Cardio Workouts Plan Technique #3: Composite
Training
The third workout plan training method is called composite
training. This is a combination of several different cardio
exercises, one after the other. One example is bicycling
15 minutes (after a warm-up and stretching the muscles used)
to a track or running course, running or jogging 10-15 minutes,
then bicycling back home, followed by a cool-down and stretching
those muscles used.
Or, if you do your workout plan in a health club, you could
walk on a treadmill for 10 minutes (after warm-up and stretching
the muscles used) and do the stairstepper for an additional
10 minutes. If you're shooting for 30 minutes total in duration,
you could then go right to the rowing machine and finish
with a final 10 minutes, followed by a cool-down and stretching
the same muscles as before. This is another way of fighting
boredom with your workout plan and also increasing the intensity
and results.
If you want to take it one step further and really try
something intense and exciting, incorporate the interval
and the composite training into your workout plan. While
you're on the treadmill change the speed from walking to
jogging every other minute, or from flat to a 5 percent
grade. Then, after 10 minutes of treadmill, move on to the
stationary bike changing the resistance from intense to
less intense, every other minute. Remember, always begin
with a warm-up of 5-10 minutes at a low intensity and stretch
the muscles used, and conclude your workout with a cool-down
of 5-10 minutes at a low intensity of 50-60 percent of max
HR. Stretch the same muscles as before.
Importance of Combining Strength Training, Flexibility
Training, and Good Nutrition with Your Cardiovascular Exercise
Workout Plan
By now you have probably realized that a cardio exercise
should be an important part of your workout plan. A cardiovascular
exercise workout plan provides many important benefits that
cannot be achieved by any other exercise or activity. In
addition to cardio exercise, there are four other important
components of overall health and fitness: strength training,
flexibility training, and proper nutrition/weight management.
Implementing all four components of health and fitness
into your workout plan may seem overwhelming at first, but
making small simple changes over time in each of these areas
will drastically improve how you think, look, act and feel.
In addition, improving any one of the five components of
health will complement and thereby make improvements in
other aspects of your health. For example, training cardiovascularly
will not only improve your heart and lung capacity, it will
also make improvements in your weightlifting workout plan
performance. Note: Please refer to each specific component
for further detailed information on each of the other four
aspects of health and fitness.
Strength Training Workouts
A strength training workout plan is exercise that uses
resistance--for example, weights--to strengthen and condition
the musculoskeletal system, improving muscle tone and endurance.
Physiologically, the benefits of a consistent strength training
workout plan include an increase in muscle size and tone,
increased muscle strength, and increases in tendon, bone,
and ligament strength. Strength training has also been shown
to improve psychological health as well, by increasing self-esteem,
confidence and self-worth. These improvements have a great
influence on our physical performance, metabolic efficiency,
physical appearance and risk of injury.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when starting an
exercise and nutrition/weight management workout plan is
not including a strength-training program with their cardiovasuclar
exercise and low-fat eating regimen. This is unfortunate
because when we cut calories without exercise, we can lose
muscle as well as fat. Many do not choose to do strength
training because 1) they mistakenly think they are going
to make their body big and bulky, and 2) they do not realize
how beneficial and important strength training is in a weight-management
program. Refer to the GHF Strength Training workout plan
for more information on a safe and effective strength training
program.
Flexibility Training Workout Plan
Flexibility is one of the key components of a balanced
fitness workout plan. Without flexibility-training (stretching),
you are missing an important part of overall health. Flexibility
prevents injury, increases your range of motion, promotes
relaxation, improves performance and posture, reduces stress
and keeps your body feeling loose and agile. The range of
motion for any joint is defined primarily by the elasticity
of the muscles and tendons attached to it. So the point
of stretching is to make your muscles loose and elastic
so your joints can bend as smoothly and widely as possible.
Unused muscles actually become shorter and tighter over
time, limiting your ability to move freely.
There is absolutely no evidence that people lose flexibility
as they gain muscle or improve their cardiovascular system—as
long as they stretch and practice proper exercise technique.
Refer to the principles and guidelines sections of the GHF
Flexibility Training workout plan for further instructions
on a safe and effective flexibility program with specific
stretches for each muscle group. We will teach you how to
integrate safe and effective flexibility-training into your
exercise workout plan.
Good luck: I hope you enjoy all the wonderful benefits
of an effective cardio exercise workout plan.
>>
Click here for the Global Health and Fitness Program
>> Click here for a free 2 week workout plan with 27 essential exercises for strength training e-book from Global Fitness
Effective Cardio
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Effective Cardio
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