cardio routine

[pastdoubt]

questions:

1) is it better to do intervals of low and high intensity cardio or just full out all you got for the whole time

AND

2) is inline skating and swimming an acceptable form of cardio exercise? if not then i just won't do it, cause i hate running hehe, plus i won't do it hardcore and nothing's worth doing if you don't do it hardcore.

[Tryska]

Intervel training actually burns more calories...umm...here's a good link that explains it:



Fartlek

and yes..inline skating and swimming are acceptable. actually swimming is one of the best aerobic exercise you can do, IMO.

[syntekz]

Ya, swimming is one of the best, but it is one of the hardest; a lot harder than running in my opinion.

[PowerManDL]

Actually, intervals don't burn more calories. At least not during the session.

What intervals do is A) burn more fat in the given time period and B) adapt the body to burn more fat at rest.

Both are good things, and combined with the muscle-sparing effect, the reason that BB's and strength athletes should preferably do intervals over endurance cardio.

[Paul Stagg]

Not quite, PM.

Interval training uses less fat as a percentage of energy than low intensity, but burns far more calories per unit time, thus burning more fat (and glucose).

Not sure about adapting to burn more fat at rest, other than the fact that interval training will deplete glycogen stores, and force the body to use more fat as fuel.

I do prefer intervals over endurance cardio for fat loss, but like endurance cardio for CV health/fitness... I'd suggest doing both.

[syntekz]

Do either of them work better in building up the heart muscle?

[The_Chicken_Daddy]

Ah you see, i've been doing both and didn't even realise the blah blah written above...


I do 10-15 minutes interval sprinting on the runner followed by about 20-30 minutes on the stepper at an increasing intensity.

how ace am i!

[IceRgrrl]

You're the acest, CD

Oh...was that a rhetorical question? Please accept my apologies...

[PowerManDL]

Originally posted by Paul Stagg

Not sure about adapting to burn more fat at rest, other than the fact that interval training will deplete glycogen stores, and force the body to use more fat as fuel.

That's the idea-- when it depletes those glycogen stores and starts using fat, the body increases levels of lipolytic and fat-metabolizing enzymes. Also, you have the benefit of more mitochondria and such. The higher resting BMR combined with the other factors does cause greater fat loss even at rest. As odd as it sounds, you get the benefits of endurance training from anaerobic exercise.

Interestingly, for CV fitness, intervals are actually better for increasing max VO2 than endurance work.

[The_Chicken_Daddy]

Originally posted by IceRgrrl
You're the acest, CD



Yup.


Oh...was that a rhetorical question? Please accept my apologies...

I'll let it slide this time, just don't let it happen again...

[Paul Stagg]

Originally posted by PowerManDL



Interestingly, for CV fitness, intervals are actually better for increasing max VO2 than endurance work.

I didn't know that. Good info.

I hate endurance cardio.