by Deron Tross
“What should I be doing???”
The majority of people who start a workout plan for the first time think that to tone, firm, and lose weight all they need to do is cardio. Let’s face it, everyone walks. But are we all in shape? There is a reason every gym has more than just a cardio area. Think of your body as a car. Lets say your gas tank can hold 20 gallons of gas. Where do you get more miles to the gallon, in the city or on the highway? On the highway! Why? Because you are driving at the same speed. In the city it’s stop and go. You accelerate and then you have to break. It’s stop and go. What is resistance or interval training? Stop and go. When you do cardio, your body adjusts to what you are doing, can relax, and not spend a lot of energy. When doing resistance training, your muscles have to work the entire time. Adenosine troposphere (ATP) is the energy that makes muscles contract. Every muscle has ATP and it is limited. Once this limited amount of energy is depleted, body fat be convert to energy. To do this, resistance training needs to be performed first.
What is resistance training???
Resistance training is designed to get your heart rate raised for a short period (40 seconds to 2 minutes) and then allow you to recover for a measured time. It is interval training. This puts direct stress on your muscles causing them to contract. The muscles then have to react by producing enough energy to react to the forces placed on them. Resistance training increases your body density. By adding muscle, your body will burn more calories. Any good resistance program will include stability and balancing exercises also. This allows your nervous system to make the right connections between the brain and the muscles. Yes, both forms of training are effective if performed in the correct order! You have to make your muscles expend energy. You need to tax your body of it’s natural energy so your cardio training is more effective. Stay strong, stay fit!!!