Cardiovascular training (part 2 of 2)

Now that we know that cardiovascular training, or plain "cardio", isn't the antagonist of muscle as it's rumored to be, it's time to get down to action! Last week I said we'd discuss possible activities, and I thought I'd start by being original enough N O T to fill the rest of this article with the usual activity/time/calories spent-chart. That'd all be fine and dandy, given that you're a machine that only pick the most calorie-burning activities and are able to stick to it for years to come. Let's be honest for a second. It's the gym that's priority #1, cardio is more of a necessary evil - unless you make it fun!

For example, I hate running. There's nothing good about it, and in my opinion there's not all that much difference between running and putting my fingers into a broken electrical outlet. Repeatedly, for about 30-40 minutes.
However, I can play basketball for hours. Not only am I keeping my pulse up for much longer, I'm also having a ball which motivates me to come back and do it again. As opposed to have been running, when I'm crawling into the shower with blood taste in my mouth and knees that will hurt for the week to come. For a guy like me, the difference would be approx. 1500 kcal / hour (running) vs. 700 kcal / hour (basketball). But as I'd be able to play basketball for, say 5 hours a week (easily! :-)) I'd only be able to get 1 hour of running, 1,5 hour if I'm pushing it. And simple maths tells us that 5 x 700 sums up to more than 1500 or 2250 kcal. Which cardio program do you think will still have me as a follower a month later?

Bottom line: Forget them fancy calories-per-hour charts! The three criterias for your cardio training schedule should be:
1. You think it's fun.
2. It gets the heartrate up (65% of max for fatburn, 80% for endurance)
3. It doesn't contradict your bodybuilding goals.

Point 1 is easy, while points 2 and 3 might need some clarification.

Your target heartrate depends on the particular goal you have with your cardio. Is the cardio a part of a fat-loss program? In that case, go easy and make sure not to get your heartrate up too much! If you do, you run a risk of losing too much muscle mass (as you're already rather catabolic from the diet).

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