Good nutrition alone can start weight loss and improve your health, however eating well will not make you fitter.
The cardio training benefits are endless. To mention a few:
- more endurance
- more energy
- natural endorphin ‘high’
- boost metabolism
- wide-range of cardio type training exercises to keep the fun going
- quick fat burning
- keeping fat off
"The secret to fat loss is not exercise. It’s not what foods you eat either. The ultimate secret to fat loss is achieving a calorie deficit, and consistently staying in that deficit until you reach your goal. Nutrition is only one way to achieve the deficit: You decrease calories in. Training is the other way: You increase calories out."
Tom Venuto: Burn the Fat, Feed the muscle
Focusing on the deficit is easier said than done. It requires knowledge, awareness,
discipline, diligence, honesty and consistency. The great news is once you get it intellectually and
then you apply it, you will gain total control of your body and you will never have to worry about
body fat again.
WHAT TYPE OF EXERCISES ARE BEST FOR CARDIO TRAINING?
A definition of ‘cardio’ is any exercise that’s rhythmic in nature, involves large muscle groups (namely your legs), and raises your heart rate and breathing, and which you can sustain for extended periods of time. Pick an activity that has the potential with the right amount of intensity to burn a lot of calories: Treadmills (sprint intervals, hill running), Stationary upright Bicycle, Stationary Recumbent Bicycle (easier on the lower back), Rowing, Stair-climbing, Cross-Trainers, Bootcamps etc.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) for time-efficient fitness and fat loss
If you want to burn calories the way to do it would be through high intensity and long duration. Sadly these two don’t go hand in hand. (You cannot sprint through a Marathon). The maximum work you can do that is still considered HIIT is 45s but maximum 1 minute. HIIT allows you to accumulate a larger volume of high-intensity work in a single session by alternating between short high-intensity work intervals and shorter lower-intensity (or no intensity at all) recovery intervals.
How HIIT activates the ‘afterburn effect’?
Another benefit of cardio HIIT training is that it can boost your metabolism for hours after the workout is over. The scientific term is excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). This means you could literally burn extra fat all day long as you sit at your desk. Low intensity (endurance) training does not stimulate EPOC.