What step aerobics tape is the best?
Are these the only forms of exercise out there? And what exactly are they? Swimming?Jogging?Tennis? Can I just do one of the three kinds of exercises or is it best to combine them for faster weight loss? And of course, include a good diet and eat from all the food groups. I would appreciate some inputs.
Ok so I was on a website and it said that ab toning alone will not give you flat abs, so you cant just do ab tonig aerobics, you also need cardio. I’m confused I thought aerobics and cardio were the same thing. Are they or are they not?
He doesn’t want to do aerobics or dance. We have a newborn so we can’t go running b/c we’d have to take her (walking isn’t really cardio). Any ideas?
I like to run and weight lift, but if i had to choose, i would say prolly run… (even thought i’m so outta shape now)
I’ve read many times that fast-digesting carbohydrates are best after lifting weights.
However, I’ve read conflicting information about which is best after cardio, slow carbs or fast carbs.
My favorite fitness magazine, Men’s Health, recently featured an excellent article about David Beckham’s cardio workouts.
Of course, I wasn’t surprised that all of his cardio workouts incorporate some form of interval training because of the simple fact that interval training is scientifically proven to provide greater improvements in fitness and greater fat loss than the outdated and primitive aerobic training alternative.
But, while I was reading over the workout, I was struck with what I’d describe as THE MISSING LINK to most cardio routines for athletes AND for fat loss.
Typical cardio programs have you run in a straight line forever at a SLOW SPEED. Pretty easy…
And while the original Men’s Health program was much better because it uses intervals, it still recommends running in a straight line. Again, not that difficult…
It is critical to understand that your body operates in three fundamental planes of movement:
1.) Saggital Plane: Forward and Backward Movements
2.) Frontal Plane: Lateral Movements (Side-to-Side)
3.) Transverse Plane: Rotational Movements
So, Beckham’s current cardio program is only emphasizing the already overtrained saggital plane (forward running) without any attention to the very undertrained lateral and rotational movements that are critical to a soccer player’s success (and any field or court athlete’s success for that matter).
But the modified cardio program I created for YOU below uses intervals and shuttle runs in 10 yard increments that require constant stop-and-go and change of direction (you can modify the distance as desired) in all three planes of movement. Now this cranks the intensity up to a whole new level!
Your body’s ability to change direction, or decelerate, requires a great deal of body control and energy expenditure when compared to straight line running. Thus stop-and-go shuttles not only are much more sport-specific (read David Beckham is an international soccer star not a marathon runner) but it also leads to greater calorie burning and thus greater fat loss!
So, check out the NEW and IMPROVED David Beckham Cardio Workout for Rapid Fat Loss:
I. Warm-Up- 5 Minutes
II. Intervals- 20 Minutes
Rapid Fat Loss Interval: 60 s on, 60 s off
- Set-up 2 cones 10 yards apart to build the “shuttle”
- Perform one or any combination of the following cardio exercises as listed within the confines of the 10 yard shuttle:
Cardio Exercise#1- Sprint-Sprint Shuttle @ 60 s on, 60 s off
Cardio Exercise#2- Sprint-Backpedal Shuttle @ 60 s on, 60 s off
Cardio Exercise#3- Shuffle-Shuffle Shuttle @ 60 s on, 60 s off
Cardio Exercise#4- Shuffle-Crossover Run Shuttle @ 60 s on, 60 s off
III. Cool-Down- 5 Minutes
Remember, if you want to look like an athlete then you need to train like one. If you are sick of the same old boring “straight-ahead” cardio, then the time is now to break out of your comfort zone so you can harness the fat-burning power of stop and go, multi-directional, and multi-planar interval cardio.
Crank it!
BJ Gaddour, CSCS, is a real world fat loss expert and a nationally recognized fitness boot camp instructor. He is the co-creator of Workout Muse (http://www.WorkoutMuse.com): The World’s FIRST and # Audio Interval Trainer! BJ is also the founder of Get Sexy Boot Camps, Milwaukee’s premier fitness boot camps for men and women (http://www.GetSexyBootCamps.com).
There seems to be a great deal of debate as to which type of metabolic training is the best… Aerobic vs Anaerobic.
Ok, what is metabolic training?
What is all this aerobic vs anaerobic talk?
Metabolic training is conditioning exercises performed with the intention of increasing the capacity and efficiency of the energy pathways to store and deliver energy for activity.
