[ Week 1: High Intensity Interval Training | Week 2: The Truth About Cardio ]

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Not all cardio is created equal or should I say not all calories burned are from the same source. I know it’s hard to hear, but it’s true. Don’t panic; knowing this will actually help you target specific cardio routines to better achieve your workout objectives. You don’t have workout objectives do you? Ok no biggie, read this post and something will come to you. Depending on your heart rates during a cardio session your body will burn a different ratio of fat & muscle to meet the necessary caloric demand. This is how the percentage of maximum heart rate breaksdown:

• Under 70%: Calories burned from fat 85%
• 70 - 80%: Calories burned from fat 50%
• 80 - 90%: Calories burned from fat 15%

What’s my maximum heart rate? Find out after the jump.

The American Heart Association recommends finding your maximum heart rate by taking 220 minus your age. More on heart rates here. As you can clearly see you need to have an objective before you head off for your next cardio session. More about the benefits of these training zones can be read here. Once you know what you want to accomplish, i.e. lose body fat, improve your endurance or jack up your performance levels you can maintain appropriate heart rates to achieve your goals. So stop wasting time with mindless cardio and start working out efficiently.

Supplement Recommendation: Taking a nitric oxide pre-workout supplement will help get your body prepared to have a top notch workout. Nitric oxide helps to promote increased blood flow delivering more oxygen and nutrients to your muscles facilitating improved workout intensity. I have used SuperPump 250 ($40) by Gaspari Nutrition over the past two weeks and saw a noticeable improvement in the intensity of my workouts.

Next Wednesday: Strength Training: get stronger, not bigger