Cardio workouts are supposed to help people lose weight, maintain muscle tone, as well as prevent cardiovascular diseases. Unfortunately, most people doing these workouts are not getting the results that they wanted. Hence, they get discouraged and frustrated, and wind up quitting their exercise habit. For those people who do not quit, they become overworked and exhausted because they work out harder; thus, straining their muscles and getting harmful effects to their bodies.

The reason why most cardio exercise programs fail is because these methods are misunderstood not only by people who exercise, but also by health and fitness professionals such as doctors, fitness instructors, and sports trainers. For the longest time, all of them believe that effective results can be gained by doing cardio workouts 3-5 times per week in the usual 30-60 minutes of steady pace. Furthermore, these health professionals recommend doing this at a moderate level while maintaining a steady heart rate during the activity.

Unfortunately, this regimen does not subject the heart to different stress scenarios. Due to the constant rate of exercise, the human body easily adjusts itself to the steady pace. If this is done habitually, a person will feel that there is “not quite a change” in his stamina and he will likely feel bored with the workout. In an effort to compensate this inadequacy, he or she will tend to lengthen the exercise time to an even longer period, and will still often feel “not challenged” by the fitness program. We humans have been programmed that steady exercise pace will improve our bodies. Of course, this is true to some extent and will help us endure chronic stress. But we get less than satisfactory results.

Why do people do the same? It is mainly because they don’t understand how the human body, particularly the heart, responds to physical stress. Our bodies are not actually designed for lengthy, steady, and same rate of effort. Endurance types of activities actually encourage our bodies to conserve energy during the exercise.

This is the reason why you don’t feel very tired when doing constant exercise rates. On the other hand, quick, short bursts of exertion followed by rest or less stressful paces will actually jump start the body and will help it develop more stamina and resistance to stress, as well as encourage muscle growth. You may be surprised to know that our bodies are actually designed to perform this so-called “stop-and-go” motion. So you know now why weightlifting helps builds muscles. This is because your gym instructor tells you to lift very heavy weights in just a short period of time followed by rest or recovery. Still not convinced? Compare the physiques of sprinters versus marathon runners. You will observe that sprinters have very lean and muscular bodies compared to marathoners who look thin and malnourished.

Another reason why “stop-and-go exercises” are more advisable for new fitness buffs is that they are less harmful compared to endurance exercises. Quick bursts of activity followed by rest ensure that the body is well compensated. On the other hand, endurance exercises have been proven by scientists to cause muscle wasting, degenerative joints, increase free radical production, and reduces immune function. This means that chronic stress is generally harmful to the body. Thus, fitness enthusiasts should do more “stop-and-go” activities than endurance exercises.

Highly Variable Cyclic Training :

What is highly variable cyclic training? This is a physical fitness regimen, in which a person has many, varied paces of activity in a given amount of time. Remember that there are two factors that make this training very efficient: different paces of activity and different amount of time frames. In running, for example, one may be required to do short and quick bursts of exercises by running very fast in a short amount of time then followed by rest. Then it will be followed by steady running with a different time rate.

So how does highly variable cyclic training contribute to the improvement of your body? The answer is: It helps develop the heart’s ability to cope with your body’s varied demands on physical stress. If you do a “stop-and-go” exercise regimen, the heart pumps faster due to the quick burst of energy you expend when you do the activity. However, your heart rate also goes slower when you rest, which is called the recovery time. The regimen pushes your heart to its maximum pumping capacity and then allows it to return to its typical pumping pace. Just bear in mind not to overexert by prolonging rapid exercises beyond its required time limit to avoid damaging your heart. Compare the highly variable cyclic training to same rate endurance training. As you can see, steady state endurance trainers retain their heart rate because they do exercises with the same rate at an extended amount of time. It is surprising to know that some marathon runners and endurance road cyclists actually develop bradycardia, which is the slowing of heart rate. It is because the body is so attuned to chronic physical activity. Nevertheless, such long periods of constant exercise rate can be harmful to your heart if done in an extreme manner.