Most people commonly refer to this as… cardio.
There are three energy pathways used to provide energy for activity… one aerobic and two anaerobic.
Which of these energy pathways you should train is the source of much controversy… Thus the Aerobic vs Anaerobic dilemma.
Aerobic Activity
Aerobic means in the presence of oxygen… and any activity that is performed at a low to moderate intensity for more than 90 seconds, allowing oxygen to release energy through metabolism, is usually called an aerobic activity.
The benefits of aerobic activity are…
Increased Cardiovascular Function
Decrease in Body Fat
The negatives of aerobic activity are…
Decreased Muscle Mass
Decreased Strength
Decreased Power
Decreased Speed
Decreased Anaerobic Capacity
Most people in favor of aerobics in the Aerobic vs Anaerobic Controversy rely heavily on the ability of aerobic activity to reduce body fat… but fail to mention that you are also losing muscle, strength, power, speed and anaerobic capacity along with fat reduction.
And here is the really shocking news… Low Intensity Exercise = Greater Fat Loss is a myth!
OK… let me clarify.
Low Intensity Exercise burns about 50% fat for fuel while High Intensity Exercise burns about 40% fat for fuel… so you could say that Low Intensity Exercise burns more fat for fuel than High Intensity Exercise.
But, let’s say you burn 100 calories in 20 minutes of Low Intensity Exercise (50 fat calories), and you burn 160 calories in 10 minutes of High Intensity Exercise (64 fat calories)… you still burn more over-all fat with high intensity exercise than with low intensity exercise.
There is also another advantage of High Intensity Exercise… it increases your metabolism long after the exercise is completed.
More fat burned in less time and an increased metabolism for hours after the workout… sounds pretty good to me.
Anaerobic Activity
Anaerobic means in the absence of oxygen… and any activity that is performed at a medium to high intensity for less than 2 minutes, where energy is derived without oxygen, is usually called an anaerobic activity.
There are two anaerobic energy pathways…
The Anaerobic System (ATP-CP) is where energy is derived from the re-synthesis of Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (ATP) from Creatine/Phosphate (CP) until the stores are depleted… about 5-7 seconds.
The Anaerobic Lactate System (Glycolytic) happens after the (CP) stores have been depleted where the body resorts to the breakdown of glucose for energy.
This results in the production of lactate and hydrogen ions… ultimately leading to fatigue.
The benefits of anaerobic activity are…
Increased Cardiovascular Function
Decrease in Body Fat
Increased Muscle Mass
Improved Strength
Improved Power
Improved Speed
Increased Aerobic Capacity
The negatives of anaerobic activity are…
Anaerobic activity requires an aerobic foundation
When I look at the differences between the benefits of Aerobic and Anaerobic metabolic training I often wonder why there is a Aerobic vs Anaerobic Controversy… the choice seems obvious.
What’s all the aerobic vs anaerobic controversy about?
I think the Aerobic vs Anaerobic Controversy comes about due to an improper understanding of fitness and the use of a bad fitness definition.
Physical fitness is a compromise of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and toughness .
To pursue fitness excellence you must physically train to “optimize” your performance in all of the physical abilities… and not “maximize” your performance in one ability at the expense of all others.
For people that do not understand that fitness is a compromise, the idea that more, longer aerobic training is indicative of a higher level of fitness is predominate.
However, what they fail to realize is that by focusing on extended aerobic training they are doing little or nothing to improve the other physical abilities needed for fitness excellence… and are actually decreasing their over-all fitness level.
And no, mixing extended aerobic training with body building “isolation” exercises is not the answer.
So what is the answer?
Simple… train ALL of the energy pathways by varying low intensity, long duration - medium intensity, medium duration and - high intensity, short duration metabolic training.
End the Aerobic vs Anaerobic Controversy by making a compromise between the two.
Let’s be honest… unless you are training to be an endurance athlete, there is no need to train like one.
The truth is, most activities encountered in sport, work and life are a combination of all the energy pathways seamlessly flowing from one to another.
Instead of aerobic vs anaerobic it should be aerobic and anaerobic!
To exclude the training of any one energy pathway will greatly diminish the performance improvements from your metabolic training.
My advice… Put an end to the Aerobic vs Anaerobic Controversy!
Add high intensity, short duration metabolic training to your fitness workout plan and vary the intensities by changing methods of training and periodically switching from high intensity, short duration to medium intensity, medium duration and low intensity, long duration.
