Low Intensity Cardio Workouts versus High Intensity Cardio Workouts

First, let's define the two. Low intensity cardio workouts are those that elevate the heart rate by about 50%. High intensity cardio workouts are those that are designed to boost the heart speed by about 75%. We will examine measuring heart rate a bit later, but each of the cardio workouts has their place, based on who's doing the cardio workout.

For fat loss, high intensity cardio workouts are definitely the best. These intensive workouts burns approximately 14 calories per minute, or quite a bit more fat than low intensity cardio workouts (about seven per minute), and have been found to have the added benefit of burning calories hours after the cardio workouts are completed. If you do not have much time to spend inside the fitness center, high intensity cardio workouts is where your exercise ought to lie. Low intensity cardio workouts burn fewer calories, so to realize equivalent benefits you'll have to exercise for longer intervals of time. That held, high intensity cardio workouts are not for everybody. Folks just starting cardio workouts, individuals with certain health problems, and those getting up in the years, especially if they are not in great physical shape, should not attempt high intensity cardio workouts until they can physically deal with them.

So if heart rate is the determining factor in high intensity cardio workouts, how must that be determined? The formula we use for getting to the target heart rate zone, or where the heart speed should be maintained during one of the high intensity cardio workouts. First, deduct your age from the number 220, or for women 226. If you are a 40 year old male, that would be 180. For the lower end of the objective heart rate zone, multiply by 0.6. For our case, the low end of the target heart rate zone would be 108. For the high end, multiply the 180 figure by 0.9 to arrive at a heart rate of 162. A more precise approach to determining these figures for cardio workouts will be the Karvonen Formula, which would require you to input your resting heart rate.

For those that prefer to stay within the low intensity cardio workouts, it would be best to stay inside the 50% range of maximum heart rate. In addition to those folks stated above, they are good to utilize as warm up for all those about to embark on their higher intensity workouts. Except for the length of time required in these cardio workouts, they offer the benefits of helping to decrease blood pressure and cholesterol and have less injury threat. But also, they still burn fat, as 85% of the calories burned in this zone are fats.

We trust this gives you some insight into the advantages and downsides of low intensity cardio workouts verses high intensity cardio workouts. Clearly, if you're physically able, it's best to work in the high intensity workouts zone. If you possibly can, bear in mind to keep your exercises brief (20 to 30 minutes) and approximately three to four times a week ought to do the trick.

Our goal is to inform those people who are trying to lose weight on comprehensive, realistic programs for weight loss. We are definitely not into quick-fixes, but programs that involve proper diet, cardio work, and muscle tone. Rich Carroll is a writer and health advocate now living in London.