an intense session) and performing everyday activity. Going to the gym to perform low intensity 1 hour+ long walks is inherently WRONG! Think about it – bothering to go to the gym to burn 30% more than if i was on the couch at home for an identical amount of time. NO THANKS.

Long drawn out exercise is COUNTERPRODUCTIVE – think about it logically, you train your body for endurance with long drawn out "cardiovascular" exercise yea? To what effect? Your body does not know you are trying to lose bodyfat – all it knows is that you have started walking 3 times per week and it wants to get good at doing it. It gets BETTER at doing that activity, i.e. next week you area going to use less energy doing the exact same exercise as you done this week.

Scary Huh?

You are essentially training your body to burn LESS FAT.

It’s True!

You see your body stored that fat there for a reason, due to some poor nutritional habits and/or lack of physical activity and TRAINING. Low intensity exercises in the form of everyday activity is OK. It is more erratic and unpredictable than endurance activity. Doing the shopping and cleaning the house mowing the lawn and a physical job/hobby all count as physical activity as they are a mix of differing intensities and movements. Endurance exercises WILL burn fat, YES – but as a result your body will actually store more so that you have fat for your next endurance activity!

Come on you know it makes sense!

If you knew you had 3 bills to pay: Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7pm, you would save in order to avoid getting into debt. You body does the same – "alright (you name) plans on performing a fat burning cardio workout 3 times per week. So I will keep storing fat so she can fuel these low intensity exercises." Your body is only doing as it’s told, it thinks you need fat there so it stores it so you can perform the exercise next time. It’s merely an adaptation to what you are doing!

Now here’s the interesting part! When you perform high intensity exercise you primarily deplete GLYCOGEN stores. "Glycogen" is "muscle sugar" or a method which your body stores carbohydrates in your muscle. Interestingly enough you will burn minimal fat during the actual High Intensity exercise bout.

"WHAT? I thought you said you were going to show me how to burn fat /insert your own version of "Bryan is a clown" here/"

Now listen up – there is only one thing more precious to your body than your fat stores – its your glycogen stores! Your body does not want to let go of them – its like its "piggy bank" its raw energy that it wants to keep and by performing high intensity exercises all the time and depleting this glycogen you are being a nuisance. In order to counteract this your body will do the unthinkable! It will actually begin to burn fat at higher intensities in order to PRESERVE your glycogen stores. A study done on male and female International level Judo competitors showed that following a training session (high intensity fighting average heart rate 80% + Max Heart Rate) they were primarily oxidising fat and not glycogen. Amazing! Their body adapted to the rigorous high intensity exercise and began to do the unthinkable and burn fat at increased intensities! You have turned your body into a fat burning machine!

Low intensity exercise makes you fat. High intensity activity burns FAT. End of story.

Copyright (c) 2009 Athleticbodysystem

The Athletic Body System outlines dozens of types of fun and intense workouts.

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http://www.athleticbodysystem.com

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