4 frequent mistakes in cardio

4 Frequent Cardio Errors

We spend hours and hours planning a weight training or bodybuilding program, we researched the latest and best programs, and when we got to the gym, we tried to choose and perform the best and most advanced exercises for each muscle area.

But when it comes to cardio? Bah. Cardio is cardio. It is a necessary evil that we have to bear at the end of a workout, and the variety or quality of it does not matter so much. What matters is that there is a television while we do it. True?

Unfortunately, this way of thinking leads many people to basic mistakes. Not only are they not making the cardiovascular training more effective than you could do, but they are also putting themselves at risk of injury. On the other hand, if you know and control the quantity and quality of the cardio you do, the benefits at all levels will be enormous.

Let’s review the most common mistakes among bodybuilding or bodybuilding practitioners when it comes to cardio training:

NEVER CHANGE THE CARDIO DEVICE OR MACHINE

When it comes to cardio (maybe even more than in bodybuilding) everyone tends to have their favorite machine . Maybe you like running, or the treadmill, or climbing stairs, or elliptical. Whatever it is, what is clear is that we return to it day after day.

Unless the choice is for reasons of injury or as a complement to a sport where it can benefit us (for example the exercise bike for cyclists), or because we have no other option. If we have the possibility to choose between different exercises, the ideal is that we use them all.

As your body gets used to the movement patterns of a particular machine, it adapts to them. This means that each day you will spend fewer calories to make the same effort. The variety in the machines will avoid the problem of adaptation.

Just as we try to vary between sets, repetitions, loads, exercises, etc … in our bodybuilding routine, we have to do the same with cardio. The body improves and works better if we subject it to different stimuli.

TRAIN STRONG IN THE MORNING

We have all heard of the benefits of training first thing in the morning for fat loss, and that high intensity training burns more calories than medium or low intensity training. The common mistake is to add both, and to think that if we get up in the morning and on an empty stomach and train cardio at high intensity, the loss of fat will be brutal.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work this way. High intensity training requires a large amount of glycogen that will not be available in the blood first thing in the morning and after 8 hours of fasting, this in addition to producing low performance in this training will cause us to have to destroy muscle to find that energy (the energy of the muscle is obtained more easily and quickly than that of the fats).

Instead a low intensity exercise will allow us to work even while fasting, since by requiring a lower amount of energy, our body can provide it by destroying fat.

There are some exceptions, when athletes or elite athletes are in a ketosis state and well adapted to it, they can train at a high intensity without glycogen deposits and using fat deposits, and without thereby reducing performance.

CARDIO TO COMPENSATE THE DIET

Many people use cardio to compensate their diet, if I eat more, I must train more on the cardio machine, for people who train bodybuilding or bodybuilding it is not beneficial to work more than an hour of cardio a day , and not every day. We could be injured or overtrained, and also muscle growth will be much more difficult.

We should plan cardio as a job, not as a way to compensate for excesses in our diet.

USE SMALL LOADS WHEN WORKING CARDIO

It is a habit among some people to do cardio with small dumbbells, for example doing biceps, or any other exercise. The benefits for fat loss are minimal, and for zero muscle growth.

We think that they are not harmful, but that it will be more productive if we focus our goal on working cardio with maximum intensity and efficiency. Quite different is the use of vests or weights in advanced runners, these elements increase the load or intensity of the cardio in general, improving energy consumption and therefore physical condition.