The 5 Ways To Do Cardio

The 5 Ways To Do Cardio

By: Josh Proch, CSCS, Pn1

Wait, you thought there was only one type of cardio, right?

Well, you thought wrong. However, if you thought this you’re not alone. Many people don’t realize that there are actually five different types of cardio, and they are not all created equal.

So, what are these five types?

#1. Traditional

This is what most people think of when they think of cardio. It’s the traditional running, jogging, biking, elliptical, stair climber, etc. that is done for 30 plus minutes or a certain distance.

While this type of cardio isn’t bad, it is the least effective and typically works best when added to 2-3 strength workouts each week. This is more ideal when you want to help the body recover from a workout.

The biggest mistake made with this type of cardio is doing too much of it. Thirty minutes maximum works best and keeps the body feeling good. The goal here is not burning calories, so much as it is about helping the body recover from each workout and getting the endorphin rush from the continuous movement. When cardio lasts longer than 30 minutes, we begin to cross over to the point where the body will begin to catabolize muscle tissue. This will negatively affect our strength workouts and body composition. Appetite will be stimulated to increase afterwards because of the muscle catabolization and low blood glucose levels in the body. This means we run the risk of overeating and straying further from our body composition goals.

#2. Low-Intensity/Leisure

This should be done everyday or at least as often as possible. This includes walking for about 20 minutes after dinner, in the morning, or on your lunch break. It can also include a family bike ride, kayaking, or playing a pick-up game. The goal is to get outside, or out of a chair, and move.

#3. HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)

This is 10-20 minutes of all-out effort for about 5-20 seconds. Then resting for 60-120 plus seconds. Any interval lasting longer with a shorter rest period, or a duration of more than 20 minutes, is not HIIT

Why?

Because, when done correctly, 10-20 minutes is all you can do at this intensity.

The down side to this type of cardio is it’s limited in exercise selection, because you must pick something that can be done quickly and will gas you in less than 20 seconds.

With that in mind, exercises such as battling ropes, sprints, air dyne bikes, hill sprints, ski ergs, Valslide Mountian Climbers, and sled pushes work best.

Also, with clients who cannot move quickly, this isn’t always an appropriate choice.

Adding 1-2 sessions of HIIT per week to a routine of 2-3 strength workouts works great for many clients.

Again, many make the mistake of doing too much HIIT, or only HIIT. One to two sessions per week for a maximum of 20 minutes is all that is needed. More than this negatively affects the body through an overload of stress.

For those with very high stress levels due to lack of sleep, jobs, family, and life in general, this may not be an appropriate modality due to the high-stress it places on an already stressed out body. For this person they will find they do much better with 2-3 strength workouts per week while getting in some low-intensity leisure activity, such as walking.

#4. Medium Intensity Interval Training or MIIT

This is what most are doing when they say they are doing HIIT.

A workout that is longer than 20 minutes and uses work intervals longer than 20 seconds, without at least a 3:1 rest to work ratio, is not HIIT. Instead, it is Medium Intensity Interval Training (aka MIIT). MIIT can work well for many people in addition to 2-3 strength-training workouts each week and is a nice way to get in some extra movement, along with building a strong aerobic base.

These workouts are best done with bodyweight, medicine balls, and kettlebell exercises with the goal of maintaining a 70% heart rate max.

A mistake commonly made here is that people push too hard by pushing their heart rate above 80% max. This leads to catabolizing muscle tissue, excessively stressing the body, depleting muscle glycogen, and creating a ravenous appetite afterwards. None of which are effective for body composition.

The best interval times for these workouts are 30:30 and 60:60. These two set-ups create the best improvements in endurance, work capacity, and body composition.

#5. Tabata

Like HIIT, when someone says they are doing Tabata’s, they usually aren’t.

Tabata is a training protocol named after the Japanese research Dr. Izumi Tabata and his team conducted at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo. Their research found that a four minute and ten second workout done four times per week for six weeks created greater increases in aerobic and anaerobic endurance, opposed to working out five days per week for an hour each session at a moderate intensity.

The Tabata method consists of 8 rounds of exercise done for 20 seconds of work with a 10 second rest. This makes a four-minute workout.

The key here is that this needs to be an all out effort, such as running from a hungry bear. Anything less will result in a lack of benefit. This is where many people mess up Tabata. If it is not 4 minutes of absolute hell, you’re not working hard enough.

Again, much like HIIT, we are limited in our exercise choice because of the intensity that is needed. So exercises like sprints, sled pushes, the air dyne bike, ski erg, battling ropes, and medicine ball slams work best. Also, more is not better here. Work hard for four minutes and get on with your day.

There you have the five different types of cardio and how each is done.

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