Many people who are seriously into weight training shy away from doing cardio exercise because they think that it will eat away at their hard won muscle mass. While there is a valid concern for those thinking of running a long distance marathon, most of these fears are unwarranted. Basically, the concern is that as you are running, the body may run short of fuel in the bloodstream for immediate use. Although the body has a mechanism for replenishing energy by breaking down fat deposits, this doesn’t always happen quickly enough. The body compensates by breaking down proteins to use some of the amino acids for fuel. Therefore muscle is wasted.

While this basic analysis is correct, the body builder’s fears are exaggerated. A short run of say twenty to thirty minutes, especially before lifting, will not break down hardly any muscle mass. Almost al the fuel used will come from what is already present in the blood stream and the energy stored in the liver. This is especially true if you ate at least a moderate high carb meals a few hours before. Actually, a good meal of complex carbs fully digested followed by a 20 minute run is an excellent warm up for a good hour of lifting in the weight room. This is a prime reason to run. It warms the cardiovascular system up for your lifting routine. You will get better workouts and with better workouts, better gains. Following this logic, a light to moderate run will actually help you to gain muscle rather than lose it! But the warm up should not be the only motivation for cardio exercise.

There are several outstanding reasons for adding cardio to your regimen. Cardio is the best way to exercise your heart and lungs, it is the most efficient way to cut fat, and it will boost your metabolic rate more naturally and efficiently than any pill on the market. So how much cardio should you do? That is a hard question to answer. Some suggest that you could start to lose muscle after about a half hour of running. Though they may be literally correct, you should take this with a very large grain of salt. The muscle that you lose even after an hour run is miniscule. Furthermore, since you train with weights on a regular basis, you are continually sending signals to your body to save and to build more muscle. Lifting and running done on a regular basis will condition your body to efficiently handle both the running and the body building. Essentially, when your body is conditioned, what is likely to happen is you still lose a miniscule amount of protein after a run of an hour or so, but your body adds that protein back in a short time. A hardcore professional body builder trying to bulk up for the next Mr. Olympiad may think twice about running that much, but you and I could do it without any net loss over the long run. The only real issue is whether your gains could slow by a margin of 2 - 3% or so. The benefits of cardio to your overall health to your energy level is well worth a theoretical miniscule slowdown, and it is the best and most natural way to get cut.

Cardio exercise has significant health benefits and should not be avoided for those overly concerned with a muscular physic. The truth is cardio actually improves physic because it cuts fat from your body and enhances definition of your muscular build. The substantial benefits gained by cardio are more than worth any small decrease in muscle building. Anything up to one hour of cardio training when combined with a regular lifting program will provide a well balanced program for both physic and health.

written by Roger LeBlanc

please visit my website for more info products at Digital Health Products

The common theme among many professionals today is that they tell you to do long, boring cardio workouts to lose fat. “Get into your target rate and stay there for at least 30 minutes,” they say.

Well what if everything these “experts” have been telling you for the past few decades has been completely and utterly wrong?

As more and more research is completed, we’re finally finding out the truth about what types of exercises we should be doing.

That type of exercise is called interval training.

Interval training is simply intense exercise followed by brief periods of rest.

Let’s take hill sprints for an example. Say there’s a 50 foot hill by your house. You start at the bottom, sprint to the top (intense exercise), then walk back down to the bottom (brief period of rest). You then rinse and repeat the process.

So what are the benefits of interval training as compared to long cardio workouts?

