Adjusting Intensity

So why even bother with cardiovascular endurance exercise? If you enjoy it, that's one good reason to do it. Also, beneficial physiological adaptations happen in the body with this type of training that do not occur with weight training. Instead of just doing long, slow endurance cardio work, try to incorporate high-intensity cardiovascular endurance exercise into a strength training program to tap into the increased RMR that occurs after strenuous exercise. As a matter of fact, a research study of 33 college-age women who performed an aerobic circuit weight-training program backs up this approach. The results from the 45-minute circuit of 30 activities, including 5 × 3-minute aerobic exercises and 25 × 30-second weight training or calisthenic exercises, showed that the women improved their cardiovascular fitness, body composition, and muscular strength.

The most effective way to perform cardiovascular endurance exercise and get more benefits from it is to develop a plan that also incorporates elements of higher-intensity weight-training techniques. One way to do so is using a circuit like that described previously. Another way is to increase the intensity of your workout. Rather than running or stepping for 45 to 60 minutes at the same level in a steady state so that you can talk to your neighbor, cut the session down to 20 to 30 minutes and raise your level of intensity. You can't possibly do long, slow endurance exercise at your highest achievable intensity for an hour. If you think you can, then you aren't at the highest intensity you can attain.