How Cardio and Anerobic Exercises Work

Some people may be wondering what cardio exercise is and what is the difference between all forms of exercises. There are basically two different types of exercises. They are aerobic and anerobic exercises.

The aerobic exercises require you to use so many body muscle parts and your body requires a lot of oxygen to do this. This is why it is called aerobic exercise. For example, jogging requires the use of your arms, legs, backs and almost all parts of your body. Another name for this is cardio because your heart and blood vessels are largely involved. If you want to lose weight, this exercise is the best type for you.

Anerobic exercises on the other hand only require small parts of your body like your arm or legs, and are very intense to the extent your body is deprived of oxygen. For example, bench press requires mostly the use of your arms, shoulders, chest and back muscles which is just a small part of your body. However, bench press is usually so intense that you tend to reach muscle failure much quickly than if you are jogging. This is why muscle failure is common in these kinds of exercises. The result of these exercises is usually muscle hypertrophy which are the big muscles you see in body builders. It is also known as resistance training. This type of training increases your lean muscle mass but does not do much to reduce fats. 

Whether you want to do cardio or resistance training depends on what you want to achieve. If you want bigger muscles only, you can go for resistance training, if you are more interested in losing weight go for cardio. However, most people combine both because during weight loss programs (like weight loss diets and exercise regimens), people tend to lose lean body mass which is anything that contributes to your body weight that is not fat. This include water and muscles. While many people don’t mind losing some water (because it’s quite easy to replace that), most people don’t want to lose muscle. Anerobic exercises (AKA resistance training) build lean body mass especially muscle. So, people combine both cardio and anerobic exercises because they want to retain their lean body mass while they lose weight. We will talk more about machines great for cardio later in this article. 

Benefits of cardio: 

Two major benefits of cardio are that cardio helps you lose weight and protects you from cardiovascular diseases (diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels) like hypertension and heart issues. Another less important but more attractive benefit of cardio workout is that it can help give your muscles a sexy looking tone. If you have been doing cardio for a long period, on a proper program, your leg muscles and arms will have a nice-looking, athletic tone. 

Machines great for cardio: 

Why do people need machines for cardio? Why can’t they just go out and jog or go cycling and enjoy the scenery of nature? Well, there are many reasons you need machine for your cardio workout. The first is that the modern world is a busy place and many people may not want to go outside for a jog. Cardio machines have been designed in many forms to accommodate our schedules.

Some even allow us to work while exercising. More so, the benefit you get from using cardio machines are similar to what you get for a normal outside workout. The second is that some people may not know how to do some outdoor activities like cycling because they do not know how to ride a bicycle. With a stationary bicycle, you get the same benefits from riding a bicycle without the dangers like falling off and having a broken wrist or ankles. Third is that they are safer than outdoor exercises. For example, if you go jogging, there are many variables out of your control. You could get mugged in an unsafe neighbourhood or hit by a carefree driver. You are not likely to get hit by a car in your own home. So, to some extent cardio machines are safer. Also, cardio machines give us more freedom to push ourselves.

We are not saying that outdoor exercises are bad, they are much fun and its nice to have a taste of fresh air. However, it is still nice to be able to workout when you cannot go outdoors or if you are so busy or if you live in a high-rise apartment in a busy city and you don’t think an outdoor exercise may be a good idea. Besides, pro athletes use these machines. 

Some machines you can use which are great for cardio include the treadmill which is one of the most popular cardio machines it is the equivalent of jogging, you also have the stationary bicycle which is the equivalent of cycling, the stair climber (or Jacob’s ladder) which is somewhat an alternative or a complimentary machine to the treadmill – It is  an equivalent of climbing up the stairs of a skyscraper, the elliptical machine the magnetic rowing machine and many more cool machines out there. We would advice you to check out the livin3 blog. It has lot’s of cool information on these machines and things you should look out for before you buy any cardio machine along with lot’s of cool information on cardio machines you can get.