Cardio For A Toned Body
Everyone wants to have a perfect body both for themselves and to please others. Nowadays, aesthetics are considered a very essential factor, especially among young people.
There are many ways to better change your body; nutrition plays a fundamental role, in fact, a healthy and balanced diet naturally encourages the change in body composition.
Another influencing factor is resistance training in the weight room, without neglecting cardio training as it positively affects your ability to burn stored body fat. Definitely improving your performance.
One tip is to integrate specific cardio workouts (LISS and HIIT) into your training routine. It is a great way to improve muscle and cardiovascular performance, burning stored body fat helps increase speed, power and strength.
If you want to be really fit, have a toned and lean body, you should combine cardio workouts with your usual weight room routine.
LISS Cardio
LISS cardio (Low Intensity Steady State) is a great way to burn stored body fat, it can be done by anyone, anywhere, anytime.
As the name suggests it is not very tiring on the body and can significantly improve your fitness, cardiovascular action and the ability to oxidize (break down) fat as a source of energy.
I suggest doing LISS cardio 3-5 times a week for 30-60 minutes, better if fasting (as soon as you wake up before eating) or after resistance training, this is because the amount of carbohydrates available is less, allowing you to work at 60-70% of the maximum heart rate (HRMax), which will allow you to use stored body fat as the main energy source.
To find the ideal amount of fat to burn, just fill in the following equation:
NOTE: example built on 27 years old Luca
220-27 (your age) = 193
60%=193 x 0,6=115,8
70%= 193 x 0,7 = 135,1
The amount of fat to burn is between 115 and 135 for Luca.
It is recommended that you take 10g of BCAA powder in the time interval between resistance training and cardio training to avoid muscle breakdown. Alternatively, you can take a measuring cup of Impact Whey Isolate healthiergang before training.
LISS & HIIT
If your physique is strong and not prone to injuries, then it is also possible to integrate a HIIT cardio workout, personally I prefer to do the LISS cardio workout on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, after resistance training and do the workout of HIIT cardio on Tuesdays and Thursdays with at least 48 hours of rest that helps maximize fat burned through EPOC (post-workout excess oxygen consumption) and allow my body and CNS (Central Nervous System) to recover.
As the name suggests, the difference between LISS and HIIT cardio is the frequency. HIIT cardio (High Intensity Interval Training) is much more tiring for the body but also more productive as it allows you to burn calories even up to 48 hours after training, improving cardiovascular conditioning, speed, strength and power.
Example card
Here is an example of a HIIT cardio workout:
- 10 laps
- 20 minutes of treadmill on an incline with maximum effort
- 60 seconds of recovery
Depending on your abilities, you can increase the times, increase the rest period between laps, giving yourself enough time to catch your breath after the 20-second sprint.
Conclusion
So if you do little cardio, it is recommended that you add a LISS or HIIT cardio workout to your workout routine, in order to burn more body fat and achieve perfect, toned and lean fitness.
You will also help the proper functioning of the cardiovascular system, also improving muscle performance by making the pumping phase of oxygen and nutrients into the blood, essential for the recovery phase, more efficient.
