Pushups are one of the most basic exercises to perform. They require no equipment and can be performed in a variety of ways to suit your individual fitness level. However, pushups are not a cardio or aerobic exercise. They are an anaerobic exercise that works to improve muscular endurance in the upper body.
What is Cardio?
Cardiovascular exercise, also referred to as aerobic exercise, primarily works to strengthen the heart and lungs. Aerobic exercise is long-duration activities, lasting more than a few minutes, requiring the use of oxygen for sustained performance such as walking, jogging or cycling. Anaerobic exercise is short-duration activities not requiring oxygen to fuel the activity such as pushups, weight training and sprinting. Anaerobic activities use muscle glycogen --- stored glucose in the muscles --- to create energy for the activity. However, a byproduct of this energy is lactic acid, which can build up in the muscles and bloodstream, making the duration of the activity last about two minutes, according of Jack H. Wilmore and David L. Costill authors of "Physiology of Sport and Exercise."
Muscular Endurance
Muscular endurance is the ability of a single muscle group or multiple muscle groups to perform repeated movements over a period of time until muscular fatigue is reached. Activities performed with a steady cadence of repetitions are all considered muscular endurance activities such as pushups, situps, pullups and lightweight or body weight squats. On the other hand, muscular strength is the maximum amount of force generated by a muscle or muscle groups such as a one repetition maximum bench press.
Circuit Training
Including pushups into a circuit training routine is one way to improve both your aerobic endurance and muscular endurance simultaneously. Circuit training involves you performing a series of exercises one after the other with little-to-no rest between exercises. This allows you to train many muscle groups in a reduced amount of time. Additionally, it taxes the cardiovascular systems because your heart rate remains elevated throughout the workout.
Sample Workout
Including cardiovascular forms of exercise into your circuit routine further stresses your cardiovascular system, as well as your muscular system. Perform strength exercises for 15 repetitions each and cardiovascular exercises --- cycling, jumping rope, walking and jumping jacks --- for two minutes each. Warm up for five minutes on a bike or treadmill before completing the exercises in the following order: dumbbell squats, pushups, situps, incline walking, lunges, close-hand placement pushups, bent-over dumbbell rows, reverse crunches, jumping jacks, straight leg deadlifts, military presses and biceps curl. Rest for one minute and repeat one to two more times.
References
- Military.com; Circuit Training - Lose Fat, Build Muscles; Stew Smith
- "ACSM's Health-Related Physical Fitness Assessment Manual"; American College of Sports Medicine; 2005
- "Physiology of Sport and Exercise"; Jack H. Wilmore and David L. Costill; 2004
Member Comments