If you’re looking for an advanced and highly effective new strategy to try next time you’re in the gym, then look no further than ‘cardio acceleration’. This is a form of training that will help you to burn more fat, build more muscle and save a ton of time while you work out. Read on to find out more but bear in mind the caveat that, like all things, it is not going to be suitable for everyone.
What is Cardio Acceleration?
The basic idea behind cardio acceleration is simple: perform a regular resistance (weights) training session but replace all of your ‘rest periods’ with cardio. Normally at a high pace, say 80% of your maximum output. This should last for about 1 minute before you return directly to do more repetitions of the exercise you were doing.
Why it Works
Cardio acceleration works because it keeps your metabolism and circulation high throughout your session. This means that as you’re lifting weights, you will be fueling your muscles with more blood and more oxygen which will help you to perform more repetitions. After your work out, you’ll then have improved circulation for your hypertrophy – meaning that your muscles will receive all the nutrition they need just when they’re trying to grow. Meanwhile, the act of doing cardio in short intense bursts like this is very similar to HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), so you’ll be burning more calories than if you just did 10 minutes of cardio in one go.
And you’ll be making more efficient use of your rest periods, so you’ll be more likely to finish your gym session quickly.
Why it’s Not for Everyone
Good though cardio acceleration is, it certainly is not for everyone. For bodybuilder types for instance, rest periods are better used with more resistance training. If you do lots of drop sets or supersets, then your training will not be well suited to cardio acceleration.
What’s more is that this type of training is not very ‘fun’ and is highly taxing. If you struggle to stick at training programs, then this one is not for you!