How to Participate in Advanced Cardio Exercises

Advanced cardio exercises are intended to not only burn fat, but to increase muscle strength and cardiovascular endurance. It involves hitting a higher target heart rate and keeping it there longer.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Tennis shoes, gym clothes and exercise equipment

Participate in Advanced Cardio Workout Exercises

1. Drink water before your workout and continually during it. When you transition from a beginner's workout to more advanced cardio exercises, you will be working harder and your water intake requirements will increase.
2. Stretch even more than you used to. The importance of stretching as part of an advanced cardio workout plan can not be over-emphasized. Stretching helps prepare your body and mind for the workout and it will prevent injuries. Participate in yoga as an addition to your cardio plan to increase flexibility and muscle endurance.
3. Participate in an advanced step aerobics class or other high intensity workout. These classes can be extremely demanding and should be reserved for those who are already in fairly good cardiovascular condition.
4. Spin it out. Few workouts can match the cardiovascular intensity and muscle training of spinning. An hour of a high intensity spinning class can be an incredible workout.
5. Boost that heart rate. An average cardio workout for fat burning purposes should get your heart rate to about 60 or 70 percent of max. An advanced cardio workout geared toward cardiovascular endurance training should take you over 70 percent to 80 percent of max.
6. Add weight lifting exercises as part of your workout routine. Muscle burns more calories per pound than other tissue, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even while you're sitting around doing nothing.
7. Give your body extra time to cool down after an advanced workout. The harder you workout, the more transition time your body needs to avoid unnecessary shock to the system.
8. Craft an advanced cardio workout plan with the help of the experts at ChangingShape.com (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Many gyms provide a free session or two with a personal trainer when you sign up. This is a great way to design the right cardio training program for you and to get the most out of your workouts.
• Be careful of energy drinks before an advanced cardio workout. It's tempting to go after that extra boost, but mixing stimulants with hard core cardio exercises can be dangerous.