a scientific review on when you should do cardio

Long read ahead, here's the article on when you should add cardio.

The answer is: It depends. (NOT AGAIN?)

Physiologically speaking, men tend to store more visceral (internal organs) fats while women tend to store fats around their hips and thighs. This means that men should be doing more cardiovascular activities to reduce risks of heart attacks and strokes.

Women, on the other hand, should consider strength training to reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

While men tend to dominate the weights corner of the gym more often than women, there is nothing wrong with it. If you are struggling with fat loss despite running for long distances, then perhaps it is time to consider increasing the frequency of strength training.

Truth: High volume of cardiovascular activity without ample recovery time will impede fat loss. Now back to our initial topic: you may adopt cardiovascular activities with 2 points in mind.

1. current training age

How long you have been training will affect the rate of progress. If you have been training for a long while, your body would have adapted to the current stress load that you have been giving it. This applies also to females who have been performing strength training for a period.

2. plateau

For someone who has been consistently training and eating well, adding cardiovascular activities will assist you with the extra percentage fat drop when you have reached a plateau.

Cardio activities need not have to come in the form of running, think:

- Inclined treadmill walking
- Long distance outdoor walking
- Skating
- Cycling
- Long distance swimming

Basically, choose movements that are gentle on the joints in the long term. If you are a beginner, you would most probably lose body fats and weight the moment you start adjusting food and increase exercise level.

For the advanced, you could consider point 2.

on recovery

What is your recovery process?

Most people think of sleep when we talk about recovery.
Let us not forget the other 'S', which is stress.
In this case, stress would be anything from mental to environmental stress.
Unless you are competing with an end goal in mind, you might want to think twice when adding cardio.

Another recovery factor would be Nutrition:
Is your body receiving the right nutrients before, during and after training?
How detailed are you in terms of tracking food intake?
How do you know that you are not recovering well?

Some common signs include:
1. You feel sore all the time
2. You lack motivation to workout
3. You toss and turn at night
4. Your resting heart rate is elevated
5. You are always in a bad mood

In summary, deciding whether to add cardio to your current training regime depends on your training status, recovery, and environment.

If you do not like doing cardio, then don't do it.

Why force yourself to do something that you hate. There are always ways to work around your goals.

The key is sustainability.