Smart Cardio For Strength, Mass, And Fat Loss

Cardio training should be part of everyone's fitness regimen, but that doesn't mean you need to put in hours on the treadmill, stationary bike, or on the roads. There are better ways to train.

If you're a typical guy who loves to lift big weights, but considers anything over 3 reps to be "endurance" training, you might not be interested in this article. However, if you can bench press a Buick but get winded when you bend down to tie your shoes, maybe I have an audience.

Look, we all do what we LIKE to do, but only the most successful among us find a way to also do what we NEED to do. If you think you're in the latter category, listen up. I've got a quiver full of fun, challenging, cardio workouts that help you lose fat without losing strength or muscle.

Why You Need Cardio

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that cardio will turn you into a wispy, estrogen-soaked shadow of your former self- too many guys use this mindset as an excuse to avoid what they know they should be doing. In fact, the benefits of smart cardio training are too numerous to ignore. They include: Read more

Unclog Your Arteries

Though it may be discouraging that it's not cheese nachos that unclogs your arteries, it's encouraging that something as simple as eating broccoli may prevent heart attacks and strokes.

This probably still won't encourage children to eat it, but the many healthy properties of broccoli include preventing a heart attack or stroke, say researchers.

A chemical found in the vegetable boosts the body's defence system to keep arteries unclogged.

Cauliflower, sprouts and cabbage can also keep the blood flowing freely.

They all contain sulforaphane, along with rocket, kale and pak choi, but broccoli contains the highest levels. Read more:

The Angioplasty Scam

Angioplasty is a huge business, but new heart research shows that exercise helps heart disease and increases survival rates more than angioplasty does.

At the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation meeting recently held in Barcelona, Spain, new heart research was presented that shows one treatment in particular can provide remarkable help for patients with certain forms of serious heart disease. It's not a new drug or surgical procedure. Instead, it's a natural therapy -- plain old-fashioned regular exercise. Read more

Be Good to Your Heart: Eat Peanut Butter

Peanut butter "wards off heart disease," scientists say.

Peanut butter sandwiches could be the secret to beating heart disease, says a study.

Snacking on peanuts or peanut butter at least five days a week can nearly halve the risk of a heart attack.

The nuts are thought to lower bad cholesterol, help reduce inflammation in the body and boost the health of blood vessels around the heart. Read more

Brief, Intense Exercise Can Benefit the Heart

In my post Don't Just Run: Sprint!, I explained that sprinting has cardiovascular benefits, just as traditional aerobic exercise does. Another scientific study backs up that claim.

Short bursts of high intensity sprints--known to benefit muscle and improve exercise performance--can improve the function and structure of blood vessels, in particular arteries that deliver blood to our muscles and heart, according to new research from McMaster University.

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The findings support the idea that people can exercise using brief, high-intensity forms of exercise and reap the same benefits to cardiovascular health that can be derived from traditional, long-duration and moderately intense exercise. Read more