Cardiovascular Exercise Basics (Vol. - 1)

Cardiovascular exercise is one of the most important types of exercise that you can do. Yet, I see the so called “experts” tells people they don’t need to do cardio if they want to gain maximum amounts of muscle. Please do not listen to those people! You need to include at least 3 cardio sessions per week into your program for at least 30 minutes each session up to a maximum of 1 hour per session. You can increase/decrease cardio as needed to continue progress. Cardio is a requirement of the Fitness Program because it’s important foryou and your health. If you choose not to do cardio, you are making a huge mistake! Cardio keeps you healthy, helps you recover faster from workouts, increases your appetite, increases your energy throughout the day, burns extra body fat, and more! There’s just too many awesome benefits not to include cardio in your program.


3.1. Types of Cardio


I divide cardio into 4 different types. These are my definitions as others may divide cardio into other categories…
  
Low intensity, steady state
Medium intensity steady state
High intensity steady state
High intensity interval training (HIIT)




I highly recommend medium intensity steady state cardio along with some high intensity interval training when needed. In order to perform medium intensity steady state cardio, you need to know your target heart rate zones for the medium intensity range. You also need to know how to easily monitor your heart rate throughout a cardio session.