• 1) It Takes Less Time - Interval training can last as long as a normal workout, but by no means does it have to. Since you’ll put putting out more effort in each exercise period, you won’t be able to sustain a very long workout. Usually 10-15 minutes is plenty for beginner or intermediate fitness levels.
• 2) You Dramatically Lower Your Heart Rate - When I first tried out interval training my heart rate was about 66 beat per minute - which is a little lower than average but no quite in the “excellent” range. After about 2 months or so I had my heart rate to around 50-55 beats per minute, which means that my heart is in elite condition. Just like any other muscle, your heart strengthens as it recovers. Since it recovers between each interval, you’ll start to see a dramatic difference in your heart beat.
• 3) You Lose More Fat - With traditional cardio you lose fat because you burn it while you’re working out. However, after you’re done your metabolizing really doesn’t stay on a “high” like it’s on while you’re exercising. With intervals, even though you don’t burn as many calories during the exercises, you can burn much more fat for the rest of the day. You literally burn fat as you’re sleeping!
• 4) You Don’t Lose Muscle - With traditional cardio, you have to have a near perfect nutritional plan in order to not lose muscle. In many cases, even a perfect nutritional plan won’t even help. However, with interval training you release HGH (Human Growth Hormone) which signals your body to grow more muscle and lose the fat. Why do you think sprinters have such lean muscular bodies while marathon runners are all skin and bone?
• 5) You Can Combine Programs - Chances are that you’re currently on a weightlifting/cardio program right now. Well what if I told you that you could get the same benefits in less than half the time? One workout I like to do goes like this: First, I jump rope as quickly as possible for 50 reps on both feet, then 25 times on the left leg, then the right. Then I do it again. Next, I go inside and do 1-legged squats and ab work to catch my breath. Then I do a set of vertical leaps. Then it’s back to the jump rope. It’s a great lower body interval training workout that I do in a total of about 12 minutes.

You can design an interval training workout from practically anything you’re currently doing. Remember, all you need to do is quickly get your heart rate up, then lower it back down. Do this a few times and you’re done.

No longer do you have to go to the gym for hours on end, wasting your day away. No longer do you have any excuses why you can’t workout. All you need is about 10-15 minutes and you can get in an incredibly taxing workout. Just be creative and have some fun.

Jeremy Reeves is a fitness enthusiast who has been studying health and fitness for a large part of his life. His website, http://www.fitness-made-fun.com is designed to help people put more fun into their workouts and help them to enjoy it much more.

Sign up for his free periodic newsletter at http://www.fitness-made-fun.com/fitness-newsletter.html

Aerobic exercise is important at all ages. You are never told too old to begin an aerobic exercise program and to experience the often dramatic benefits. There are, of course, a few special considerations involved in beginning an exercise program later in life. If you have been de-conditioned by avoiding exercise for some time, you are likely to start at a lower level of physical ability than would a younger person. You may be more susceptible to fractures if you fall and injure yourself. You may have an underlying medical condition that limits your choice of exercise activities. You may need to talk with your doctor for advice as to exactly how to proceed. Nevertheless, at your age, you need aerobic exercise more than ever, and there is almost always a way to get it.

Some people worry that they have only so many heartbeats in a lifetime, and that exercise will increase their heart rates and use them up. In fact, because of the decrease in resting heart rate, the fit individual uses 10 to 25% fewer heartbeats in the course of a day, even after allowing for the increase during exercise periods. Aerobic training also builds good muscle tone, improves reflexes, improves balance, burn fat, and makes the bones stronger.

Much has been made of reaching a particular heart rate during exercise, one that avoids too much stress and yet provides the “training effect.” Usually it is difficult to count your pulse while you are exercising, but you can check it by counting the pulse in your wrist for 15 seconds immediately after you stop exercising and then multiplying by 4. more important, as your training progresses, you may wish to count your resting pulse, perhaps in bed in the morning before you get up. The goal here is a resting heart rate of about 60 beats per minute. An individual who is not fit will typically have a resting heart rate of 75 or so.

There are easier ways of telling how you are doing. Endurance activity is a bit uncomfortable at first, and then becomes quite comfortable as your training program persists. It is not “all out.” You should be able to carry on a conversation while you are exercising. On the other hand, you should be breaking a sweat during each exercise period. The sweating indicates that the exercise has raised your internal body temperature.

