What do you think about cardio for throwers?

Cardiovascular exercise is essential in every workout because it helps in ways most throwers would not imagine. Although many of us dislike it and think that weights are more important than cardiovascular exercise, there is a lot to be gained from a workout regiment that includes a healthy amount of it. As throwers, we sometimes overlook cardiovascular exercise because we are not built to do it due to our weight and lack of endurance. A simple remedy to this would be for us to find the cardiovascular program that works for us. There are many choices out there, examples include: Swimming; playing a game of basketball for 20 minutes; cycling; jogging etc. If you are heavy set, exercises such as cycling and swimming have less impact on your joints. If you are closer to a medium build, like myself, you can benefit from jogging a mile or playing a 30 minute pick up game of your choice. The main reasons to include cardiovascular exercise into workouts are as follows:

• Endurance and Stamina. Although many of us might think that only long distance runners can benefit from endurance. You will be surprised to know that great cardiovascular strength will help you stay sharp in competitions, especially long ones. Have you noticed that you sometimes get exhausted in a competition when it takes longer than you anticipated? A great way to be prepared for this is to be in good cardiovascular strength because it builds excellent stamina.
• Injury prevention. Another great thing about cardiovascular exercise is its ability to oxygenate out muscles. It forces our muscles to become more efficient at utilizing oxygen more effectively. Oxygenation of muscles also helps with recovery from hard workouts because they are more effective at utilizing oxygen and burning sugars. The better your muscles are at doing this, the less susceptible you are to chronic muscle related injuries.
• Overall Health. Being in great cardiovascular health will help you stay fit, which goes a long way to ensuring a great quality of life in the long and short run. You never know when you might have to run a long distance for any emergency situation and the better your cardiovascular strength, the quicker you can get help. Another benefit is that a healthier heart manifests itself as a slow resting heart-rate, which goes a long way to living a long and healthy life free of cardiovascular disease.
  

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think! or email me at 0a4w@virginia.edu