Best Cardio for Everyone! (3 types and how to use them)
Best Cardio for Everyone!
Cardio is not a one-size fits all kind of thing.
Depending on your starting point, your goals, and your history, you’ll need to modify your cardio to fit your needs.
There are essentially 3 types of cardio and they serve different purposes:
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- LISS (low intensity steady state) – This is best for complete beginners, those who are afraid or nervous about adding cardio, or those with injuries who cannot comfortably do any other type. Go for long walks daily to enjoy the benefits of LISS. During LISS your heart rate is elevated but not so much that you cannot sustain it for an hour or more. You can maintain a conversation, but it’s more activity than sitting still. Since this type of workout is not too challenging it can be sustained for 1-2 hours or more.
- Steady State (continuous pace/medium intensity) – This type of cardio is a good next step to those who start with LISS. By elevating your heart rate more, you’ll be able to burn more fat in a shorter amount of time. The greater the intensity, the shorter the duration will be, due to the inverse relationship between duration and intensity. Steady state is usually a “conversational pace” as well, meaning you can carry on a conversation while doing it. Typically steady state workouts last somewhere between 30-45 minutes.
- HIIT (high intensity interval training) – There are a lot of different methods of HIIT. Even weight training can be a form of HIIT. When you work hard during your weight lifting sets your heart rate gets up high! Wear a heart rate monitor if you don’t believe it. By doing circuit weight training i.e. 3 exercises in a row with no rest between, you’re essentially doing a high intensity interval. Pair this with rest periods and you have yourself a HIIT style workout. Other forms of HIIT could include bodyweight exercises done on the clock, or sprints outdoors or on the treadmill. I also love to do HIIT on a stairs by sprinting to the top, then recovering on the way down.
If you’re not sure where to start, I want you to begin with our Live Lean Newbie program:
✔ https://www.liveleantv.com/programs/newbie/
This plan is specifically designed to help beginners get a foot in the door and get started with the best type of cardio to get lean and stay lean forever.
You need a structured plan, and you need to take action.
By including cardio in your life you will no doubt get leaner, healthier and more toned. It’s all about changing your relationship with it and you ideas about what cardio is. It can be fun, it can be short, and it certainly will be effective.
xo -Jess
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