People often ask me what the best equipment is to use for cardiovascular exercise. The answer is simple: any equipment that raises your heart rate and keeps to your target heart rate zone. So how do you find your target heart rate zone?



Firstly, the body has two basic ways of generating energy for your muscles in response to exercise. One is by a method in which your body uses oxygen to burn calories which provides fuel to your exercising muscles.

In this method, your body is most efficient in burning stored body fat because fat must have oxygen present to be converted into energy. Activities which use this method to generate energy are called aerobic. Examples are brisk walking and slow running. So, in doing these activities, you exercise the aerobic zone.

The second method in which your body fuels your muscles is without the use of oxygen. Here, your body primarily uses carbohydrates that are stored in the muscles to generate energy. Activities that require this quick burst of energy are heavy weightlifting and sprinting. Activities that cause this type of energy production are called anaerobic exercises.

Knowing which energy system you are using when you exercise is important if you want to maximise fat burning. When planning your cardio exercise programme, design it around the following three concepts:

Frequency

I recommend at least three sessions of cardio each week, but no more than five. This is ample exercise to gain the health benefits and burn body fat whilst giving your body recovery time and time for muscle growth. I personally do 4 cardio sessions per week as a part of my fitness programme.

Intensity

I suggest that you do your cardio exercise in the range of 60–80 per cent of your estimated maximum heart rate. This is called your aerobic zone and is where your body is most efficient at burning fat as fuel. Anything above 80 percent of your estimated maximum heart rate is going to tap into your anaerobic energy production system, which means that you will stop using stored body fat to feed your muscles. Use the following method to calculate your estimated maximum heart rate and your aerobic exercise zone:

Take the number 220 and subtract your age. This is your estimated maximum heart rate. Now take 60 per cent of this number to get the lower end of the range of your aerobic zone and 80 per cent of this number to get the upper end.

For example, I am 51 years old, so my estimated maximum heart rate is 220 – 51 = 169 beats per minute (bpm). Therefore, the lower end of the range of my aerobic zone is 169 bpm x 60% = 101 bpm and the upper end of my aerobic zone is 169 bpm x 80% = 135 bpm. So when I do my cardio exercise, I do it at a heart rate in the range of 101 to 135 bpm.

If you don't have access to a heart rate monitor, you can use the following to check your heart-rate. Take the lower and upper range numbers you calculated above and divide them by 4. This is your 15 second heart-rate count. Then, during your workout, stop and check your pulse for 15 seconds, to see if your heart rate falls between those 2 numbers.

Duration

It is my observation that you get the most benefit from your cardio programme, when combined with strength training. This applies if you do between 30 and 45 minutes, 3 to 5 days each week. Do the 30-minute sessions after strength training and the 45-minute sessions on the days you do not weight lift. Design your cardio exercise program around the three principles above and you will see a real difference in the way you look and feel. Most importantly, you will be giving your heart some TLC!