Cardiovascular Training during your bodybuilding workouts - fat loss that's good for the heart!

Bodybuilder or not, no one who's playing with a full deck wants to be carrying excess body fat. While weight training and dieting play major roles, to maximize fat loss you should also be doing some sort of cardiovascular training (more affectionately known as cardio) to compliment your bodybuilding workouts.

Cardio, can be defined as any continuous exercise that increases the heart rate to what exercise physiologists call the target heart range. You can calculate your target heart range by using a formula that takes into account your age, resting heart rate, and approximate fitness level. It is important to note that the general guidelines for calculating your target heart rate are only a guide. Many other factors such as family genetics, medical conditions, and even common medications, also play a role in determining the best level to workout.

Cardiovascular training can take many forms. You can walk, bike, run, swim, cross country ski, or attend aerobic classes. Another way to effectively vary your cardio training is by cross-training. Cross-training involves alternating various different types of exercises in one exercise session. No matter what you do, the primary objective is to raise your heart rate to your target heart rate zone, keep it there for 25 to 30 minutes, and to do this for at least three times per week. Make sure that if you are doing an activity like swimming or running, that your skill level is sufficient enough to allow you to maintain your heart in the target heart rate zone. Start/stop activities, such as tennis, hockey, bodybuilding workouts, and basketball, are great workouts, but do not provide continuous time in the target heart range. Therefore they have limited cardiovascular and fat loss benefits.

Calculating your Target Heart Range

Exercise provides the most benefits when the heart has been challenged, but not overstressed. The best way to do this is to bring your heart up to a range that is between 60% and 85% of its maximum heart rate. The maximum heart rate refers to the approximate level after which there is the potential for danger to the individual because the heart is being overworked. Maintaining this exercise level is both difficult and dangerous and will cause fatigue within minutes. Below this and within the target range, the heart is strengthened and made healthier. The target heart range can be calculated as follows: 1. Subtract your age from 220 to get your maximum heart rate.

2. Multiply your maximum heart rate first by .60 (60%) and then by .85 (85%). This will give you your target heart range.

if you are 30 years of age, the calculations would look like this. 220 - 30 = 190, then 190 x .60 = 114 and 190 x .85 = 162

For practical purposes, the average of these two numbers is a good value to strive for. In the previous example the average is 138 beats per minute.

Now you calculate your own target heart range: 220 - _________ = _________ x .60 = _________ _________ x .85 = _________ This is your Target Heart Range.

How much and how often?

In order to gain the fat loss benefits of cardiovascular training, you should do sustained activity of the large muscle groups for a minimum of twenty to thirty minutes at least three times per week. Four to five is optimum but three times is adequate to improve your cardiovascular health.

When Should I do my Cardio?

You have four options when it comes to doing your cardio workout. The simplest options are to do your cardiovascular training immediately before or after your bodybuilding workouts. Most people choose one of these options, as it means only one trip to the gym. While some people claim that you should do your cardio before your strength training, we don't think this is necessary. You will receive the same cardiovascular benefits by finishing off your workout with cardio (just make sure you do a light warm-up before your strength training).

The third and fourth options are to separate your cardio and weight training workouts, either on the same day or opposite days. The advantage to this is that you will only be performing one form of exercise when you come to the gym. You will not have to worry about running out of energy during either your cardio or strength training workout. The disadvantage to this type of training is that you will need more time, as you'll have to factor in the commute to and from the gym. Still, for those who have the extra time and prefer shorter workouts, splitting your training is a great option.

Bob Howard expert on bodybuilding and steroids. Are you looking for more of his bodybuilding articles? http://www.bodybuildinginformation.com bdkosh?Article ? Bob Howard 5/5/2006

Natural Bodybuilding Superior To Steroids

Bodybuilding enthusiasts and athletes looking to gain an inside competitive advantage constantly battle with the temptation to take steroids or not. Deciding to body build naturally is much better than taking the steroid route. There are a number of good reasons to support this statement.

First off, have you ever seen what happens to a bodybuilder when they go off muscle enhancing anabolic steroids? Two words that muscle building enthusiasts never want to hear, atrophy (get small), and strength lose. The fact is a steroid induced bodybuilder shouldn't stay on steroids day in and day out for years on end. It is suggested to cycle your administration, say, 6-10 weeks at a time, and then go off for an extended period of time before starting again. Weeks following going off tend to equal muscle atrophy, decreased strength, and even depression.

