Going Steady: Reasons Why You Should Consider Adding Steady-State Cardio to Your Fitness Plan
1. You Will Recover Faster
If you hit every workout like you’re killing snakes you may be leaving out an important component of your routine – recovery! The effects of a workout don’t stop once you leave the gym, and that unearthly tired feeling might not either. Too many HITT and strength training workouts won’t spur recovery; and might actually result in over-training. Moderation is the key. Try low- to moderate-intensity workouts to help increase blood flow to damaged muscle tissues and boost your recovery. Giving your body an easier steady-state dayallows you to come back even stronger on the harder days.
2. You Will Maintain Muscle Mass
Steady-state cardio is essential to include in your routine because it keeps you actively moving, burning calories, and conditioning your heart so it’s prepared for all types of activity including your interval training, sprint training and strength training. Aerobic training spares lean body mass.
3. You Will Burn Calories
If you’re someone who leads a relatively sedentary lifestyle—and typically goes from sitting at a desk to sitting on your couch—adding in some form of daily cardio is a wise move. But you might not be ready for HIIT. It’s OK to scale things down and you will still see results. While you won’t get the same post-workout calorie burn from moderate intensity, steady-state cardio as you would an interval sprint session, you’ll still burn a decent number of calories—and they do add up.
4. You Will Build Up Your Aerobic Fitness
Steady-state cardio brings more benefits than burning calories. It’s great for developing your aerobic fitness level and increasing your cardiovascular endurance for real life activities like hiking, cycling or skiing. Endurance is important for athletes of all levels, because it helps you push through difficult workouts and is good for heart health.
5. You Will Stick With It
Sometimes a fitness plan comes down to one simple question: Are you going to stick with it? While interval training might be the superior cardio modality for fat loss, if you absolutely hate sprint training, what good does it do you? Are going to keep up with a workouts you dread? The less you fear—or better yet, look forward to—your daily sweat session, the more likely you are to make it routine. This isn’t to say you should never do an exercise that doesn’t top of your list of favorites, but if you despise every second of a training consider switching things up.
More Reasons for Steady State Cardio! Don’t Forget the Metabolic Changes Happening That You Can’t See or Feel!
• Increases blood HCL (good cholesterol)
• Decreases glucose and insulin
• Decreases resting blood pressure
• Decreases body fat percentage
• Increases bone density when exercise is weight bearing
• Decreases risk of type 2 diabetes
• Decreases risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease and some cancers