Right Way To Do Cardios

How to make sure your cardio program is right for you?
The four components of a good solid cardio program are frequency, intensity, time and type. Frequency If you're happy with where you are fitness-wise, you should train three times a week for 30 minutes, with no more than two days between sessions. For most of us, we're not very happy with our fitness level so we need to train more. If you want to lose some body fat and increase your endurance, you should be doing cardiovascular exercise at least four or five days a week for 30 to 45 minutes.IntensityThe general rule is to train at 60 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate. Of course, that's a pretty big gap, right? Here are my general guidelines for target heart rate for intermediate to advanced exercisers: one of your workouts should be long (up to an hour or more) at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. Two of your workouts should be smack dab in the middle--about 30 to 45 minutes of cardio at around 70-80% of your maximum heart rate. One workout should be short (maybe 20 to 30 minutes) but intense...somewhere around 75 to 80% of your maximum heart rate. When you get up to 90% of your max, you're treading dangerous waters so be careful when you get above 80% of your max, and don't stay there for very long. Allowing some variety into your training intensity will allow you to build endurance without getting too bored or working too hard all the time.
Time
How long should you be working out? Again, general guidelines tell us that, for beginners, you should start with 15 to 20 minutes of cardio. You have to keep in mind that it takes at least 20 minutes of continuous exercise to kick-start your body's fat burning mode. The guidelines I mentioned above are more for advanced exercises than beginners...so what if you fall somewhere in between? You'll have to figure out for yourself exactly how long you can go. I suggest when you start a program, do your chosen cardio exercise for as long as you can. If you keep with it consistently, you can add a few minutes each week. For instance, if you're on the stairclimber at the gym and you can only do 10 minutes at a time, each week add 2 or 3 minutes to each workout. In no time, you'll be stomping away and really burning those nasty little fat cells!
Type
Now comes the hard part. What exercise should you be doing?? Another general rule goes like this; if you want to burn fat and increase endurance you want to do activities that recruit large muscle groups and employ continuous movement. Okay, so that would include anything from walking to jogging to cycling. Those types of activities are generally continuous and it's pretty easy to keep your heart rate at an even keel. When you do things like in-line skating and swimming, its a bit harder to keep your heart rate level, especially if you're a beginner. However, the more you practice, the better you get and the easier it is to get your heart rate up there. Then you've got the team sports, like soccer, volleyball and basketball. These kinds of cardio activities are more of a start-stop kind of thing, which gets into the anaerobic category of exercise.
The Bottom Line
Do any cardio activity you want...just make sure you like it and you can do it continuously for at least 20 minutes, and that you are monitoring your heart rate. May I suggest a heart rate monitor for the chronically lazy. The important thing is consistency. Whatever you do, make sure you do it often enough that your body can get some benefit from it.

Body Sculpting

Big and Lean Muscle MachineSix sure bets for packing in mass while staying lean.
1 LOAD UP ON LOW-FAT CARBS We all know we need to increase protein and carb intake for muscle growth and recovery to occur. The daily parameters are 1-1.25 grams (g) of complete protein per pound of bodyweight and 2.5-3.5 g of carbs per pound of bodyweight. When pushing the carb envelope into the 3.5 g neighborhood, switch to fat-free sources of protein, such as fish, egg whites, protein powders, skinless chicken breasts, nonfat cheese and nonfat cottage cheese.
2 DUMP CARBS AS FAT INCREASES To build trainloads of muscle, add red meat to your diet. Muscle-building red meat is high in B vitamins and iron. The need for omega-3 fatty acids -- responsible for enhancing glycogen formation, retarding muscle breakdown and promoting hormone production -- mandates eating salmon, steak or flaxseed oil four days per week. During those steak and salmon days, lower carb intake to 2.5 g per pound of bodyweight to prevent an increase in body fat.
3 OPT FOR SLOW-BURNING CARBS IF YOU'RE A HEAVYWEIGHT If you tend to be on the heavy side of the bodyweight equation, stick with natural slow-burning carbs. Yams, oats, rye bread, Cream of Rye cereal, peaches and apples all yield smaller insulin bursts, thereby helping to discourage the accumulation of body fat.
4 CHOOSE ANY CARB IF YOU'RE LEAN If your percentage of body fat tends to be low, you can chow down any type of carb. Leaner athletes release less net insulin than their heavier brothers and sisters. Less insulin means lower body fat. Bagels, rice, pasta, fruit and low-fat cookies are all legit.
5 INCREASE FAT ONCE EVERY 10-14 DAYS Did you ever eat an entire pizza or a greasy hamburger and surprise yourself with an awesome workout a day or two later? The fat may have helped you reap the rewards of your heavy labor. Occasionally bumping up fat intake actually upgrades the body's ability to store muscle glycogen. Take a break from the typical clean bodybuilding diet every 10-14 days and include higher fat foods, such as burgers, cheese, pan-fried steaks, T-bone steaks, whole eggs and bacon.
6 VARIETY EQUALS SUCCESS Alternating high-calorie and low-calorie days offers better results than eating the same quantity of food day in and day out. The same change-it-up-to-keep-things-fresh principle applies to training volume. After five weeks of dieting and training to get big and , bump up the number of sets you perform per bodypart by 50% for one week. Cut back your normal volume by 50% the following week.