People skip their cardio because they are already working out their legs. Their excuse sound something like this: I don't need to do cardio because I do heavy squats". Now, the question remains whether or not this excuse is valid. Can you simply skip your cardio sessions because you are doing leg exercises, or heavy squats?
Before I start off, we have to agree on the definition of cardio. My definition of cardio is, an exercise that keeps your hart rate at 60-100% of your maximum heart rate over an extended period of time.
Now it is pretty simple to decide if squats count as cardio. Lets see if it meets the first criteria of cardio definition.
"Keeps your heart rate at 60-100% of your maximum heart rate"
Does the squat do that. The simple answer is, no. When you are doing squats it might feel like your heart is pounding like crazy, but despite that feeling you don't reach 60-100%. Even if you do, you don't keep it like that for an extended period of time, which takes me to the next point.
"Over an extended period of time"
In a normal workout routine you usually have rest in between your sets. This makes it impossible to keep your heart rate at 60-100% of your mhr over an extended period of time. You simply can't do squads for 20min. Well, if you do it without weight it might be possible, but than its called a cardio session, no weight workout. The intensity is not great enough.
But lets focus at what you can do to make your leg workout a cardio workout.
By simply adding low pace cardio in between your sets, you keep your heart rate elevated. By doing this you will get a nice leg workout in addition to cardio. just watch out that you don't fatigue yourself with the low pace cardio, keep it low pace.
- Sebastian
Popular
-
Many of you are maybe working out at home already or are planning to do so. In this article i will cover the benefits of a home gym versus a...
-
Many people ask what you should have in your gym bag, to make it simple I have made a list of those things I think are necessary to have in...
-
If you are trying to lose some body fat there is no doubt that daily cardio will make the process a whole lot easier. It burns extra calori...
-
Everyone wants a six pack. Everyone wants to look good at the beach and I am going to show you how you can do both. Everyone can achieve it...
-
For many who tries to pack on some muscle and get in form getting that V-Taper is a major goal. Some don't know how to achieve that, an...
-
Are you one of those persons who simply cant gain any muscle mass no matter how hard you try? If you combine hardcore training with what I ...
-
One of the first goals for a person who has just started working out, is to get peaked biceps. If you want those peaked biceps that looks l... -
Many believe that cardio burns muscle, but the simple answer is - No, Cardio Does NOT burn muscle mass - Bad nutrition and overtraining does...
-
My goal with this article is to give you the basics you have to know in order to design your own weightlifting program. By building your wo...
-
People skip their cardio because they are already working out their legs. Their excuse sound something like this: I don't need to do car...
No comments:
Post a Comment