Now, let’s go over some training routines you can use to improve your cardiovascular endurance (American Council on Exercise, 1996).
Continuous training involves exercising at a steady pace for twenty or more minutes. As a guide, you should stay between 12 and 16 on the exercise difficulty scale or between 60 and 90 percent of maximum heart rate (see Table 1-9). You shouldn’t become winded or breathless at any time. The exercise should invigorate you, but shouldn’t tire you out so much that you can’t keep going.
There are two types of continuous training: intermediate slow training and long slow distance (LSD) training.
Intermediate slow training: This type of continuous training involves twenty to sixty minutes of steady cardio exercise. Its purpose is to improve your health and develop good cardiovascular endurance. You should do between three to five workouts a week using aerobic activities such as walking, jogging, bike riding, swimming, rollerblading, or water aerobics. This type of training is a great choice if you want to get in shape or compete in sports and need a good level of cardio fitness so you don’t get tired at the end of a game or competition.
Long slow distance (LSD) training: This type of continuous training involves doing steady cardio exercise for sixty minutes or more. If you compete in long bicycle races, marathons, or triathlons, then this type of training is for you. The long-duration exercise overloads your body systems, which prepares you for the long-distance competitions. However, before you do any LSD training make sure you do at least six months of intermediate slow training to toughen up your ankles, knees, and muscles so you don’t get injured. Most endurance athletes perform a combination of LSD, intermediate slow training, and other cardio exercise routines about five or six times a week.
This type of training involves alternating between harder and easier exercise within the same workout. A certain amount of time is spent doing the more difficult parts of the workout (the “work” intervals) and a certain amount of time is spent doing the easier parts (the “rest” or “recovery” intervals).
There are two types of interval training: cardio (aerobic) and anaerobic.
Cardio Interval Training: This approach is a nice option if you are a beginning exerciser, have a low fitness level, or just want to mix things up and add some variety to your aerobic exercise. To do it, simply exercise on the harder side until you get a little breathless (the work interval) and then slow down to an easy pace until you catch your breath (the recovery interval). Do this over and over until the end of your workout.
The length of each work interval varies depending on how hard you exercise and how soon you become breathless. Likewise, the length of each recovery interval varies depending on how soon you catch your breath and recover. For most people, the exercise intensity should stay between 12 and 16 on the exercise difficulty scale or between 60 and 90 percent of maximum heart rate (see Tables 1-8 and 1-9).
If you are a beginning exerciser, keep the work intervals relatively easy. For example, you might do two- to three-minute work intervals at an easy pace followed by a two- to three minute recovery intervals at a very light pace. This sequence could be repeated five to ten times for a total exercise time of about twenty to thirty minutes. Gradually, as you adapt and improve you can begin to exercise at a higher intensity and go for a longer time.
Anaerobic Interval Training (Speedwork): This type of exercise is very challenging and strenuous. It’s called “anaerobic” because much of the energy to fuel the exercise comes from the energy pathways that don’t require oxygen. Many endurance and non-endurance athletes (swimmers, marathon runners, basketball players) use this type of interval training to increase their speed, power, and cardiovascular endurance.
During the exercise session the work intervals usually last about thirty seconds to four minutes, while the recovery intervals vary in length depending on your goals. The basic format is to exercise as hard as possible during the work interval, recover for a certain amount of time and then repeat the process over and over.
The main disadvantage of this type of exercise is that it increases the risk of injury since it puts a lot of stress and strain on your muscles and joints. So it is very important to build up the strength of your muscles, tendons, and ligaments before doing this type of workout. A good rule of thumb is to do at least six months of medium-intensity cardio exercise before moving on to anaerobic interval training. It is also crucial to do a thorough warm-up for about fifteen minutes (including time to stretch) before anaerobic interval training.
Cardio cross training involves doing different types of cardio exercises within the same workout or across a given week. A good example is to walk-jog fifteen minutes to a nearby fitness center, play tennis for thirty minutes, and then walk-jog fifteen minutes back home. Another example is to play basketball for sixty minutes on Monday, swim thirty minutes on Wednesday, play nine holes of golf on Friday, and go for a two-hour hike in the mountains on Saturday.
This approach is a great choice if you want more variety in your exercise program. It’s a nice way to fight boredom and avoid doing the same thing over and over. In a beneficial way, it lowers the risk of injury since you don’t work the same muscles and body parts in each workout. The exercise overload is spread out over your entire body, as you involve different muscle groups, joints, and body parts.
The main disadvantage of this type of training is that it’s not the best way to improve athletic performance. If you want to be really good at your favorite sport or activity, you have to follow the principle of specificity. Taking time out to swim instead of run is not a smart thing to do for a distance runner. Playing tennis instead of golf isn’t the best idea for a serious golfer. The best investment of time is to focus on one thing and do those things that will help improve performance in that sport or activity.
On the other hand, athletes can do cardio cross training when they are injured assuming they can still do certain types of cardio exercise. A distance runner, for example, might put on a vest and run in water or cycle on a stationary bike until the body has time to heal. This helps the athlete stay as fit as possible and get back in shape faster when the regular exercise program is started again.
Cardio circuit training is a type of cross training that involves completing a specific number of exercise stations in a given workout. Each station involves some type of cardio exercise such as stationary cycling, running around a track, treadmill exercise, elliptical exercise, rowing, or stair-climbing. In a given “circuit” there may be a total of four to ten different stations. At each station, you might do one to five minutes of cardio exercise followed by a fifteen-second break to get to the next station. Usually the beginning station is a warm-up and the last station is a cool-down. For most people, the exercise intensity during the other stations stays between 12 and 16 on the exercise difficulty rating or between 60 and 90 percent of maximum heart rate. The entire workout can last anywhere from twenty to sixty minutes. Cardio circuit training is great way to add variety to your workout, do a full-body workout, and improve your overall fitness level.