If you haven’t already read ‘Why cardio? Do you really need it?’, then go through it and come back to this post. If you have, then you know the importance of cardio exercises. Now that we know that cardio should be a part of any fitness regime, we can now discuss what kind of cardio suits YOU.
I pointed out that there are two types of cardio exercises – steady state and High Intensity Trainings. Now both have benefits and both have drawbacks, so you need to decide for yourself which one suits you. Let’s take a look at the steady state cardio first.
Steady State: Steady state is for people who do not mind taking out an hour for a workout, do not want to push themselves to the limit, prefer working out in the morning and do not get bored easily. There is a debate on whether you should do this kind of cardio on an empty stomach in the morning when glycogen stores are at a minimum! Some say you should eat something and wait about an hour before you start and some say, don’t take anything. In my personal experience, taking a glass of skimmed milk half an hour before running off is a good way BUT you don’t have to. If you are a pro-bodybuilder, then you are very particular about muscle mass, but for the average Joe, losing 0.001 grams of muscle after a workout is not that big a deal. Another thing to notice is that chances are that your body will have protein in it anyways, if you are eating right, so muscle breakdown will only start if there is no protein in your system. You lose a bit of protein all the time, but then you eat more protein and you replenish it. It ain’t rocket science you know!!
This kind of cardio can also be very useful if you are on a high protein and low carb diet. There are not enough carbs in your system to burn out, so you can concentrate on burning the stored fat. So, I would recommend going with a steady state cardio routine if you are taking low carbs. You should avoid HIT if you are on low carb because you can face some serious health problems.
High Intensity Training: As for high intensity training, I would suggest a 40/40/20 carb, protein and fat ratio. You need carbs for the energy and glycogen storage, you need protein for repairing and recovery; you need fat because…ummm…ummm…you just need it…OKAY!!! Plus, you should never do HIIT or HIT in the morning. Make sure that you only do it in the afternoons or evening and you have had a good amount of food throughout the day. HIIT will raise your metabolism for hours and hours after the workout so you need to take in enough calories to cope with it. If you want to check how long the metabolism is fired up, you can do that be just checking your temperature, your sweat or how warm you feel. When you come back to your normal state, your metabolism would have fallen to just above what it normally is.I suggest you do this work out if you are pressed for time, like high intensity workouts and your primary goal is fitness – not weight loss.
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