Benefits of Low Intensity Cardio Training

ARTICLE - Scott Falconer, Director and Exercise Coach discusses the benefits of Low Intensity Cardio Training.

Low intensity cardio training or LISS (low intensity steady state), is basically any kind of cardio training that raises your heart rate to a steady state for a set period of time. If you are new to your fitness journey, or are kick-starting it once again, LISS is a great place to start. It is also often underestimated when it comes to the benefits for your body, and weight loss.

I am asked everyday in the studio by people on the stationary bike “how hard should I go?” or “what should I get my heart rate up to”. These are things you should think about but there are many factors to weigh up when answering those types of questions. Age, current fitness level, health conditions, injuries, and medications are only some of the things that need to be considered. However, one thing is crystal clear - you do not need to be working at a high heart rate (80% or over of your maximum HR) for cardio to be beneficial.

At The Exercise Studio we like to include LISS in many of our client programs for a variety of reasons:

• While you are working the muscles, LISS causes minimal stress on joints within the body. Something like the bike or rower is perfect if you have pain in your legs through Osteoarthritis, or if you are just starting out.

• It is a nice way of slowly building up cardiovascular fitness without placing your heart and lungs under too much pressure.

• LISS can lower blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

• Lowers risk of diseases such such as cardiovascular, diabetes and cancer

• The risk of injury is lower with LISS

• It is social as you can often interact with others at the same time

• Exercises your brain (see infographic below)

• You can still burn calories effectively, albeit at a slower rate than High Intensity exercise

• The main fuel source during low intensity exercise can be fat. For the fat fuel source to be more effective, the longer you work in this zone, the better (50-70% of your max HR)

• LISS can help you maintain muscle

• It is great for mental health. Knowing you are exercising your body without many risk factors can be a great space to be in.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on the flip side, also has benefits, although it can come with some trade-offs. In HIIT, you can burn calories faster and your metabolic rate can stay higher for longer. Your anaerobic fitness is improved at a faster rate. Another benefit of HIIT is that a session can sometimes be completed in a shorter period of time, which can suit busy people who struggle to fit extra things into their day. However, a high intensity workload is not everyone's cup of tea - your body organs and muscles do get placed under more stress so you need to ensure you are trained to go through exercise at a more dynamic pace.

In summary, some of the benefits of LISS cannot be ignored. Where it fits is up to you, however it is a great starting point or alternatively, if your body is feeling tired it is a great go-to option to still get a workout in and still feel great afterwards . Even if you are used to HIIT, try adding some low intensity to your regime to balance your week out.

Let us know how you go. If you want to talk anything over, please just get in touch.

Have a good week.

Scott.

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