Cardio Types Explained: Steady-State, Intervals, and Everything Between

"Do more cardio" is common advice that skips an important detail — different types of cardio work toward different goals, and matching the type to the actual objective matters more than most members realize.

Steady-state: low intensity, longer duration

A sustainable pace held for a longer period — good for building an aerobic base and for members who find high intensity intimidating or currently unsuitable.

Interval-based: higher intensity, shorter duration

Alternating hard and easy efforts for a more time-efficient session, better suited to members with some existing conditioning who are short on time.

Match the type to the goal, not the trend

A member training for a long event needs different cardio than one purely focused on general health or fat loss. A trainer who asks about the actual goal first picks a far more useful type of cardio than one who defaults to whatever's currently popular.