Aerobic exercise must be sustained activity. You need at least 10 or 15 minutes of exercise each session. You can progress up to 200 minutes per week, spread out over five to seven sessions; beyond this amount little further benefits seems to result. Your choice of a particular aerobic activity depends on your own desires and your present level of fitness. The activity should be one that can be graded; that is, you should be able to easily and gradually increase the effort and the duration of the exercise.

Walking by itself not always an aerobic exercise, but it provides very important health benefits. If you haven’t been exercising at all, start by walking. For seniors, a gradual increase in walking activity, up to a minimum of 150 minutes per week, usually should precede attempting a more strenuous aerobic program. Walking briskly can be aerobic, but you need to push the pace quite a bit to break a sweat and get your heart rate up. Walking uphill or upstairs can quite quickly become aerobic.

Jogging, swimming, and brisk walking are appropriate for all ages, and many seniors of all ages participate. Master swim programs are increasingly popular.

Inside the house, stationary bicycles or cross-country ski machines are good. Some individuals like to use radio earphones while they exercise; others exercise indoors while watching evening news. While almost any activity from gardening to tennis can be aerobic for some, remember that the exercise can’t be “start and stop.” Aerobic activity can’t come in bursts; it must be sustained for at least a 10- to 15-minute period.

Raymond Lee Geok Seng is one of the foremost experts in the health and fitness industry and is a writer specializing in body health, muscle development and dieting. He has spent countless of time and efforts conducting research and share his insightful and powerful secrets to benefit men and women all over the world. He is currently the author of the latest edition of “Neck Exercises and Workouts.” Visit http://www.bodyfixes.com for more information.

Pilates rehabilitation is often seen in physical therapists offices because it is known to strengthen the body, improve posture, flexibility and balance. The rehab Pilates we do with our clients compliments and enhances what they are doing in rehab therapy.

Joseph Pilates, the creator of this exercise, was a nurse in the German army during World War One. It was there that he developed a method of strengthening the muscles of the wounded soldiers he was assigned to.

He attached weighted springs to their beds and the first Pilates equipment was created. Interestingly, the soldiers who were given the exercises by him healed and recovered faster than the soldiers who did nothing. He was way ahead of his time. To Joe, rehabilitation meant getting creative with what you had.

Pilates rehab works for many reasons. The attention paid to good form is a perfect way for an injured client to gain strength in the weak and injured muscles. Pilates is gentle on the joints and won’t over-stress an already stressed body. It also strengthens the smaller muscle groups that support joints and bony structures, and it builds an awareness to balance, chronically weak and imbalanced muscles gain equal strength.

Pilates as rehabilitation is preventative medicine. Keep yourself strong today and avoid injuries tomorrow. Remaining injury-free is an important benefit as we age.

Rehab Pilates develops flexibility in joints and helps to keep them “oiled up” by gently moving the joints through their ranges of motion. This is particularly important for arthritis sufferers. Keeping a full or near full range of motion in the joints is immensely important to all people, but to arthritis sufferers in particular.

It is important to note that most instructors are not trained nor qualified to make a diagnosis for injured clients. Their job is to work in conjunction with physical therapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, or anyone in the medical profession who is making a diagnosis on a client. Our job is to teach plain and simple. The method in itself is rehabilitative and therapeutic.

Most people, no matter their age or level of fitness, can benefit from this exercise routine. We all have weak links in our muscular skeletal makeup. A href="http://www.everything-about-pilates.com/pilates-rehabilitation.html">Pilates exercise routine is an option to balance out our weaknesses and get us, and keep us, on our feet.

Susannah Marchese is a certified Pilates fitness instructor and a senior contributing writer to href="http://www.everything-about-pilates.com/pilates-rehabilitation.html">http://www.everything-about-pilates.com/pilates-rehabilitation.html

Susannah Marchese - http://www.everything-about-pilates.com

Pilates benefits Baby Boomers everywhere. It is perfect for this aging population and gives them a low impact choice of exercise. Jogging or traditional workouts may not be an option for some aging exercisers because of the stress it puts on joints. It provides a full body workout without the wear and tear.

