Top 9 Cardio Myths

Somehow making their way into the mainstream, many of the bizarre ideas and beliefs related to working out — and, for some reason, especially cardiovascular workouts — couldn't be farther from the truth. If you have been led, or rather misled, by this kind of misinformation, you may be working yourself to the bone, but not getting anywhere. If you are not getting the results you'd expect from your workouts then something is missing. Are you following a practice just because your friend told you it should work, or are you basing your workouts on tried and true scientific methods? Here are a few of the most popular myths around cardio exercise. 
 

This is likely the most common of myths that you will hear around the gym. Let put this one to rest right away. Cardio exercise does not make you thin! Thinness — or, if you want to get more precise, a healthy body mass index with a low percentage of body fat — will be 85 percent the result of diet, and just 15 percent based on physical activities. Cardio is an exercise of the cardiovascular system, where the lungs work together with the heart to transport oxygen to needy cells. To get thin, you don't just need to move your body, you also need to eat well (and not too much) and develop your strength through strength training.

Another idea that is tossed around has stemmed from charts that you can easily find around the gym. They are sometimes posted on a treadmill or elliptical themselves, describing the “fat-burning zone” as a low intensity area, where the heart rate is moderate, and determined according to age. Unfortunately, in real life, the body does not function so mechanically. While the body can burn calories from fat in this low zone, the numbers are so miniscule that no physical difference will ever come from it. High intensity workouts which burn 3 to 10 times more in a single session will lead to far more fat burned in the long-run. That means that you can work out for much harder, to the point of exhaustion, but for as little as 10 seconds at a time, and get much better results. Why waste time, right?
 

While some people avoid cardio completely for fear of painful knees, hips, ankles or back, they may not realize how many forms of cardio exercise there really are. Not all cardio is high impact, though most of us thinking of running as the best cardio workout. Try alternatives like a light bike ride, learning a new dance a few times a week, or even swimming laps at a local pool. All of these are fantastic cardio workouts, that happen to be low impact but are often left out. Cardio exercise simple requires for the heart rate to be elevated for a consistent period of time.

The stairmaster is very popular among women looking to lift, firm and maximize their behind! While the glutes are hard at work while on the stairmaster, the nature of the exercise just won't help to noticeably grow the muscle in size. They may become slightly more firm over time, but muscle volume cannot increase as a result of the type of muscle fibers being worked during this endurance exercise.