Cardiovascular endurance or what we call today cardio or aerobics is a super important aspect of fitness. Cardiovascular endurance keeps your heart strong and helps you lose weight. Yet, there is a huge misconception about cardiovascular training.
For years we have heard that you had to do aerobics to lose weight, strengthen your heart and for overall fitness. Today we know that doing nonstop aerobics for an hour or more is not the best way you increase your long capacity or strengthen your heart.
In over 40 years of fitness training and 45 years in the martial arts I know my body pretty well by now. I’ve tried and done most of the fad workouts, functional, bodybuilding, Marine Corps Boot Camp and Corrections Academy training. If you look at photos of me from my teens until today you’ll see the different ways my body looked depending on my training. Today at 59 years old my body looks better than almost any time of my life. I have less body fat and I’m more muscular. This is due to a combination of weight training, HIIT and martial arts training. The only time that I looked better was in the prime of my bodybuilding days between 25 and 28 years old. When I worked out strictly for muscle development.
Traditional non stop cardio whether it’s in a fitness class or jogging destroys muscles which in turn will slow down your metabolism. In studies at Laval University in Quebec, Canada, they compared short burst intense exercise to traditional cardio. In the study they had the cyclist do 45 minutes without stopping. They had another group do brief 90 second intense bursts or what we call HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). The people doing the cardio burned more calories yet, the group that trained for 90 second lost more body fat.
The example I like to give is how a high level sprinter looks as oppose to a high level marathon runner. I believe that sprinters have the best looking bodies male and females in the Olympics. Marathon runners look weak and lack muscle tone. From the rear you can not tell the difference between males and females due to the absence of muscles.
High intensity interval training (HIIT) such as sprinting will help boost your testosterone and HGH (Human Growth Hormone) levels. Slow one-hour jogging or an hour of aerobic exercise will not have an effect in raising testosterone or HGH. It can actually lower your testosterone and HGH. That’s one of the reasons that sprinters have muscular bodies.
Long duration aerobics and jogging can cause knee and joint problems. By no means am I condoning being a coach potato and not exercising. There are better ways to train then by jogging or aerobics. Yet, if you enjoy running it is better to run than to be an overweight coach potato.
You might be surprised at how easy it is to improve your cardiovascular endurance. You can strengthen your heart and get in great shape in only 15 to 20 minutes of interval training, 3 times a week. You can also do one-minute intervals with the battling ropes. You can do Tabatas. Tabatas is doing exercise for 20 seconds and resting 10 seconds for eight sets. After that you can take a short rest period and do another eight sets, exercising for 20 seconds and resting for 10 seconds. You can do Tabatas with bodyweight exercises, martial arts kicks and punches, kettlebells, weights, battling ropes or with any equipment you like.
I rarely do traditional cardio training. my favorite before my back injury got worse was kettlebell (KB) training. KB training is aerobic and anerobic. You are building muscle while bringing you your heart rate up. Today my cardio comes from boxing or kickboxing training or Battling Ropes. Usually 3-minute rounds with a 1-minute rest. At times, due to my back injuries, I do 20 minutes on the treadmill. I walk fast for 2 minutes and sprint for 1 minute. I finish the routine with a 45-second sprint and a 30-second sprint. To get in great shape, lose fat, build muscle, and stay healthy, you must workout with intensity. A shorter intense workout works better than long workouts.
On Friday's I'll go to the park and train in my wife's walking and wellness group from our church Iglecia Casa De Alabanza. She takes us through a grueling fast walking, with intervals of calisthenics, which progresses to sprints with calisthenics and Battling Ropes towel training. This is also a HIIT workout. If you live in the Miami-Doral area we would love to have you join our group. It is absolutely free, just bring a towel.
For more information checkout our website MiamiKettlebell.com or purchase my book "Anta's Ageless Warrior Fitness" on the website, our training center or Amazon.
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