Three Things You Must Do
By Sidney Wilson

Cardiovascular, Muscle, Endurance (CME) is the foundation of any good fitness program. Leave one out and you’ll deprive yourself of the strength, speed and performance your body wants to naturally deliver.

Let’s go through each one, and then put them back together:

Cardiovascular, pertains to your heart, lungs and blood vessels. People hear the word cardio - and think treadmill. But that’s too limiting. Single focus cardio activities like running, will get your heart rate up but deprive your body and soul of a larger set of cardiovascular benefits: a strong heart, normal blood pressure and healthy lungs that will lead you to a longer, more satisfying life.

The best cardio? Think Versaclimber, boxing, tennis, or swimming. Anything that gets your heart rate moving, while engaging your entire body.

Muscle is composed of fibers, the contraction of which produces movement in the body. Muscle forms the foundation of strength, helps you build size and tone. Muscles respond to fast to training, but they adjust and settle into plateaus if you don’t “change it up.”

The best muscle workout programs engage a constant combination of machines and free weights. My personal favorites? Isometrics and challenging myself with my own body weight

Endurance, unlike cardiovascular, is a measurement of how long and how hard you can engage in a full body workout, play a competitive sport, or climb a mountain. Cardio will pump up your heart rate, but endurance is what will sustain it. Good athletes have the stamina and the resolve to cross the finish line, keep a tough game going, or take on huge flights of stairs when the subway escalator is out.

To build endurance, put exercises in back-to-back groups with little to no break time in between sets. For example, do a squat while holding two dumb bells even with your chest. Evolve the top of the squat movement into a shoulder press. Follow ten of those with 10-15 pushups, followed by 10-15 bicep curls. If you’re advanced, complete the routine by pumping out 10-15 full sit-ups. Then do two more full rounds of your combined routine. Trust me, it will be the workout of your life.

If you’re going to take the time to exercise and get yourself to the gym, do it right and reap the greater rewards of a larger fitness approach that takes in cardiovascular, muscle and endurance training. You’ll burn more calories, gain more muscle fiber, shred more body fat, and get ripped more quickly.


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