I apologise for the extra long time between posts. I've been working on a huge project that should help bodybuilders and fitness fanatics of all levels of experience reach their goals and potential. Stay tuned :)
When the average person thinks of the word "cardio", the first image that comes to mind is that of the bane of all newcomers to the gym - the treadmill! Hours spent huffing and puffing, sweating away on this infernal machine, that is more like a torture device, than a tool to improve fitness. It need not be this way though, cardio can be extremely useful in bodybuilding, for several reasons that you may not have even considered.
First off, let us define what cardio is. Cardio is generally termed as any exercise which elevates the heart rate for an extended period of time. Though the true, technical definition of cardio or "cardiovascular exercise" is exercise which taps into aerobic respiration, or exercise which uses oxygen as a catalyst for energy production. The background behind this reaction and the energy system is complex, and the understanding of it isn't necessary for the understanding of the benefits of cardio. For ease of understanding, we will just use the general term of cardio as any sustained exercise which elevates your heart rate above normal, for an extended period of time.
Well, now that you know what cardio is, what are the benefits of it? Well, you probably already know that it can aid weight loss by increasing a calorie deficit (more activity = higher caloric maintenance = higher caloric deficit if you are eating the same amount). You may also know that it can make the heart stronger, as well as more efficient at pumping oxygen rich blood around the body, making you in turn more conditioned to the exercise. This is commonly referred to as "cardio conditioning", or sometimes "aerobic conditioning". Although these are the two most widely known benefits of training, there are a host of other benefits.
Benefit #1: Boost your metabolism
High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT for short, is a cardio training technique which uses periods of high exertion and periods of lower intensity, in order maximally exert the cardiovascular system without heavily depleting energy stores such as muscle glycogen. This type of cardio is far higher intensity than most regular cardio, and in turn has a few added benefits. HIIT has an interesting effect, in that it can boost metabolism for hours after the initial exercise was performed. East Tennessee State University conducted research, which found that individuals performing HIIT boosted their RMR, or resting metabolic rate for 24 hours after the exercise was performed. In effect, they were burning calories from the exercise as well as, burning more calories for the 24 hours after the exercise was performed, when they were at sedentary or at rest. So you could do some HIIT cardio, go home, jump on your computer read this article, and keep burning calories, in some cases up until the same time tomorrow! Awesome, right?
Benefit #2: Boost your Growth Hormone Levels
As well as boosting metabolism, HIIT as well as other types of cardio, have an additional effect of boosting human growth hormone levels. Zinman College of Physical Education conducted a study, which showed that sprint interval training had a positive impact upon not only human growth hormone, but also testosterone and other naturally occurring anabolic hormones and growth factors. Boosted HGH levels would be beneficial to bodybuilding as the hormone itself promotes lipolysis (the breakdown of bodily fat) as well as muscular hyperplasia (the increase in the number of muscle cells). This can be beneficial not only in cutting, but bulking phases of dieting, as the improved hormonal profile will help you maintain muscle in low calorie periods, and add muscle in surplus calorie periods. Furthermore, it will keep you leaner year-round, which is of course going to make your fat shedding periods shorter, and your life a whole of a lot easier.
Benefit #3: It can aid your weights training
Now some of you may be a little confused about this one. "How the hell is a treadmill going to help me lift weights?!?", bare with me. When you are lifting weights, you are exercising anaerobically, or "without oxygen". Whereas cardio is aerobic, and thus requires oxygen intake in order to trigger its energy system, anaerobic exercise technically does not. Despite this, when you train anaerobically, you still rely on the aerobic system, or your cardio conditioning slightly, since the anaerobic system is inefficient. This can be shown when ever you do a relatively intense set. You don't just walk it off, you're short of breath as your body tries to draw in more air to supplement the aerobic energy system.
When you begin to progress more in training, through increasing your workout intensity (namely reduced rest periods between sets), you will require a greater and greater demand for oxygen in order to recover between sets. If your cardio conditioning does not keep up with this increasing intensity, you will find it hard to impossible to recover between sets, and hit a cap on the intensity which you can reach with your workouts.
As an additional factor that has to be taken into consideration, as you add muscle through your bodybuilding progression, this will also increasingly tax your cardiovascular system. The heart must work harder to move a body that has increased in weight through fat, muscle and water. It must additionally work harder to deliver that oxygen rich blood to muscle cells which have increased in size and number. Cardio conditioning can aid in supporting all of these functions, and are more than enough reason to factor in cardio into your routine, in order to improve your training - but there's more!
Benefit #4: It can improve your post-workout recovery
Cardio has been shown to improve full body blood circulation, not just circulation to the areas being worked. This can improve recovery times, as nutrient and oxygen-rich blood can be more readily delivered to muscles to accelerate repair of the muscular microtrauma that occurs during training. Improvement in recovery times will allow you a lot more flexibility in your training - you can progress to working a muscle group twice a week, increasing your workout volume, as well as intensity.
Full-body or leg ergonomy (leg-only) cardio can be used in an interesting mechanism called active recovery. Active recovery is the use of lower-intensity training, in order to promote recovery. A 2003 study by Micklewright et al, found that active recovery could improve post-workout recovery times through improved circulation, and in turn increases the disposal rate of lactic acid as well as muscle recovery times. Though the research did not give a definite answer on whether active recovery is the best form of recovery, it is definitely worth a try if your recovery is lagging a little.
Now, if you have gotten this far, either my argument has won you over, or you're looking for the benefit that says "Makes you look like Arnie overnight". If you're from the first group, then you're probably wondering how to implement cardio into your routine. Well, it may be obvious for cutting periods - just throw in 2-3 days of low intensity (LISS) cardio and a day of HIIT (if you feel) per week just to boost metabolism and cut fat...but how about bulking periods? Wouldn't it be counter-intuitive to boost your metabolism, and spend more energy, when you're looking to push all your caloric resources towards building muscle mass? Not necessarily.
1-2 days a week of cardio to maintain your cardio conditioning throughout your bulk would be more than sufficient. You can simply account for this increased activity by increasing the amount that you eat. The average half hour cardio session will burn about 250-350 calories. Twice a week, that's 500-700 calories, then simply split that amongst the days of the week. Though you technically wont be burning those calories on every day of the week, eating that extra 70-100 calories more is the closest you can get to eating at your new calorie maintenance, when you factor cardio into your activity levels.
In closing...
Though some bodybuilders choose to ignore cardio, as they are naturally lean, what you can't ignore is the wealth of benefits associated with cardio. Cardio will give that *oomph* behind all your training and dieting, and give you that extra boost you need in all aspects of bodybuilding . The treadmill, the jump rope, the stairmaster, the elliptical, the heavy bag and the exercise bike are all your friends, but like all good friends, it's up to you to maintain the relationship. Throw on your sneakers, and take your lifting to the next level!
No comments:
Post a Comment