Are Cardio Workouts Absolutely Necessary for You?

The purpose of this piece is to provide you with some interesting information about cardio workouts that may give you some new ideas.

Yes, I've been labeled as someone who's against cardio, but this time around, I'm going to ask you what you think... Are cardio workouts absolutely necessity in the pursuit of a healthy, toned body? Let me just mention that if you keep reading, you'll learn that I'm not against "cardio," I'm just against "business-as-usual" cardio.

Take your average gym goer, hiker, cyclist, or climber, or any person simply trying to lose fat and get fit; they just assume that "cardio" workouts must be a part of that routine. Nobody with fitness goals would doubt this.

But I'm not only going to express doubt about this--I'm going to prove I'm right! You may be shocked to learn that quite a few of the fittest men and women I know do not EVER engage in the kind of cardio training with which we've all become familiar. And after more than fifteen years training in many different facilities and spending time with all kinds of sportspeople, I've had plenty of exposure.

For morbidly obese or extremely out of shape people, there may be justification for some low to moderate level cardio, but it may not even be the best way to go for these people.

Do you know what "cardio" actually is?

A general survey would probably reveal that most of us equate cardio with using an elliptical trainer at a fancy gym, running on a treadmill, or pumping the pedals of an exercise bike while listening to an I-Pod. I would label these activities "business-as-usual cardio." If this is, in fact, "cardio," is it any surprise that so may people find themselves bored to tears and ready to quit before making any progress?

Upon closer inspection, however, you'll discover that "cardio" means any type of movement or exertion that helps improve your cardiovascular health. Don't worry, I won't go into any of the complicate stuff like pumping up your VO2, etc. The easiest way to define cardio is as any activity that gets your heart working harder and you breathing heavier. Many people think that pumping weights is only for strength muscle building, and does nothing for the heart, but that simply isn't true.

Here are two illustrations of what I'm talking about. Consider when you do a clean and press, which consists of the lifting of a weight from the ground to shoulder-level, followed by a hoist above the head. This may generally be seen as a macho endeavor, but all you women out there need to know that whether you're lifting 300 lbs or 50 lbs, the cardio benefits of this exercise will make it worth your efforts.

The majority of people just assume that the barbell clean and press is only for pumping up muscle getting stronger. If this is what you think, try doing the clean and press for ten to fifteen repetitions. It just so happens that if you used an amount of weight that really challenges you, your heart rate will most likely climb to between eighty and ninety percent of what your maximum should be, and you'll be panting as if you just ran a sprint (which, incidentally, beats long-distance running anytime, anywhere, for the most straightforward way of busting flabby fat.)

To push things even further, if you try using a dumbbell or kettlebell to do twenty reps of alternate one-arm swings or snatches, you'll soon be well acquainted with a pounding heart, straining lungs, and lactic-acid burn in your legs. You can also try to do five consecutive minutes of lunges, press-ups, and parallel squats with minimal breaks. Once more, you're sure to experience heavy sweating, a pounding heart, and the need to gulp for air!

Now go ahead and convince me that this stuff isn't giving your heart a workout! According to traditional training concepts, conditioning with weights doesn't count as "cardio." Yet the truth is that you're getting cardio training (killing two birds with one stone!) every time you do these things.

Besides incorporating cardio into your workout routine, these complete body exercises will tone and increase strength in all of your muscles, from head to toe, provided you really work hard...and this certainly isn't true of walking a million miles on a treadmill or being bored to tears on an exercise bike.

Watching the tube or perusing a magazine while working out is ridiculous!

The fact is, if you're able to look at a book or the television while working out, you can't be focusing enough on your training routine to get any of the really great benefits.