Cardio Workout - Sustained or Burst?
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Recently I came across a small debate among "fitness experts", regarding whether we should be doing "mindless" sustained cardio workouts, or to do short bursts (like a sprinter).
Now, disclaimer - I am no expert. I just got into this fitness thing lately too. So, you can understand why I'm slightly confused right about now.
Back '98, when I went on my previous training regiment, I did those "mindless cardio workouts", ie I did sustained, 30 mins of "mindless" cardio exercises such as stationary bike, or jumping jacks, or even rode the "Power Rider" contraption. It worked for me then.
At the time, I was led to understand that sustained cardio workouts will trigger the body to burn calories. In fact, any sort of exercise should, but cardio workouts are the easiest to perform over an extended period. In so doing, the body is "trained" to recognise that working out has become a regular thing, and it should stop burning muscles and start burning fats because fats are easier to burn than muscle.
So if my understanding is still valid, then short bursts of cardio workout will not achieve the effects of burning more calories. However, it still will condition your cardiovascular system and it'll be stronger, as stated by these fitness experts.
Perhaps once I've lost the weight I've accumulated over the years, I might think about doing bursts of cardio workouts than sustained cardio. Right now my primary goal is to burn the fat off.
Now, disclaimer - I am no expert. I just got into this fitness thing lately too. So, you can understand why I'm slightly confused right about now.
Back '98, when I went on my previous training regiment, I did those "mindless cardio workouts", ie I did sustained, 30 mins of "mindless" cardio exercises such as stationary bike, or jumping jacks, or even rode the "Power Rider" contraption. It worked for me then.
At the time, I was led to understand that sustained cardio workouts will trigger the body to burn calories. In fact, any sort of exercise should, but cardio workouts are the easiest to perform over an extended period. In so doing, the body is "trained" to recognise that working out has become a regular thing, and it should stop burning muscles and start burning fats because fats are easier to burn than muscle.
So if my understanding is still valid, then short bursts of cardio workout will not achieve the effects of burning more calories. However, it still will condition your cardiovascular system and it'll be stronger, as stated by these fitness experts.
Perhaps once I've lost the weight I've accumulated over the years, I might think about doing bursts of cardio workouts than sustained cardio. Right now my primary goal is to burn the fat off.
Tags:
Labels: burst, cardio, cardiovascular, exercise, sustained, workout
