What’s with all the cardio?

Gunnar knows what he’s talking about, so if he says “do cardio to lose weight,” we jump to it. But it’s always interesting to dig a bit deeper into the training ‘whys’ (at least we think so), so here’s a low-down on the different types of cardio you’ll see in your planner – and how they’ll get you amazing results.

Steady state cardio

Like the name suggests, steady-state cardio is simply a cardio workout with a continuous steady effort and speed for an extended period of time – usually over 20 minutes long. Think of activities like walking, running, cycling and rowing.

Ideally, the effort of steady-state cardio is around a six to eight out of 10 – with 10 being a big effort – sitting you roughly at 65-85% of your maximum heart rate.

Why does this matter? Because sitting at 65-85% of your maximum heart rate is an ideal fat-burning training zone. By including steady-state cardio in your planner, often in place of a rest day, you’ll be burning fat and exerting additional calories along the way. It’s an absolute win for your weight loss journey.

In addition to firing your metabolism’s ability to burn fat, steady-state cardio also improves aerobic endurance and can strengthen your body for higher intensity training.

Cardio from resistance exercises

Surprise! You will be getting a cardio reaction from resistance exercises in your planner, too. You probably thought that strength exercises were just, well, exercises that helped you gain strength. But there’s more to them than that.

When you complete compound resistance exercises (i.e. strength movements that use more than one muscle group at a time), your body needs to supply more oxygen to those muscle groups in order for them to work efficiently. Oxygen travels through your blood, your heart pumps the blood around your body to get to the working muscles and this elevates your heart rate.

Why is this a good thing? Two reasons – number one, you are gaining lean muscle from the strength exercises. Gunnar knows how important this is. “Muscle is an active tissue so when you have more muscle, you burn calories at a higher rate all the time, not just during a workout.” he says.

And number two, you are burning calories due to the cardio effort needed to complete the exercises. Boom! Hello, weight loss goals.

Interval training

It doesn’t stop there. Your Gunnar planner also includes some high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for a faster paced cardio workout.

HIIT is based on putting as much effort into an exercise as possible for a short amount of time, then resting for a short amount of time before doing it again.

The quick, intense exercise bursts of HIIT will challenge your body, creating a metabolic response that burns more calories. The challenge of HIIT also gives your body something to recover from when it’s finished, meaning the calorie burn will continue once your workout is over, while your body is returning to its pre-exercise state.

Yep, that’s even more calorie burn for your buck thanks to interval training!

Expect to see treadmills, bikes, steppers and elliptical machines in your workouts, but don’t worry if you don’t have these available to you. Your program has a selection of alternate options, too, including jumping rope, jogging or marching on the spot, using your home stairs or going out for a walk/run.

We can’t wait for you to shake up your exercise routine and add variety to your training – it’s one of the best ways to fast-track results, forcing your body to step outside of its comfort zone and adapt to new movements and challenges. Plus, we can guarantee you won’t get bored!