Do I Need Cardio?

Do I need to do cardio?

This is a question clients ask a lot. But the answer is, as always, it depends. Moving your body in some way, every day is vital for your health. But the kind of activity and the intensity is determined by your goals.

To give you a better understanding of if you need cardio (which we refer to as aerobic training) here the different types of aerobic training and the benefits associated with each.

Types of Aerobic Training

The method you use to train the aerobic system depends on your function. Thankfully there’s a type of aerobic training perfect for whatever your life calls for. The two main types of aerobic training are cyclical and mixed.

Cyclical uses one method, think rowing, running, or riding a bike. Mixed, short for mixed modalities, uses multiple methods such as biking, burpees, and jumping rope back to back.

Your fitness goals determine the type of aerobic training that's best for you. Do you do a lot of hiking? Then you should do cyclical training. Are you training for functional fitness? Then you should do plenty of mixed aerobic work.

The Benefits of Aerobic Training

Training the aerobic system has a host of benefits including moving blood and lymph, and enhancing detoxification and improving nutrient delivery. Aerobic training also improves the efficiency of the heart and lungs, lowers blood pressure, strengthens the immune system and aids sleep. 

Anaerobic vs. Aerobic Training

A common misnomer of aerobic training is that faster is better. Training at a very fast pace turns aerobic training to anaerobic training, another name for work at an unsustainable pace. Anaerobic training is a separate energy system entirely and training at this pace will not improve your aerobic system. An example of anaerobic training is HIIT (high intensity interval training). 

To see the benefits of true aerobic training you must keep the pace sustainable. Our mantra is, “Is this repeatable?” That’s why OPEX Coaches use intra-set and inter-set repeatability to ensure you’re keeping it aerobic.

We all can benefit from moving our body in some way, every day. But how we do it completely depends on our function in life. Find an OPEX Gym near you and we will determine the best way to train for your function.