Best Cardio Workout
Looking for the best cardio workout? A little story first...
When you enter my gym, the row of cardio machines is the first thing you see. The gym layout is setup so you have to walk past all the treadmills, elliptical machines, stair masters and recumbent bikes, before getting to the change rooms.
I'm not sure if there is any particular reason for this layout or not. As I walk past each cardio machine, I can't help but notice the number of over weight individuals that are either walking at a snails pace or running for their lives.
Sometimes I just feel like stopping and asking what their goals are, but I never do. I know my advice will probably fall upon deaf ears as unsolicited advice is better left alone.
But it always concerns me when cardio workouts have no real goals behind them.
For instance I workout in the evening and I notice some obese people walking ever so slowly. My first thought is, did these cardio goers just have dinner? Did they eat starchy carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, or pasta) with dinner? If so, they are probably unaware that they will not be tapping into their fat stores anytime soon.
In fact at that speed, they will probably only burn up a few calories from whatever they ate for dinner.
Of course any cardio is better than no cardio. But by just being aware of some simple cardio rules of thumb they will be ahead of the game.
So, if they DID want my opinion as to the best cardio workout for losing weight, I would suggest that if they want to use the slow cardio approach in the evening, to minimize starchy carb intake in the previous meal.
Wait about 2-1/2 to 3 hours after eating so their glycogen stores are more depleted and their fat stores are more readily available for burning.
Walk at a pace that is within their target heart rate for burning fat. Most of the cardio machines in gyms nowadays have heart rate monitors in the handles. You just have to grip them and it will let you know your heart rate. Everyone has different needs but I prefer to keep my heart rate under 120 beats per minute, which usually translates for me to walking on the treadmill at 1.0% incline at a speed of 3.0 mph for a half an hour after I lift weights.
For more information about finding out your target heart range, visit http://building-muscle-now.com/how-to-lose-weight-with-cardio.html
When it comes to finding the best cardio workout, obviously there are more ways to skin a cat. As I stated before, there are always those that prefer the "run like your life depends on it" approach. Those types of cardio workouts do have their place but I'll save these for the next article.
