How Can You Tell If Your Cardio Regime Is Working?

Whether you’re new to exercising or you simply aren’t well versed in the art of gym-going, it can sometimes be tricky to know whether your cardio programme is actually working. A popular form of exercise as a way of losing weight, cardio is fantastic for building your fitness and creating a stronger body…but it’s not consistently effective. There are ways to improve on your regime as you go though, so that you can continue to see results from your workout.

Aerobic cardio is one of the most common forms, but it isn’t always the most effective choice. This type of cardio involves stationary exercise bikes and distance running – they are usually low intensity and are time consuming. These types of exercises will burn fat but they won’t build muscle. The opposite of this, of course, is anaerobic which is high intensity, quick and reduces body fat at the same time as building muscle. If you want to achieve results in a short space of time, these are the types of exercises you should be working towards.

Any body fat that you lose during an aerobic workout will be regained, as they don’t build lean muscle to replace the fat. Lean muscle is crucial to not only burning fat but also maintaining a slimmer physique. If you’re new to cardio, interval training and sprints are great options to begin with – sprints build strong muscle fibres and improve athleticism. High intensity workouts are brilliant as they increase your fitness and offer you results without you having to spend hours in the gym – a truly effective anaerobic routine should be done and dusted in under thirty minutes. With these changes to your cardio regime, you should be able to see results week after week, as well as keeping your workout fun and interesting.