- Cardio or aerobic exercise is important for fitness and overall health.
- No need to run for hours. Strength training also works if it gets your heart rate up.
- Shorter breaks, longer workouts, and explosive movements can improve your cardio using weights.
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It’s a myth that your workout routine should focus on either running or lifting weights. Experts previously told Insider that cardio and strength training complement each other and that incorporating both can make you healthier overall.
Good news for those who don’t like running. Get the benefits of aerobic exercise and increase your aerobic fitness without running.
According to world-record powerlifter, professional bodybuilder and coach Stan Efferding, certain types of weight training can get your heart pumping enough to count as cardio. Hitting weights can be less boring than traditional aerobic exercise.
“When I say I do cardio, that doesn’t mean I go out for a jog,” he told Insider. It’s not likely to do that, and it’s not fun.”
Adding cardio-focused strength training to your routine can help even runners and cardio athletes. Because building muscle also increases speed and endurance.
Shorter rest times between sets
Weight training is generally anaerobic exercise. In other words, it means doing intense exercise in a short time. The body doesn’t have time to take in enough oxygen for fuel, so it relies on glucose (the sugar stored in the blood) instead. As a result, anaerobic exercise can only be maintained for short periods of time.
Athletes often rest for a few minutes between sets of anaerobic exercise to give their muscles time to recover and build as much strength as possible for sports like powerlifting.
However, resting also lowers your heart rate. Exercise becomes aerobic when your heart rate increases and you maintain a higher heart rate long enough for oxygen to fuel your exercise. Aerobic exercise makes you breathe harder, but you can sustain the effort for longer (based on your maximal oxygen uptake or ability to use oxygen effectively).
One strategy for turning weight training into cardio is to shorten rest periods. This allows your body to function more consistently over time instead of alternating between strength and recovery.
“It’s all about training hard enough to keep your heart rate going,” Efferding said.
Less rest means you can’t lift that much weight, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
By incorporating a variety of training styles, you can build your overall fitness. This is what Efferding calls “general physical preparation.”
Combining strength and aerobic exercise has been shown to provide the greatest health benefits, extending life and reducing the risk of diseases such as heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Try longer workouts with lighter weights
Another way to turn your weight workout into aerobic exercise is lifting light weights for long periods of time, like an AMRAP-style workout.
The goal is to keep moving at a steady pace, Dominick Fortino, trainer and owner of Dutch Kills Fitness, previously told Insider.
A major benefit of long workouts for athletes is learning how to pace themselves and maintain high intensity without quickly becoming exhausted.
Pacing workouts not only build stamina and endurance, they help you better understand your body’s capabilities so you can get the most out of your training.
However, it’s important to make sure you’re lifting the right weight for your goals, aiming for something challenging that you can maintain throughout your workout. And you’re wasting your time and not getting the benefits of strength training, personal trainer Miriam Freed previously told Insider.
Incorporate Explosive Exercises
Certain weight exercises can also rapidly increase your heart rate for aerobic benefits. Fast, full-body moves like hang power cleans, kettlebell swings, medicine ball throws, and thrusters are great options.
Plyometric exercises such as squat jumps, burpees, box jumps, and tuck jumps are not weighted, but they can increase your heart rate while building strength. Mixing them into your weightlifting workouts will get your heart and lungs working, helping you complete your workouts and improve your stamina and overall fitness.
Finally, activities like rowing and continuous kettlebell exercises can help improve endurance, but they can build muscle more effectively than running.
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