Guidelines for Cardio
Firstly, why do you even need to do cardio?
Having a strong and healthy cardiovascular system allows for the following:
1) Improved fat mobilization, circulation, uptake, and utilization. which means you’ll be more effective at achieving your desired weight-loss.
2) Improved insulin sensitivity and blood glucose uptake - which means your body will be more capable of handling sugar, making it less likely that you’ll store it as fat.
3) Improved health markers - you can live longer! Aerobic fitness is the greatest predictor of all-cause mortality. Improved blood pressure for example, is a direct indicator of cardiovascular health, and therefore risk stratification for mortality.
4) Improved parasympathetic dominance when you’re inactive, meaning your body is better at unwinding and reaching a state of relaxation, to reap all the positive benefits of being in rest and digest mode.
5) Improved recovery in - and out of - the gym. Better recovery in between sets and between workouts. This means more time spent in the gym training, leading to better progress.
6) Improved brain functions on every level. Cardio has a positive influence on neurotransmitter profiles and activity in the brain, which culminates in better mood regulation, stress responses, learning potential, and helps you overcome issues like ADHD, substance abuse, anxiety and depression, and more!
Guidelines for cardio
1) Find something enjoyable that doesn’t cause a lot of wear and tear on the body.
If you enjoy it then it’ll cause less overall stress and fatigue, and make it way more likely that you’ll actually show up and get it done.
Don’t overthink it - not all cardio has to be super high intensity hardcore stuff. See rule 2.
2) Use as many diverse types of cardio as possible in a given week.
Walk, swim, jog, bike, row, play rec league sports, shoot some hoops, go rock climbing, play a round of golf without driving a cart, play beach volleyball, kick a soccer ball around with your kid(s), go for a nature hike, go paddle boarding, try hot yoga, etc..
Go for a walk one day, do some swimming the next day, then maybe play some pickleball or shoot some hoops with your buddies another day, then maybe go for a bike ride, the options are seemingly endless if you get creative enough. And bonus - you can have fun in the process!
3) Understand the limits - don’t overdo it
The upper limits of cardio are 45 - 60 minutes per day, 6 days per week. Anything more than that and you run the risk of muscle loss and overall fatigue.
Understanding the practical limits, and acting within them, means you’ll be less likely to experience burn-out, and you don’t run the risk of this interfering with the rest of your workouts.
4) Consider tracking steps, it’s easy and you can set a target for yourself every day
Try to get between 10,000 - 12,000 steps per day. Consider investing in some sort of wearable tracker like a Fitbit, Apple Watch, Whoop band, etc.
Increase steps by taking your dog for a walk, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking further away from destinations like the grocery store, taking a 15-minutes walking break during the work day, walking places instead of driving, instead of sending a work email, walk to your colleagues desk,