Basic Pilates moves includes stretching, lengthening for better posture and resistance training. This gentle workout gets the same results as a high impact workout and in many ways gets a better result. One time Jane Fonda ruled the roost. Bounce. Dance. High kick. Stretch yourself into shape. Feel the burn! No pain no gain! Sound familiar?

Those loyal aerobic class takers are now aging. They no longer can jump as high, stretch down low, or run around the bases like they used to, and they are feeling the pain. Pilates fitness is the perfect remedy for both male and female Baby Boomers because it increases their level of fitness with less stress and risk to the body. Baby Boomers maintain their flexibility and strength, and that is an important factor as they age.

Here are some key Pilates benefits for Baby Boomers:

• It can slow down the physical signs of aging and make you less injury prone
• Joints and muscles become more pliable
• The deep breathing that accompanies the exercises oxygenates your blood and leaves you feeling exhilarated after a workout
• It increases joint movement, overall mobility, and bone density, which is especially important as you age
• It decreases stress and tension, joint inflammation, swelling and stiffness

So what are you waiting for Baby Boomers? Pilates benefits everyone Give Pilates a try and maybe the next time you run into some old acquaintances they’ll comment on how young you look.

Susannah Marchese - http://www.everything-about-pilates.com

She is a certified Pilates fitness instructor and a senior contributing writer to
http://www.everything-about-pilates.com/pilates-benefits.html

If you are a hard gainer like me, you should minimize your cardios to like 1-2 times per week, and each cardio workout no more than 20-30 mins. You are trying to gain weight, and not the other way around. So you say to yourself that you are going to get fat then. It is impossible not to gain body fat percentages while you are trying to gain weight. No matter how strict you follow your mass training program, you will gain some fat.

Only when you are satisfied with how big you are, then you would follow a strict diet plan and exercise program to reduce body fat and maintain muscle definition. By doing cardio 1-2 times per week and no more than 20-30 mins per section, plus total body mass training, you will minimize fat while you get bigger in muscles.

Some hard gainers won’t even do cardios at all until they decide they got big enough, and start doing cardio and follow a strict diet. This method you would have more fat to deal with when you are trying to reduce your body fat percentage.

When you do cardio, make sure it is an intensive and quick workout. Go as fast as you can until you need to stop. Slower pace for a minute. Repeat by running fast. Slow. Fast. Slow. Fast. You get the point. This method revs up your metabolism. By running at a steady pace, you will not increase your metabolism. By constantly changing your pace, you are playing tricks with your metabolism, and your metabolism would be in full-speed for another 10-20 hours while you are sitting at home watching tv, sleep, etc.

If you ask me how many times I do cardio per week, I would tell you some weeks are 0 and sometimes 1-2 per week.

Kai L.
My Fitness Blog - http://chinesemuscles.blogspot.com

The variety of aerobics routines you can enjoy are many. You just have to find one that appeals to you. When it comes to aerobic activity, most people dread it. Why not combine your favorite sport activity with exercise for a great workout. Below are 4 ways to add variety to your exercise routine.

Dance Aerobics

Most people love to dance. Dancing is a way to relieve stress, jam to your favorite music and a great way to have fun. On the opposite end of the spectrum, not everyone loves to exercise. What if you could combine exercise and dancing? Because they are fun, dance aerobics classes popping up all over the country.

In a dance aerobics class, you dance to your favorite music learning the moves you need to not only lose weight but also to become a better dancer. A dance aerobics class lasts twenty to thirty minutes. You are having so much fun that you really don’t even realize that you’re exercising.

Dancing is a great way to have fun and relieve stress. You’ll have so much fun doing it that you’ll want to tell all your friends about it. So you see, there’s no better way to lose weight than by taking a dance aerobics class.

Aerobics and Kick Boxing

Hard work can pay off in promising numbers if you combine aerobics and kick boxing. The toll placed on your body can develop a toned, well-proportioned physique many strive to have. Add a clean diet to the equation and you will have the ultimate makeover waiting to happen.

