What Workout Is Best

What workout is best?

This question is way too broad to answer so I suggest we break it down a bit. So we decided to do a series of articles all based on what workout is best. There are so many BEST workouts for so many different uses, body parts, body systems, etc... I think you are getting it now. The list goes on and on. So our first Best workout will start with the cardiovascular system since it is one of the most important systems we have.

 

Best Workout Series 1

Cardiovascular Fitness, aka Cardio

Cardio exercise can help reduce bad cholesterol (LDL), increase insulin sensitivity, increase good cholesterol (HDL), reduce blood pressure, lower body weight and increase exercise tolerance. When the body is able to take in more oxygen it enables the muscles to perform with greater strength and function. This is why breathing correctly during exercise is so important! If you can’t get enough oxygen to the body where it’s needed your workouts will suffer.

Beginner Fitness level: start by keeping a fitness journal. Writing things down will help you not only stay on track but give you incentives to strive for each day, week, month and so on. Time is what matters here. I don’t mean how much time you spend doing the workout as much as consistency of time over long periods of time. Start with 10-20 minutes of any movement that you can sustain, such as walking, jogging, biking, etc.  Try to exercise every day. Each day try to add a minute or up the intensity and before you know it, your walk will be a jog.

Intermediate fitness level: You too can benefit from journaling! Taking your fitness to another level can be felt and seen when you write it down. If your cardio consists of one activity it’s time to start adding alternating activity. If this one activity is all you really want to do then you can try doing this, If you jog, let’s start sprinting 20 second intervals during your jog. If you bike, start standing for 1 minute intervals. You can do this with any of your current workouts or go big and alternate day to day your cardio workout from jog to bike to swim, etc... choose a different activity from day to day, you only need 3 different activities. If you’re in a gym you can row one day, bike the next and maybe climb, then repeat! 20 minutes is your minimum workout duration and 30 won’t hurt!

High Fitness Level: HIIT yes High Intensity Interval Training 2-3x a week. Challenge yourself by starting with 60% of your max weight and increase by 5% every 2-3 weeks. Your goal is to get to 80% max weight! Do not compromise your form when performing HIIT workouts. This is easy to do when you get tired so don’t overdo the time of your workout. Start with a max of 20 minutes. The rest of the week should involve interval cardio workouts such as the walk, jog, sprint and repeat for a minimum of 20 minutes. You can also do 10 minutes of 3-4 different exercises such as run, bike and row.

Written by Christina Widmark