Natural bodybuilding may not elicit that huge, rapid spike in muscle growth in a super short time, but illustrate a long term, stable growth curve. It may take longer to develop muscle strength and size, but when you have it, you have it as long as you keep training at an intense level. However, as witnessed many times by former steroid users, a rapid shrink in size and strength occur to levels sometimes below the natural bodybuilder's production. How much fun is that?

Take, for instance, a professional baseball player who administers generous amounts of steroids one year and hits 58 home runs, but is only able to hit 16 during his next, steroid free season.

Since we all want instant results, steroids may be attractive, but the medical side effects don't quite seem worth it.

Is adding ten pounds of muscle more important than increasing heart disease risk, cancer risk, or manipulating your natural hormonal balance? This question is only for you to answer, not me. In my opinion, the risks far outweigh the benefits which are only visible when you are taking steroids. Size and strength quickly decrease after ceasing steroid use.

Steroid users seem to have a greater risk of injury from the muscle tissue growing faster than the, trying to adapt, connective tissue. The workloads are more aggressive, more frequent, and with faster muscle building recovery times. Once again, do you want the injury prone "quick fix," or the slow, but steady wins the race approach? Just remember, the natural bodybuilder will probably show better results compared to the steroid user who has not used steroids in years. Are all the health risks worth it?

Anabolic steroids are illegal if not administered by a physician. I known people who have died, and even been thrown in jail for using, and selling anabolic steroids. It just doesn't seem worth it to me.

There can also be a sense of addiction for the non-natural bodybuilders. The performance enhancing, drug user gets a very good feeling when their bodies are pumped up and buff. However, the opposite happens when they stop the steroids, and the muscle shrinking process begins. Imagine the feeling these athletes get. Their body image quickly erodes, and thoughts of the next muscle producing cycle are rolling around in their heads.

Aside from the health, and legal risks, it also costs quite a bit of money to take muscle enhancing drugs.

Hopefully, I convinced you to not take the performance enhancing pathway, but to use your resources, and energy into training smarter. If you are a natural bodybuilder, and want an advantage, you must train in an intelligent manner. That means providing the proper intensity of muscle producing stimulus, followed by adequate rest. The natural bodybuilder must pay extra close attention to sound training practices, in order to continue that gradual, continuous climb up the muscle development ladder.

Just remember to be patient and think long term results, not quick, short term, hi-risk muscular development. If you make a chart listing all the positives versus the negatives when it comes to natural bodybuilding versus steroid induced training, the natural bodybuilding positives far outweigh the drug induced positives. Therefore, in my eyes, natural bodybuilding is a much better training system than anabolic induced bodybuilding.

***** Attention: Ezine Editors / Website Owners ***** Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your eZine, Blog, Autoresponder, or on your website as long as the links, text, and resource box are not altered in any way.

Jim O'Connor- Exercise Physiologist

Wellness WORD, LLC 9461 Charleville Blvd. #312 Beverly Hills, CA 90212 1-866-935-5967 http://www.naturalbodybuildinginfo.com/bodybuildingfeatures.html

Jim O'Connor is a Beverly Hills celebrity fitness trainer who teaches the natural bodybuilding lifestyle. Discover all his training secrets by visiting http://www.naturalbodybuildinginfo.com/bodybuildingfeatures.html

Women Bodybuilding For Beginners

With the current craze of the Atkins diet women are finding success fitting into clothes that they couldnt fit into for a while. Without a doubt the Atkins diet works. Unfortunately the diet doesnt help muscle tone or the cardiovascular system. Now with the fat that was covering the underlying muscle melted off,. you would like to see these muscles toned up. Why not try bodybuilding? You probably have some questions why you should start bodybuilding. I listed below some of the questions I have been asked over the years. Hopefully this will answer your queries.

Question 1

If I start bodybuilding will I develop huge muscles and have to quit my job as a dental hygienist? Im not looking forward to becoming a longshoreman and working on the docks and changing my name to Butch.

No. A woman does not have the testosterone levels as a man to build huge muscles. The bodybuilding training will only tone muscles and add shape.

