6 Most common myths about cardiovascular training (3 min read)

I’ve seen a lot of guys don’t practice cardiovascular exercises at all. When I ask them why they don’t do cardio the answer is…”I want to build muscle, I want ‘muscle size’. So I don’t need to do cardio at all it makes muscle loss.”

Okay. Cardio makes muscle loss.

But,

Only for the activity which lasts longer than 20 to 25 min. Cardiovascular Activities ranging from 10 to 25 min has a ton of benefits. And, it does NOT cause muscle loss as far as you do it with enough intensity.

What is the definition of cardiovascular fitness?

According to ISSA and ACSM, “The ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen-rich blood to the working tissues and the ability of the muscles to use oxygen to produce energy for movement.”

Means Cardiovascular fitness is actually aerobic (in which oxygen used as fuel) fitness.

In this article, I am going to bust some popular myths about cardio training.

Let’s dive straight into the topic.

Here are some of the most popular myths about cardiovascular training.

Myth 1. Cardiovascular training isn’t for everyone.

As said in the definition, cardiovascular fitness is the ability of heart and lungs to supply oxygen to the working muscle tissue where it is utilized to produce energy from carbohydrates and fats.

This function is critical for your health and if you don’t want heart and chronic disease than cardiovascular training is essential for you.

Myth 2. Weight can replace the cardio training.

No matter how strong you are or muscles you have or heavy you lift, it cannot help you recover when you get seriously ill. Though muscular fitness is important, cardiovascular fitness is also essential if you want to be healthy.

Both components of fitness should be addressed with equal attention.

Myth 3. Cardiovascular training improves only heart and lung capacity – Not muscles

Cardio training helps you in muscle building. Yes, this is true. Aerobic training increases the muscle’s ability to use fat as a source of energy.

In addition to that, cardiovascular training increases the number of capillaries which transports the nutrients to the muscles. Which means cardio training is necessary for your muscles to get bigger!

It also increases the specific enzymes in your muscles that are necessary to produce energy aerobically.

Myth 4. Aerobic fitness is achieved by raising your heart rate.

Actually, Aerobic fitness = good metabolic rate and oxygen consumption of muscle.
Heart rate is the only external indication of oxygen consumption.

So, high heart rate is not equal to cardio.
(So many people think that heavy lifting gives them high heart rate so they don’t need to do cardio. That’s not a correct approach.)

Myth 5. By playing sports you can achieve cardiovascular fitness.

Not true. Playing sports (tennis, cricket, basketball etc) DOESN’T give your metabolism enough amount of push to develop cardiovascular fitness.

Instead, the reverse of this is true. You need to be sufficiently aerobically fit in order to participate in any sport.

Other than that sports are good for fun and keeps you stress-free. But if you want to improve your cardiovascular fitness than you need to choose some real aerobic activities like running, cycling, swimming, rowing etc.

Myth 6. Your joints will be gone if you regularly practice cardio training.

Properly practiced cardio training will not give you joint pain.

When it comes to running you have to apply proper technique and foot placement.

Other cardiovascular activities like cycling, rowing, stair climbing and swimming are nonimpact in nature.

So cardio training is totally safe for you. My advice is to do different activities to stimulate different muscles groups of the body and will give you more benefits.

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