As we age, recovery becomes an issue. Our bodies do not respond as well as when we were younger. You may be wondering how this has anything to do with cardio and if so you are not alone. Many people ask the same question when I discuss this with them. I am going to explain all of that and more in the following article. Please note that younger people can benefit from this approach as well. However, this is not the approach you are going to use during a contest preparation cycle. This is strictly off-season stuff I am describing here.

Recovery and Cardio

I recommend that every single person trying to stay in shape should do a program that consists of weight training as well as cardiovascular exercise. Not only would I recommend this, I think it is required in order to be in the best possible shape. That's my own impression and it is shared by most of the people in the industry. This means that recovery will become an issue.

Most if not all cardio exercise puts a strain on your leg muscles and other body parts. This means the muscles are going to work harder than just weight training alone and that could quite possibly change the recovery time for the muscles. This is something you must pay attention to because you do not want to risk injury. I hope you noted I did not mention “over training” here because I honestly do not believe you can “over train” at all. Yes, I am aware that is a controversial statement, but it is not something I plan to go into in this article.

Cardio Workouts Described

I believe in mixing up the cardio sessions that you do on a regular basis just like I believe in mixing up the weight training workouts you do. I utilize 6 different types of cardio workouts.

HIIT

This is a standard High Intensity Interval Training session. After a short 2 minute warm up (don't count that towards you total time) you do 30 seconds of high intensity followed by 90 seconds of low intensity. This could be sprinting for 30 seconds and walking for 90 seconds. Push yourself!

HIIT2

This is a standard High Intensity Interval Training session. After a short 2 minute warm up (don't count that towards you total time) you do 45 seconds of high intensity followed by 1 minute 15 seconds of low intensity. This could be sprinting for 45 seconds and walking for 1 minute 15 seconds. Push yourself!

HIIT3

This is a standard High Intensity Interval Training session. After a short 2 minute warm up (don't count that towards you total time) you do 60 seconds of high intensity followed by 60 seconds of low intensity. This could be sprinting for 60 seconds and walking for 60 seconds. Push yourself!

SS

This is steady state cardio and consists of finding a good speed of movement and maintaining it for the entire time of the workout.

II

This is incline intervals. Set up a good pace for walking on the treadmill or stepmill. After a 2 minute warm up (do not count that towards your total workout time) you will increase the incline (if on the treadmill) or level (if on the stepmill) every 1 minute. When you are 3 minutes from the end of your training session drop everything back down to a low level to cool down a bit.

HIITJJ

This is a standard High Intensity Interval Training session with jumping jacks thrown in. After a short 2 minute warm up (don't count that towards you total time) you do 60 seconds of low intensity followed by 60 seconds of high intensity. You then immediately get off the treadmill (let it continue running) and do 60 seconds of jumping jacks. Carefully get back on the treadmill and repeat the cycle.  

Cardio Schedule

I believe you start out small and grow from there. As a result you should follow a ramp up schedule as follows (please note that I have inserted the weight training days in there as well). 

Week 1

Su = HIIT; Tu = SS; Th = II

Week 2

Su = HIIT; Tu = SS; Th = HIITJJ

Week 3

Su = HIIT; Tu = SS; Th = HIIT2

Week 4

Su = HIIT; Tu = SS; Th = HIIT3; Sa = II

Week 5

Su = HIIT; Tu = SS; Th = HIITJJ; Sa = SS

Continuing the Pattern

When you use the schedule I prescribe above you will want to make adjustments to the Thursday and Saturday workouts. Never do more than 2 HIIT type workouts in a week. I suggest changing up the type of HIIT on Thursday and then mixing up incline intervals and steady state cardio on the Saturday session. This will keep your body guessing and will allow you ample recovery time.

Watch the Fat Peel Off

Doing this type of cardio schedule along with the weight training with extreme intensity you will begin to see the fat just fall off your body. This is the goal (of course). At the same time, if things slow down, tweak the time of each session. Increase by 5 minutes at a time. I would recommend increasing the Thursday time by 5 minutes and the Saturday time by 5 minutes first. Watch your results. They should begin moving forward again. If they don't or if they stop moving forward add 5 minutes to the Sunday and Tuesday sessions. Continue doing this until you reach 45 minutes. If you are doing 45 minute sessions then you might want to start changing the length of each session so that they are broken up — 45 minutes on Sunday, 35 minutes on Tuesday, 40 minutes on Thursday, 30 minutes on Saturday. Just keep playing with the strategy and remember that this is called the Experiment of One for a reason.

Have fun and get your cardio done!

Related Posts:

• Monday Madness: HIIT From Hell
• Monday Madness: Crazy Outdoor Cardio Spots
• Why You Need to Lift Heavy
• Monday Madness: Tabata for Fat Loss
• Cardio Techniques: HIIT Workouts for Fat Burning