Question 2

Will I have to 2nd mortgage the house so I can buy supplements to support my bodybuilding endeavors?

No. Just follow a natural well-balanced eating plan.

Question 3

Can I build a larger chest with bodybuilding?

No. But you can tone the underlying muscles of your chest which will help enhance your appearance.

Question 4

Do I have to join a gym?

No. You can workout at home buying some dumbbells and simple equipment. But it is helpful to train at a bodybuilding gym. It is great to be in an atmosphere where everybody else there is working towards the same goals as you.

Question 5

Do I have to commit a lot time to bodybuilding?

No. 3 times a week 1-hour sessions are all you really need to keep toned.

Question 6

Do I have to yell really loud when lifting weights or grunt like the guys at the gym or expel deadly gases while working out?

No. Please no. I was parking my truck in the parking lot of the gym I own in Northern Wisconsin and I heard a guy yelling from inside the gym. I thought he was hurt from the ear-splitting roar. After getting inside I found him finishing a set of wrist curls.

I hope this will answer your questions if you are interested in starting bodybuilding. It is a great individual sport. And you can choose the level you want to be at. From a recreational bodybuilder to a highly competitive bodybuilder that competes at shows. Hopefully this article will be a start of a series of women bodybuilding for beginners. Please join the newsletter on the www.nature-boy-bodybuilding.com site to keep informed of new articles in the future. If you have any questions about bodybuilding please dont hesitate to e-mail me at natureboy_bodybuilding@hotmail.com. Please be sure to check with your doctor before starting a bodybuilding program.

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Feel free to publish this article in your e-zine, your newsletter, or your web site, as long as resource box and by-line is included.

A courtesy copy of your publication will be appreciated. Please, email to natureboy_bodybuilding@hotmail.com Thank You.

The author, Kevin Doberstein is a writer for www.nature-boy-bodybuilding. The site is dedicated to natural bodybuilding and preserving nature and wildlife. Water, forest, soil and wildlife conservation is paramount to Nature boy. You can contact Nature boy at natureboy_bodybuilding@hotmail.com.

Gym Equipment For Total Body Fitness

Exercise can literally make you feel better mentally and emotionally and you can often train even if you have some health problems or injuries. For example if you have arthritis or stress fractures you can still use elliptical equipment to exercise and maintain muscle mass. And you can exercise at home in relative ease if you have the equipment for it.

It can be tuff to get started and you simply need to find your inner motivation for using the exercise equipment. Well, don?t feel too guilty, people often make resolutions to begin a proper exercise routine and find that they slack off in a few weeks. If you set specific days for the training it often work better and after some time you get kind of addicted to training.

Even if your gym might have some of the newest and greatest exercise equipment available there are great alternatives to gym training. In fact, aerobic exercise is far more effective at helping you lose weight then strength training, although a home gym can help you build up your muscle mass which can accelerate your weight loss in addition to the aerobic exercises that you do.

Whether this comes in the form of housecleaning for an hour or strength training at the gym, it is a fact that exercise keeps your muscles strong, your heart strong, and your body in shape. If you haven?t been involved in weight strength training in the past, it is really easy to get confused by all the different kind of home gym equipment that is on the market today.

Try to get some good guidance and training before you undertake using free weights to make sure you are doing it properly. If you decide to go this route, it's a good idea to invest in a training program that will show you how to use your equipment properly and avoid injury.

Most home gyms are usually strength training machines that provide a structured way of performing each exercise. The benefits of strength training are many and well-documented, and they can be very useful for overall body conditioning

When you look at gym equipment, you can pick out some of the most useful and flexible machines and tools, and separate them from the gimmicks. Many users of home gym equipment have or use multistation pieces that allow them to workout on several types of machines in one, for example the Bowflex. There are also multiple weight machines to use each one focusing on a different muscle.

The home gym equipments generally falls into two major categories, the first being home gyms that use rods or bars to create resistance, and the second being strength training machines that use a weight stack or plates. Both categories have advantages and do not hesitate to use a machine with weight stack or plates. It is good training to do that job as well.

Keith George always writes about valuable news & reviews. A related resource is Home Gym Equipment. Further information can be found at Mortage Rates & Mortgage Cycling.