{"id":298,"date":"2013-12-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/cardiovascular-exercise-is-it-that-effective\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T05:25:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T05:25:04","slug":"cardiovascular-exercise-is-it-that-effective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/cardiovascular-exercise-is-it-that-effective\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardiovascular Exercise – Is It That Effective?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Another great article from fitness expert Mike Geary\u2026<\/p>\n

Do You Really Need \u201cCardio\u201d Workouts?<\/h2>\n

Are cardio workouts or weight training more effective for losing fat\u2026<\/strong>
\nIn this article, I have an intriguing discussion about cardio workouts, which will hopefully get you thinking differently, and trying new things.<\/p>\n

You may know I\u2019ve been called the anti-cardio guy before, but this week I\u2019m back posing the question to you\u2026 Do you really need cardio training to get lean and in great shape? By the way, you\u2019ll see in a minute that I\u2019m not really \u201canti-cardio\u201d, just \u201canti traditional cardio\u201d.<\/p>\n

Most fitness buffs, weekend warriors, or anyone trying to get in shape or lose body fat, consider it a fact that they need \u201ccardio\u201d exercise to accomplish these goals. They would never even question it.<\/p>\n

However, I\u2019m not only questioning it, I\u2019m going to refute it! In fact, you may be surprised to know that some of the leanest and meanest people I know (men and women), NEVER do any type of normal or traditional cardio. And I\u2019ve spent over 15 years working out in various gyms, and hanging out with athletes of all sorts, so I\u2019ve seen it all.<\/p>\n

Cardio Training Video\u2026<\/p>\n

I will say that there can be a place for low-moderate level cardio for really overweight or deconditioned people, but even in those cases, there can be more effective methods.<\/p>\n

But what exactly is \u201ccardio\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most people would consider cardio to be pumping away mindlessly on a treadmill, riding a stationary bike, or coasting on an elliptical machine, while watching the TV screen at their state of the art gym. This is what I call \u201ctraditional cardio\u201d. Hmmm, no wonder the majority of people get bored with their workouts and give up after a couple months without seeing results.<\/p>\n

But if you look closer, \u201ccardio\u201d exercise can be considered any type of exercise or activity that strengthens the cardiovascular system. I\u2019m not going to get into anything technical like increasing your VO2 max or anything like that. To keep it simple, if it gets your heart pumpin, and gets you huffin and puffin, it\u2019s cardio. I don\u2019t care if you\u2019re holding dumbbells or a barbell and everyone calls it a weight training exercise\u2026it\u2019s still conditioning your heart.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at a couple examples. Take a barbell (or dumbbell, or kettlebell) clean & press for example, which involves lifting a barbell from the floor up to shoulders, then push pressing overhead. And listen up ladies, because even though this is usually seen as a manly exercise, it doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re not lifting 250 lbs; if 45 lbs is challenging to you, then you will still benefit just as much.<\/p>\n

Another video opinion\u2026 this guy is something else\u2026<\/p>\n

At first glance, most people think of the barbell C&P only as a weight training exercise or strength exercise. However, I challenge you to do a hard set of around 10-15 reps on the C&P. If you used a challenging enough weight, what you\u2019ll find is that your heart rate is probably up to about 80-90% of your recommended max, and you are huffing and puffing like you just ran a 100-meter sprint (which by the way, sprinting kicks the crap out of jogging any day if you want the easiest way to lose the flab).<\/p>\n

Try the same thing for a set of 20 reps of one-arm snatches or swings with each arm with a kettlebell or dumbbell, and tell me your legs aren\u2019t burning, heart racing, and you\u2019re gasping for breath. How about trying 5 minutes straight of bodyweight squats, lunges, and pushups with very little rest. Again, notice your heart pounding, sweat pouring off of you, and chest heaving for breaths!<\/p>\n

Try and tell me you\u2019re not conditioning your heart with this style of training! Conventional thinking says that these are weight training or strength training exercises. However, they are fullfilling your cardio workout needs as well (saving you time!).<\/p>\n

Not only do you save time, but you strengthen and condition almost every muscle in your entire body with these full body exercises if you do them with enough intensity\u2026something that can\u2019t be said for that boring stationary bike ride or treadmill jaunt while reading or watching TV.<\/p>\n

Reading or watching TV while you workout is a joke!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Seriously, if you can read or watch TV while doing any exercise, you\u2019re not concentrating enough on what you\u2019re doing, plus you\u2019re probably not working out hard enough to see any real results.<\/p>\n

I challenge you to give the \u201ctraditional cardio\u201d a rest for a month or two, and start training the way I explain in my internationally-selling Truth about Six pack Abs Program, and see how you start getting leaner, more defined, and your six pack starting to show through what used to be stubborn stomach fat deposits.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in more reading about the topic of cardio training and better alternatives, here\u2019s an interesting cardio article I wrote previously.<\/p>\n

Original article .<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another great article from fitness expert Mike Geary\u2026 Do You Really Need \u201cCardio\u201d Workouts? Are cardio workouts or weight training more effective for losing fat\u2026 In this article, I have an intriguing discussion about cardio workouts, which will hopefully get you thinking differently, and trying new things. You may know I\u2019ve been called the anti-cardio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":531,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/531"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":318,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions\/318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}