Resistance training and cardio exercise can in fact co-exist. As a matter of fact, blending them together creates the perfect time-saving fitness session.
All you have to do is make a few intensity-amplifying tweaks for your existing strength workout and it can drive your heart rate, burn more calories and improve your cardiovascular health.
Start by getting more from your workout by following these six strategies that marry weights and cardio. You just might find you’re having more fun, too.
Vary Your Rest
The very first way to Boost the heart rate while strength training: Perform each movement back back with as little rest as you can — that is, while maintaining the appropriate form.
After the first round of resistance exercises, rest for 20 seconds. On the next place, rest for 15 seconds; and the third party, pause for a 10-second break.
As your body gets less and less time it taxes your aerobic system. Do take into consideration, because you can’t lift at max weight with this amount of collections, it is usually an exceptional goal for fat reduction, rather than strictly strength gains.
Hold Pictures In Both Hands
Instead of putting all of your effort into single-arm movements for exercises such as rows, curls or extensions, we advise you to pick up two dumbbells or kettlebells.
Then, go to work. Doing upper-body bilateral moves — such as bicep curls with both hands moving at the same time — increases your heart rate more than when focusing on one arm at a time.
Pepper in Plyometrics
Explosive movements — consider squat jumps and jumps workouts — are super effective and efficient for cranking your cardio, while building muscle.
To maximize the payoff of these powerful moves, perform at least 15 repetitions of each exercise. This can keep your heart rate elevated for up to 50 minutes post-exercise, according to one study.
Also, we recommend you try combining plyo’s with a strength and coordination movement to lower some of the jarring impact on your body.
For example:
Do a dumbbell lateral lunge, followed by a bear crawl, then end with broad jumps. Take a brief break before cycling through those 3 exercises again.
Lighten Your Load
A conventional strength exercise, you’d get a weight heavy enough that you can only do some repetitions for up to 45 minutes.
However, to reach the sweet spot where lifting turns aerobic, select for lighter weights that allow you to perform a set for one or two minutes.
You will possibly shed the weight altogether and work for longer periods (i.e. go from a weighted squat to simply bodyweight squats).Or, try and grab a pair of five- to eight-pound weights and perform a movement such as dumbbell uppercuts for one minute.