Does Cardio work?

Does Cardio Work?

I sometimes read articles from other Fitness Professionals preaching that cardiovascular exercise doesn’t burn fat. The question is, does Cardio work?

OF COURSE IT DOES!

All you need do is look at Elite Sport people and examine them to find your answers.

We have just had the 2020 Olympics, visualize or search up long distance runners. If you search up any distance from the 1500 meters up to the marathon and look at their physiques. Do they have an ounce of fat on them? No they don’t. Why is that? They run enormous amounts. Do they have bad knees from jarring or impact? I don’t believe they do. Or else they would not be able to compete. And what, in exercise terms is this distance of running known as? It’s CARDIO!!!

Other forms of exercise such as strength training also burn fats. Although we will leave that for another time.

How does Cardio Burn Fat?

Well Fat, like carbohydrate is an energy (Carbs can’t turn into fat, and muscle can’t turn into fat either).

Visualize a fireplace. You start the fire with kindling. Then when this is burning you put bigger pieces of fuel on the fire. Eventually the fire starts to burn more and more fuel and the more fuel you burn off, the more efficient the fire becomes. The faster it burns the more you have to replace.

How do our bodies work?

Our bodies are similar. The two best forms of energy are carbs and fat. Fat is an excellent form of energy, not quite as good as carbs, but still very good.

When we perform cardio exercise, we start to burn off energy, like a car burns off petrol. The further you drive it, the more fuel you burn and the faster you drive it, the more fuel you burn!

Our bodies burn fuel off in an order. Firstly carbohydrates, our cells (50 trillion of them) need carbs to create energy. When those carbs stores are depleted, it starts to burn fat. Does Cardio work?

The energy stores still work together to a point, but fat is burned off, just like petrol in a car or wood on a fireplace.

The other point worth mentioning is that the FITTER you become, the more you raise your metabolism. (The metabolism is the rate of which fuel is burnt off). This means that if you have a great metabolism, you will burn fat off even when you are asleep.

Cardio does work

The answer is yes, cardio definitely works. Not only does it work in the sense of burning fat, just as importantly it gives you heart, lungs, and blood flow a great workout too. It allows your heart to grow in strength in conjunction with your lungs which means you are able to exercise better whenever you choose to do so. Your recovery will be better, allowing you to do more.

Does cardio work? In that sense the answer is yes.

Our blood is full of nutrition. Doing Cardio pumps blood around the body. It does it quicker and more effectively than if we don’t. This results in your brain, muscles, bones etc. receiving the nutrition it needs to react better. Then we start to feel good. Our internal engine is starting to work well!! Looking after our heart is a pretty good thing.

Remember, look at the numerous cyclists, boxers, and other sports people. There is your answer.

If you are interested in more information, check out our page on Personal Training Courses.