If you are interested in kick boxing, the best way to learn is to participate in a beginner’s class before advancing. The body is built to handle some hard work so build strength through the constant movements needed in the routines. It is best to stretch before you experience an uncomfortable feeling from the demands. The unique combination of aerobics and kick boxing creates a different perspective regarding your athletic abilities. As you build strength, you develop endurance and stamina as well.

The energy gained in the aerobic and kick boxing classes will transfer into your daily activities. You will have more energy than you used previously. The kick boxing and aerobic moves become second nature to your everyday movements making activities enjoyable.

Step Aerobics

Millions of people worldwide practice step aerobics, which is another type of aerobics. The reason for its popularity may be simply that it provides an amazing cardio workout. The only real requirement is a flat surface and a stepping platform.

Step aerobic exercise is an aerobic activity that utilizes a 4 to 12 inch step. Specifically, this cardiovascular exercise involves stepping up onto the raised platform at specific intervals and alternating which leg is used. This routine requires coordination and is often done with music. Step aerobic exercise provides an excellent aerobic workout for your legs.

Unlike some other exercises that place significant stress on the joints of the legs, step aerobic exercise places minimal duress upon the joints of the lower body. In fact, when it comes to stress on the joints of the leg, step aerobics is similar to walking.

In addition, step aerobic exercise is choreographed with upbeat music and can the accomplished in the company of other enthusiasts.

Water Aerobics

No longer is the swimming pool the sole preserve of swimmers. Water aerobics have greatly changed this concept because the benefits of water exercises are many.

Water aerobics are instrumental in improving cardiovascular fitness and result in better endurance by gaining strength in your muscles. As a result of the buoyancy that water provides as well as the support that a body receives from water there are fewer worries about getting muscle, bone or joint injuries.

This form of exercising can be performed by people of all age groups and fitness levels. Water is an ideal choice for healthy people and for those who suffer from arthritis, neck or back problems as well as strokes and obese people. Water aerobics are often performed in chest-high water so both swimmers and non-swimmers are attracted to it.

Water aerobics uses rhythmic body movements as well as dance steps done in the water and can be performed with music or without music There are basic as well as advanced programs. Beginning programs teach you to put together arm and leg movements in different combinations. Adding intricate dance steps creates a more advanced routine movements.

When it comes to aerobics class, there are many to choose from. You just have to find one that appeals to you. By combining your favorite sport activity with exercise you can get a great workout.

Cindy Heller is a professional writer. Visit water aerobic exercise to learn more about water aerobics routine and where to find water aerobic shoes.

Music is a wonderful way to energize the body through aerobic workout. An aerobics music workout is a great exercise program if you love music. There are a number of different types of aerobic exercises that work well with the addition of music. Any physical activity that is continuous motion will be termed as being aerobic. Adding music to your aerobic routine can increases the intensity level. But there are advantages to adding music .An aerobics routine consisting of aerobic music will involve a great deal of fast movements, jumping as well as leaping for extended periods. Some benefits of adding music to your workout include the focus, motivation and beneficial exercise.

Focus

Adding music to your aerobics workout adds the benefit of allowing you to focus on something other than the exercise regimen. You focus on the enjoyment of the music. This focus also pushes out the day’s activities and allows you to be in the moment.

Motivation

A person who is involved in an activity that is enjoyable and is beneficial will want to continue that activity. The reverse is also true. If an action is rewarded with a negative feeling or experience, that action or experience is not repeated. Therefore, if a person does not like to exercise, but combines the pleasure of music with exercise, they are more likely to continue.

Beneficial Exercise

The major benefit of adding aerobics music to your workout is the cardiovascular workout you receive. A good music workout will stimulate the heart, increase the blood flow and your breaths. Other benefits are the possibility of weight loss and weight maintenance.

It is important to remember that each of us is different. Those different factors include our age, general health and the condition of our body. Therefore, the heart beat that you wish to attain during your aerobic workout will vary.

