Fitness trainers and other health and exercise coaches often prefer low to moderate intensity cardio training for people trying to improve heart condition or drop a few pounds. Recommendations often are something along these lines:"3-5 times per week, exercise 30 to 60 minutes while maintaining your heart rate at the target zone levelConsider recent scientific research which shows that steady pace endurance cardio work may not be the best option, so dont start running on a treadmill like a child on a moving walkway in the airport.Bursts of exertion followed by rest are what our bodies are naturally designed and evolved for. Stop-and-go movement is preferred instead of movement that is constant, which is known as physical variability. Recent research says it can be one of the most important tools in your training regiment, in building heart strength, immune system, anti-oxidants to fight free radicals and save wear and tear on muscles and joints.Animals demonstrate this notion best in nature, and it is humans that have come up with the idea of endurance sports or workouts. Running or cycling are the only sports that could be classified as steady endurance sports and most other competitive sports are based on stop-and-go movement, followed by rest, such as baseball, football or basketball, for example.An example of the difference the two kinds of exercise have on your body would be to consider marathon runners versus sprinters when it comes to physiques and their training programs. While most sprinters are lean, yet muscular and powerful, the typical marathon athlete is comparably gangly looking. It isnt hard to choose which physique you would rather have and it is obvious the effects that steady endurance training can have on the bodys shape. Physical variability is the effect of different types of exercise on the body and is something to be considered when thinking of the benefits of a workout routine. Scientists have known that greater than 60 minutes per session, numerous times per week, (which is considered endurance workouts), increases toxins and free radicals. These strenuous steady workouts reduce immunity system strength, cause inflammatory and degenerative muscle problems, and can lead to other illnesses and diseases.Highly variable exercise routines increase anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory products, which encourage a healthy cardiovascular system and a better metabolism to burn fat quicker. Endurance training, done in steady sessions, conditions the heart in a specific heart rate range, which is not an everyday functioning rate for normal conditions, so it is not well-equipped for the everyday stresses you may normally encounter.In physically variable workouts, the heart learns to respond and recover to a number of conditions, making it stronger and less likely to develop problems. Training your heart to rapidly increase and rapidly decrease, conditions it better to handle any number of conditions, if you want to think about it another way. Stress increases blood pressure and heart rate, so steady state endurance training, like jogging does not contribute much to the ranges of flexibility in conditions and strength that your heart needs to handle everyday stressors in your life. Because of the recovery or rest period between periods of exertion, variable cyclic exercises are superior over steady, cardio exercises that involve endurance. The body needs the recovery period to get the proper response when it gets done with the exertion phase of a fitness routine. Long, boring cardio training has higher drop-out rates because physically variable routines are just more interesting and diversified, so it is easier to stick with a schedule, which is another benefit.In summary, the benefits of variable cyclic training are improved cardiovascular health, with increased anti-oxidants, immunity system strength, reduced fatigue on the joints, while increasing muscle mass. It also raises your metabolism, to burn calories more efficiently and increases the hearts condition and strength to handle the stressors you are likely to encounter. Wind sprints are a good way to reduce your body fat and get more defined muscles. Its a great variable intensity physical training that offers the stop and go exertion pattern that other competitive sports like football or basketball have in a highly variable workout.Weight training is another good workout that includes short bursts of exertion followed by resting. Varying between high and low intensity on cardio equipment such as treadmills or bikes, is a training routine that uses the same principles in an interval training session, so it could possibly be adapted as a routine such as: 3-4 minutes at a fast walk to start out, or even a slow jog for warm-up * First minute - run at 8.0 miles per hour * Next minute and a half - walk at 4.0 miles per hour * Next minute- run at 10.0 miles per hour * Next minute and a half- walk at 4.0 miles per hourFor a very intense 20-minute routine, repeat the steps above 4 times.Train your body at highly variable intensity rates is the main point I would like you to take away from this article. The most beneficial heart health, fat loss, and muscle condition involve utilizing physically variable exercise routines versus, the cardio, steady endurance types of exercise programs that only condition the heart in a certain average heart rate range or zone.