Deciding to get into shape is a huge step. It takes a lot of mental effort to condition yourself into forming this new habit. So usually what happens is people are really concerned about working out correctly. They get a ton of advice about different things and soon they are confused. One of the most confusing topics is the relationship between cardio and weight lifting. Some people only weight lift and don’t do cardio. Others only focus on cardio and no weight lifting. I’ll go through Newport Beach Athletic Club’s Functional Fitness philosophy on cardio and your work out.

Should I always do Cardio with my Workout?

When you exercise you are always doing some type of cardio. Whether it is at a high heart fitness level or fat burning level. Your heart doesn’t know what your body is doing for exercise it just knows it needs to beat faster to supply blood to the muscles. So don’t feel like cardio is mandatory. As long as you are getting your heart rate up, you are helping condition your body. It’s important to note that people tend to do to much cardio. I personally believe that 20 to 30 minutes is plenty. If you run you shouldn’t run more than this time permits. More is not always better, your body is like a tire you only have so much to tread.

How to Incorporate Cardio into your Workout

When deciding to do cardio before or after you lift, the decision really depends on how hard you lift. It is usually easier to do cardio after lifting. Try to lift after doing intense cardio is hard because it is more difficult at this time to get oxygen to your muscles. So if you want to just try to include cardio, my best advice is to do it after. In terms of how often you should be doing cardio, I believe you should do a full body work out three times a week. This works for a busy schedule and it doesn’t consume your life. The days you lift weights try easy cardio, a little before as a warm-up and 10 minutes after to cool down. Then add three days a week of some type of cardio on the off days and take one full day off of both lifting and cardio. Visit our Fitness Club in Newport Beach for more information.

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