Cardiovascular exercise: go above your anaerobic threshold
If you do often long cardio workouts, you might change your program.
Even if you plan to run a marathon! Here why:
Long cardio workout at a low and steady pace gives you a good endurance but weakens your body in several ways:
- you slow down your metabolism
- you burn muscle tissue
- you decrease the strength and power of the heart and lungs
- you weaken your immune system
To avoid these negative effects you have to plan some interval training: you have to increase the intensity to go above your “comfort zone” where you have to breath very deeply. Your heart rate is higher.
When you start, use short intervals like 45 seconds or 1 minute. Stop when you start to feel you are out of breath and recover, breathing deeply, until you feel comfortable: keep a slow pace until your heart rate drops.
Then do it again.
Reaching the anaerobic threshold means you reach the “red zone”: your metabolism is in oxygen debt and start to produce lactic acid in the muscles: it’s why you feel a kind of burning.
Nothing wrong! Just be smart and do not push too hard and too long. Keep the intervals short and focus on how you recover.
This training has many benefits:
- you strengthen your heart and lungs
- you improve your aerobic capacity and power
- you maintain your lean muscles
- you speed up your metabolism
- you increase your overall energy
Always do a good warm up (a few minutes) and a cool down: you do not have to feel exhausted by the end of the workout; some athletes push a lot and get over trained: you don’t want to do that!
Monitoring the heart rate during recovery is the best way to be smart: use a heart rate monitor.
And do not forget to listen your body…
Full body interval workouts: The 3 minutes Fitness Conditioning Program
Even if you plan to run a marathon! Here why:
Long cardio workout at a low and steady pace gives you a good endurance but weakens your body in several ways:
- you slow down your metabolism
- you burn muscle tissue
- you decrease the strength and power of the heart and lungs
- you weaken your immune system
To avoid these negative effects you have to plan some interval training: you have to increase the intensity to go above your “comfort zone” where you have to breath very deeply. Your heart rate is higher.
When you start, use short intervals like 45 seconds or 1 minute. Stop when you start to feel you are out of breath and recover, breathing deeply, until you feel comfortable: keep a slow pace until your heart rate drops.
Then do it again.
Reaching the anaerobic threshold means you reach the “red zone”: your metabolism is in oxygen debt and start to produce lactic acid in the muscles: it’s why you feel a kind of burning.
Nothing wrong! Just be smart and do not push too hard and too long. Keep the intervals short and focus on how you recover.
This training has many benefits:
- you strengthen your heart and lungs
- you improve your aerobic capacity and power
- you maintain your lean muscles
- you speed up your metabolism
- you increase your overall energy
Always do a good warm up (a few minutes) and a cool down: you do not have to feel exhausted by the end of the workout; some athletes push a lot and get over trained: you don’t want to do that!
Monitoring the heart rate during recovery is the best way to be smart: use a heart rate monitor.
And do not forget to listen your body…
Full body interval workouts: The 3 minutes Fitness Conditioning Program
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