Best cardio methods
Q: Elliptical, treadmill, or actual track -- any one better than the other? Is a warm-up and cool down good to do? I've read in Men's Health neither is really necessary when exercising. Richard in Durham, NC. A: Hi Richard, Some where along the way, people started to believe it was the best way to lose weight and shed body fat. Although, it does help to serve this function, it is not its true purpose. When it comes to doing cardio, you are focusing on strengthening the heart. If you were to look it up, it's literal translation is to affect the heart and the blood vessels. Cardiovascular exercise is a temporary increase in the heart rate and helps to prevent/reduce heart risk and problems to your heart. As for the best way to approach cardio exercise, that will depend on one's physical ability. If we are talking about which will cause the less damage or less impact to one's joints, then that would be the elliptical, with jogging being the worst. It is widely believed that as healthy as running is, that running over an extended amount of time can cause more harm than good (such as running a marathon). There are many problems that occur from over running but the most common physical one is knee problems. Remember, the purpose is to get the heart rate elevated and that can be done through different avenues: speed, incline, or resistance. But when it comes to which exercise is best, I leave that to what a person enjoys, or can tolerate the most when trying to perform increasing the heart rate in a safe manner. Warming up is also important. It's a way for your body to warm-up. Some people will try to stretch as a means to warm-up and that is one of the best ways to hurt yourself. The body isn't ready for the intensity of forcing the muscles to elongate before its properly ready. Muscle strains and pulls are often the result of stretching before the body is ready. A warm-up is not supposed to be an intense form of exercise, just suitable enough for the body to be ready for what you are preparing to put the body through. Five to 10 minutes is usually adequate enough. Best advice...always listen to what your body is telling you! I hope this helps in your workouts! Good luck in your journey to improve your health and happiness!
Latest Tweet
Company