Variety of Music

There is nothing as exciting as aerobic exercising to the tune of your favorite music. The variety to choose from includes top 40/dance to disco to Broadway hits. Some of these aerobics music albums feature perfect 32 count and offer variety to suit the musical tastes of everyone and all age groups. It should be noted that the speed of aerobic music should be between 118 to 122 Beats Per Minute.

Also, the genre of music selected can be a highly motivational factor. Generally aerobics workout music designed to give a full workout. It begins with a slower tempo to allow the body to warm up. The next stage is generally more upbeat and provides a quicker moves. The final phase is a cool down where the music returns to a slower paced tempo.

There is also another well known aerobics workout known as Jazzercise. The instructor teaches the exercise steps as well as choreographed routines that help the exerciser in his or her quest for better fitness accompanied by aerobic music.

Choreographed Videos

There are many different maneuvers in aerobics for any one person to complete them. There are notations, floor maneuvers, step maneuvers as well as a combination of floor or step maneuvers. You can find different videos and DVDs that are sure to satisfy your needs. The varieties include Step Showdown that lasts for 120 minutes. It is a type of step aerobics and dance combined, using choreographed music.

Another, Aerobic & Dance Showdown is another aerobics video that lasts 140 minutes presenting aerobic and dance choreography accompanied by hot music. It includes low impact aerobics mix. Dance Off video is packed with choreographed steps.

Non-traditional videos include Latin and Jazz infuse a passion in the moves. Aerobics exercisers enjoy them for increasing movements and learning new dance styles. Using choreographed aerobics music videos are useful for beginners with little or no experience as well as intermediate and advanced level users.

Sometimes, there is nothing to beat entering a gym where the fitness class is working out with aerobic music. It helps set the mood for the exercisers. It’s impossible to imagine a step or spinning class without the correct music to provide the right rhythm. Adding music to your aerobic workout is a fun experience, gives you motivation to continue and offers healthy benefits.

Cindy Heller is a professional writer. Visit water aerobic exercise to learn more about water aerobic weights and water aerobics workout.

When it comes to aerobics class, there are many to choose from. You just have to find one that you enjoy. Most people love to dance. Dancing is a way to relieve stress, jam to your favorite music and a great way to have fun. On the other hand, not everyone loves to exercise. When it comes to aerobic activity, most people dread it. Why not combine exercise and dancing? Dance aerobics classes are becoming popular every where.

Basically, aerobic dancing is a fitness sport that combines the health and figure benefits of jogging. Aerobic dancing was originally meant for women though now men find pleasure in performing aerobic dancing. You might think that aerobic dancing is only for the young or for fit people, but it’s meant for everyone who desires to get into better shape.

Dance aerobics classes help to make the body firmer and leaner, strengthen the heart as well as muscles, lowers blood pressure, reduces fat burning time, causes an appreciable lowering in stress levels and improves cardiovascular fitness. All of these benefits make the student more energetic and greatly helps them to form a better self-image as well as improve self-esteem.

In a dance aerobics class, you dance to your favorite music. The instructor will teach you the moves you need to not only lose weight but also to become a better dancer. Perhaps you think that all of this might be a bit too much, especially if you feel that you were born with two left feet. It’s not as difficult as it may seem. A few tips that may help in performing aerobic dance steps include imitating the instructor, understanding the basics, and remembering the stages.

Tip 1: Imitate The Instructor

The leader will be shouting out instructions to the class above the music She will be using the words left and right. These refer to either the left arm or leg or right arm or leg. The best advice in learning aerobic dance steps is to ignore the commands, at first from the instructor, and simply imitate their lead.

Tip 2: Learn The Basics

Dance step patterns are usually measured in beats. These beats, per minute, usually total 32 or 64. However, don’t worry about counting the total beats, but simply follow the instructor. Generally, in keeping time, the only counting that needs to be done is in intervals of four and eight followed with a separate segment using four or eight counts. Ultimately the steps will add up to 32 or 64.

In addition to dance steps, the routine may eventually call for arm movements. The