Many people spend lots of time building muscle and thinking that this is the only important factor. Well, even the biggest muscle men need to take some time for cardio or they will find themselves unbalanced and lacking in stamina. Between days spent on the free weights, you should take shots at some basketball hoops, take a jog or go for a swim. Some of you may even already practice physical training along these lines, but do you know why it is so important?
Cardio can consist of any type of training that focuses on raising the heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time. The most obvious advantage is the increase in stamina. Have you ever practiced your shot for so long that your ball doesn’t even reach the basketball hoops anymore? That means your arms are worn out and need to be trained to perform for longer amounts of time. Your entire body is that way. Even if you only want to bulk up and look like Conan, extending you stamina will allow you to do muscle building training for longer without risking a drop.
It may not be the most obvious, but the most important benefit from including cardio in your training routine is the maintenance of the health of both your heart and lungs. If you are a smoker, stop. That advice aside, cardio is even more important for the smoker, because they are doing so much damage to their cardiovascular system. Doing vigorous cardio work for at least 30 minutes will help to clear out that junk that builds up in your lungs. It is not going to completely fix the problem, but every little bit helps.
The long and the short of all of this is, if you want to play with your grandkids and teach them the perfect shot to put the, proverbial, biscuit in the basket then work some cardio into your life. It’s hard to just explain how to put a clean shot through regulation basketball hoops. Make sure you have the stamina to show them how to do it at 70.
