My opinion on cardio

My personal beliefs in cardio are very varied. I find that cardio does many different things to my body; some affect me well and others don’t affect me as much. I will share with you my personal experience with cardio.

First of all, you better explain what cardio is. Cardio in my books is any activity that lasts for a long period of time (say 10 minutes) that uses large amounts of energy. This could be anything from running on a treadmill, jumping rope, or even doing manual labor. I will say that some of the best cardio sessions I have ever been involved in were climbing stacks of shingles up a ladder all day! Other people’s opinion may differ and not include outside work, but it all does the same thing – burns calories. However, for the purposes of this article, I will be talking about cardiovascular exercise that is done in the gym.

The good: Cardio is the healthiest exercise you can do with your body. I have no doubt in my mind about this as it is what strengthens your heart. You can live without bulging biceps, but you have absolutely no luck without a good heart. I recommend doing cardio every day, even if it’s just for ten minutes. Go for a run on the treadmill in the morning to kick start your day, or take a thirty-minute walk after work to get your heart rate up a bit. Cardio is always necessary, even if some of us don’t like it (including me). Where some people seem to get confused is how much cardio to do. Let me explain:

If you’re trying to bulk up, you should do a little less cardio, especially if you’re having trouble eating enough to do so. To gain size, you must be in a caloric surplus (eating more calories than you burn in a day). If you’re doing large amounts of cardio while trying to gain weight, you’ll need to eat more. While I have never had an appetite problem, I know many people who do. They keep their cardio to a minimum when trying to bulk up because they have trouble consuming the necessary calories. I also recommend doing cardio after weight training in this situation. I’m a firm believer that the weights should come first, so you can push yourself to the max on them. Long-distance cardio, like running on a treadmill, doesn’t require a lot of effort, so it can be done after lifting weights. There is also another secret that I strongly believe in. Since I know everyone eats breakfast before lifting weights (if they don’t read my blog post on eating breakfast before lifting weights), they get additional benefits from their workout by doing cardio afterwards. Because doing cardio increases blood flow and blood supply to your muscles, you can more easily get the nutrients needed by overworked muscles. This will help your muscles get stronger and repair faster. In my personal experience, it hurts less when I do cardio after a workout than when I don’t. It’s honestly pretty amazing. In my personal experience, when I’m bulking up, I like to do 10 minutes of cardio 5 days a week (I only do weight lifting Mon-Fri). Sometimes I do more on the weekend, but I have an appetite to make up for it.

Second, you may be trying to reduce weight. In this case, I recommend more cardio. As I mentioned in some of my previous articles, calories in vs. calories out is the name of the game to lose weight. You should consume fewer calories than you burn in a day. This is where cardio really shines in most people’s eyes. Take for example someone like me who loves to eat (I really love to eat; it can be a real problem when trying to diet). If I need to consume 2,000 calories to lose weight, I can simply eat 2,500 calories and do 500 calories of cardio to hit my 2,000 calorie mark. Quite simply, doing cardio while trying to lose weight helps you feel more satisfied throughout the day. Instead of eating nothing but salad, throw a baked potato into the mix (potatoes are loaded with potassium, by the way, which helps reduce the chance of muscle cramps). All you have to do is increase your cardio to reach your weight loss goals! Don’t get out of hand though, as I wouldn’t recommend doing more than 30 minutes of cardio every day. When I’m trying to get back in shape for the summer, I usually do about 20 minutes of cardio every day of the week. I run at a decent pace (usually around 6 miles per hour), but I feel like that’s a lot of cardio. If I engage in any additional cardio I tend to feel very depleted as my body can’t recover as well in a calorie deficit.

I also forgot to mention that the pace of your cardio also makes a big difference when calculating my recommended times. If you prefer walking for cardio, you can walk much longer than my recommended times, as it burns far fewer calories per minute. You will have to go longer than my recommended times to achieve the same results. Another thing to note is dealing with daily activities. If you’re a construction worker, you’ll probably need to do little to no additional cardio to achieve your desired results. If you’re trying to gain weight and stay healthy, I’d say it’s probably a good thing. If you’re trying to lose weight, you may need extra cardio, but not a lot.

Again, as I always like to point out, none of this is gospel. Results will vary depending on your body, but I think this is a great guide to get you started. Stay safe and happy lifting!