How does highly variable cyclic training help you develop good health?

First, it helps train your heart and your body as a whole, to handle various demands on daily stress, physically and emotionally. Stressful situations cause your blood pressure to rise but within the limits of normalcy. Doing short burst of heavy exercise strengthens your heart’s pumping ability. This is the reason why people who fail to do regular physical exercises often feel weak and tired. Since they are not used to the demands of physical stress compared to people who exercise regularly, persons who lack exercise have limited capacity to handle physical and emotional stress. Hence, their bodies are prone to diseases when exposed to stressful situations.

Second, highly variable cyclic cardio training is actually healthier for you compared to steady state cardio regimen. Given a sufficient recovery period after heavy exercise, the body develops a healthy response to stress stimulus. As a result, more toxins are released from the body through sweat and you will have a wonderful, refreshing sleep every night after you exercise.

Third, there are many health benefits that are brought by highly variable cyclic exercise regimen. Fitness professionals enumerate these as: Improved metabolism which burns body fat and helps you lose weight, a healthy cardiovascular system which is the result of maximizing the heart’s ability to pump blood, improved muscle tone and growth as a result of proper exercise and sufficient resting time, a healthy immune system which is due to the stimulated growth of red blood cells and white blood cells, and finally less risk of wear and tear of joints, tendons, and muscles due to the avoidance of chronic and harmful exercise training.

Sports Workout and Sprinting :

Armed with the knowledge on the benefits of “stop-and-go” physical exercise, you can choose any sport that operates in this principle. You will be very happy to know that most team sports involve variable intensity paces. Join with friends in doing team activities such as basketball, tennis doubles competition, hockey, ice hockey, baseball, and football. If you think that individual sports are for you, engage in sports such as singles tennis competitions and badminton games.

It will be even beneficial if you integrate “stop-and-go” principles in sports activities that are normally steady paced in rhythm.

If you love cycling and most of your time is spent in long rides on highways, try mountain biking. You will find out that the sport is not only exciting due to the beautiful places that you can visit, but you will reap the benefits of “stop-and-go” actions on your cycling treks. This is because mountain biking involves climbing (physical exertion) and going downhill (recovery action).

If you are fond of swimming, try varying speeds and intensity during your swimming sessions. This is better than swimming at the same pace for long periods of time.

As a runner, you can apply variable cyclic exercise principles by doing wind sprints at your maximum speed for the first 10-30 seconds, walk for 60 seconds, and go for another wind sprint, followed by another rest/recovery action. If you can make it, try doing 6-12 total sprint intervals. You can also integrate the variable intensity principle when doing your fast-walking exercises or having a light jog. First interval: Run at 8 miles/hour for 1 minute; Second interval: Walk at 4 miles/hour for 1.5 minutes;

Third interval: Run at 10 miles/hour for 1 minute; and Fourth interval: Walk at 4 miles/hour for 1.5 minutes. All these intervals should be repeated four times for 20 minutes for maximum effect. You can also apply variable intensity techniques when doing simple physical activities such as when rowing a boat, using your jumping rope, running on stairs, as well as running outdoors such as hilly treks.

By doing “stop-and-go exercises” which are also called the variable intensity cyclic regimen, you will be able to lose weight more efficiently than doing steady rate exercises. I encourage you to apply these principles for a healthier you and to find more meaning and satisfaction in your exercise program.

By doing “stop-and-go exercises” which are also called the variable intensity cyclic regimen, you will be able to lose weight more efficiently than doing steady rate exercises. I encourage you to apply these principles for a healthier you and to find more meaning and satisfaction in your exercise program.

http://www.truthsaboutsixpack.com

Author Bio: By doing “stop-and-go exercises” which are also called the variable intensity cyclic regimen, you will be able to lose weight more efficiently than doing steady rate exercises. I encourage you to apply these principles for a healthier you and to find more meaning and satisfaction in your exercise program.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: Weight loss exercise, cardio workout, cardio exercise, cardio training,physical training, cyclic tra