We are all guilty of slogging it out on the treadmill for hours. Whilst it is common for women to avoid the weights in fear of gaining excessive muscle, cardiovascular activity is our ‘go to’ safety form of exercise as we know it can burn calories and enhance weight loss. Nevertheless, is there a limit to how much cardiovascular activity the body should be engaging in?
Cardiovascular activity is an important addition to your training to enhance your endurance capacity and overall fitness levels. Compare cardio to strength training which primarily aims to develop physical and mental strength through developing lean muscle mass and burn fat. Nevertheless, to promote fat loss, simply performing cardiovascular activities such as running or cycling may not actually facilitate the desired effects.
Monitor the amount of cardio you are performing per week. To sustain low levels of body fat and maintain lean, athlete muscle, engaging in excessive amounts of cardio each week will aggravate or at least delay these results. Whilst cardio burns calories, every girl can relate to those intense feelings of hunger after venturing out for a run. Hence, the truth is, if we do not monitor our food consumption, the calories we burn engaging in cardio can often be consumed through additional food intake.
Also, your body is smart. If you go out for a run each day or every second day, your body adapts to this form of exercise which consequently reduces caloric expenditure. Hence, the more we engage in specific cardio activities, the less calories we will burn. That is of course unless we change our routine or engage in more high intensity interval training. Remember our body adapts to enhance exercise efficiency. Thus, the more we perform the same exercise, the less energy the body requires to execute it successfully.
When people do not see the results they wish, they may opt for more cardio but this solution may also not produce the desired effect. This is because cardio does not maintain muscle mass. However, preserving muscle mass it just as vital as losing fat. When people have weight loss goals, they are implicitly striving to reduce fat. So with excessive amounts of cardio activity, you may lose fat but you may also lose muscle.
Hence, it is advised that you create a balanced program which features strength training and cardio sessions, preferably in the form of High Intensity Interval Training. Shorter bursts of cardio completed at a higher intensity means your muscle mass is more likely to be protected which is key to enhancing your body composition.
Whilst approximately 150 minutes of moderate intensity cardio is advised per week, opting for around 75 minutes of vigorous cardiovascular exercise per week will also suffice. These sessions can be broken down into 4, 30 minute sessions. Remember, exercise is not always about achieving specific results, it is also important for all fitness programs to be enjoyable and mentally stimulating. If you find it more therapeutic to go for a longer run outside, by all means do so. Other forms of cardio activity include walking, jogging, swimming, rowing and cycling.
So perform your cardio but not to excess. An effective exercise program is one which incorporates different forms of training which when viewed as a collective enhance your physical and mental strength as well as fitness and endurance capacities. With a range of steady state and high intensity options, your cardiovascular abilities are likely to grow.