Is it better to run 5 miles everyday or to dance to Lady Gaga's songs for an hour?
Jokes aside, cardio is a very important part of fitness regardless of your goal. Whether it's hypertrophy (growing muscle), maintainance, weightloss, recovery after some injury, aerobic* exercises serves all purposes with low, moderate or high intensity. And their benefits go far beyond burning calories as we can see they can:
- Stregthen the heart
- Reduce blood pressure and cholesterol
- Lower the risk of heart disease and stroke
- Manage apetite
- Boost mood and reduce stress
- Improve sleep
- May improve memory and cognitive function
- Can stregthen bones and muscles
- Improve energy levels
- May reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes
- May reduce the risk of certain types of cancer
But with all these benefits how do we know what cardio to do, cause we have many choices such as running, walking, stair climbing, dancing, sprinting, high intensity interval training, jump rope, and the list goes on. Although some could say the best cardio is the one you can easily go back to and keep consistent and they are not wrong in that, i would say you can be more strategic about your goals in fitness.
For example, if you are an athlete or someone who needs to do quick movements on a daily basis then training with power workouts by using strength, plyometrics and explosive movements would be ideal. Now if you are in recovery or a bodybuilder whose goal is to get the maximum of muscular growth, walking and stair climbing might be better suited since it has less chances of impairing your joints, recovery and muscle building as a low impact workout but is still enough to get benefits for the heart. If you are a very busy person going to various places a day you could go on a bicycle. If you only have time at home and live in a tiny apartment maybe HIIT or jump rope would be more better or you could be a dancer.
I'm just rambling but that's the thing, you can suit your heart exercise to your specific goals by being strategic about it or you can make your exercise a choice from your heart. Something you will always go back to. Or both. So is it better to run 5 miles a day or to dance to Lady Gaga's songs for an hour? Or maybe enjoy some time with your partner, who knows. That's the cardio dilemma.
aerobic or cardio are interchangeable terms, the first being more scientific by refering to exercises that use oxygen to generate energy and the later is a popular term used to describe workouts that increase lungs and heart capacity.
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