The number one question that is asked of personal trainers is “How much cardio should I do?” It seems that everyone wants to lose weight now and most of them already know that cardio is the way to do it. Cardio is extremely important when it comes to looking for the best way to lose weight.
Cardiovascular exercise helps to burn calories at the same time that it strengthens your heart, increases your lung capacity, reduces the risk of heart attack and high cholesterol, and most importantly, makes you feel good.
The answer to the question of “how can I lose weight?” is to actually do your cardio. Most people simply do not do it enough or do the right type of cardio in order to lose the weight that they need and gain muscle mass. So how much cardio do you really need?
The answer really depends on if you want to lose weight quickly, gain muscle quickly, or just control the weight that you are at now. Everyone needs some level of cardio in order to at the very least control your weight. If you are looking at how to gain muscle or lose weight now then you need to do more cardiovascular activity then someone who simply wants to not gain weight.
Cardiovascular activity is considered to be anything that gets your heart rate up into your target heart rate zone. There is no “perfect” cardio; it is more about doing something that you enjoy doing long enough to keep your heart rate up for at least 45 minutes to an hour per day.
If you are looking to lose weight now then you want to do some sort of cardio at least four times a week for 45 minutes to an hour per day. If you are looking to maintain the weight that you have already lost then two to three times a week is usually sufficient.
If you are a beginner it may be hard to do any form of cardio for 45 minutes. It may be better to break that into mini workouts of 15 minutes each. As long as you are working on keeping your target heart rate up it doesn’t matter if your cardio is done all at the same time or separated into mini workouts.
If you are in a lose weight program then you are probably already eating fewer calories, less fat, or less carbohydrates, but that alone won’t be enough to lose weight quickly.
It is the combination of cardio which helps to burn those calories that will really allow you to see the weight come off. When you are considering what kind of cardio or how much you need to do, there are a few tips you should know.
First, it is not what you do but it is how hard you work. For example, if you are playing soccer with your children you can turn that into a full workout easily by simply running sprints or keeping up a full 30 minutes of running.
Second, it is important that you are flexible about what you do. If you hate to walk, then chances of you walking every single day for months at a time are slim. There are many ways to lose weight with different activities.
You can do karate, swimming, aerobics, or even take dance classes. It is all about keeping your heart pumping and moving. It is better to do something that you enjoy that will keep you going in order to lose the weight that you want.
If you are screaming “help me lose weight” or “I want to lose weight” then the answer is right in front of you. Cardiovascular activity will help you to burn the calories that you need so that you burn off more calories then you take in.
When you do this, you lose weight in a healthy manner and with a proper weightlifting program you can gain muscle fast which in turn helps you to lose weight quickly.
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