Cardio Confusion- To Do or Not To Do?

By Han Ayden

Cardiovascular exercise, also known as aerobic training, has long been considered the most efficient way of burning body fat. This belief stems from the calorie expenditure of cardio exercises, which is often much higher than that expended during a session of weight training or yoga. Unsurprisingly, it has become the exercise of choice for a vast majority of female gym goers as it is touted as the fastest, most efficient way of incinerating our much-loathed excess body fat. On the other extreme, bodybuilders and those looking to gain mass often shun cardio, believing it to be catabolic and counterproductive to their efforts in packing on the muscle. What's the deal, then? Should you do it or ditch it? In order to answer that question, you'll need to ask yourself what your fitness goals are. Are you trying to obtain your optimum body composition? Or do you want to make some significant strength gains? Or even just an improvement to your general fitness?
If body composition and fitness goals are your primary concerns, then you do not want to neglect your cardio training. Yup folks, aerobic training is on the menu for you. However, the most beneficial form of cardio would not be the customary one-hour jog on the treadmill or the ninety minutes on the Stairmaster. In fact, long bouts of cardio can be detrimental to your body composition goals as it promotes muscle catabolism (or muscle loss, for the uninitiated). To get that coveted lean, hard body, you'll have to preserve all the muscle that you have or risk having the skinny-fat physique, where you carry a substantial amount of body fat together with reduced muscle mass, for that slack and pudgy look. In order to reap all the benefits of cardio without risking a loss of lean mass, consider high intensity interval training instead, where moderate intensities (of around 3 min) are alternated with very high intensities for a short period of time (around a min). This succession of cycles should be repeated for a total duration of 20-30 minutes per session and can be performed on any cardio machine.
Those seeking to gain maximal strength and power might want to scale back on their cardio. There is sufficient evidence to link increased cardio activity to a decrease in strength gains as the recruitment of slow-twitch muscle fibers during cardio work can interfere with the development of fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are crucial for making strength gains. Thus, cardiovascular fitness can come at the expense of strength gains but this is more applicable to athletes who require maximum strength for their sport.
The Verdict: For those aiming for a better physique, don't neglect your Cardio, but don't focus on it exclusively either. Those looking for strength gains should minimize their cardio work and leave it out of their training plans if need be. For the rest of us, combine cardio with resistance training and a proper nutritional plan to achieve that lean, hard look while maintaining optimum fitness.