How Cardio Exercise Benefits Health

Cardio or Cardiovascular Exercise

Cardio or cardiovascular exercise is any kind of exercise that gets your heart rate up and keeps it up for a prolonged period of time while using large muscle groups of the body rhythmically and repetitively. Your body takes in more oxygen and your respiratory system begins to work harder. The blood vessels expand to transport oxygen to all parts of the body and in turn, the body releases endorphins that naturally ease pain and make you feel good about yourself.

        Here’s what’s coming up:

                           What are the types of cardiovascular exercise?

                           How Cardio Exercise Benefits Health?

                          Top 7 Cardio Mistakes to avoid

                          Create your own HIIT with the following cardio forms

Types of cardiovascular exercise

There are many types of exercises that classify under the cardio category. You can do the one you feel most comfortable with as long as you do 2-3 hours of moderate activity or 1.25 hours of vigorous activity every week.

Walking, power walking, jogging, running – these are the most common cardio exercises. People may do this at the gym or even outdoors.

Jumping rope – continuously jumping rope for about thirty or forty minutes and ensuring you do at least two or two and a half hours in a week is considered a good cardio workout. The best thing is that you don’t have to skip it even when you’re travelling.

Sports – playing high-intensity sports like football, basketball or even badminton is considered a good cardio exercise as it raises your heart rate and helps you remain agile.

Swimming – if you know swilling it is an amazing cardio workout. For those who don’t know how to swim but love water can take a kickboard and kick their legs through the water. It engages the legs and abs and raises your heartbeat to qualify as a good cardio exercise.

Boxing – is a high intensity sports and you end up burning about 400 calories in a short bout of 30 minutes.

Cycling – whether you do indoor spinning or cycling on roads, it’s a great cardio exercise. It also helps with better-defined leg muscles.

Hiking – though hiking is not a high-intensity workout it qualifies as a good cardio workout as you continuously walk through rough terrain with incline.

Rowing – using a rowing machine is a great cardio sport as it involves whole body movement as it gradually raises your heartbeat.

Hoola hooping – though this sport is considered girly, it is a great exercise as a lot of energy is used and it raises your heartbeat and helps you tone your abs like no other exercise.

Burpees – you tend to move your entire body while performing burpees and though it’s a moderate exercise, as you increase the reps, your body begins to really perform well.

Martial arts – any form of martial arts requires the mind to be calm and the body to be agile. It’s a great cardio sport as it raises your heartbeat, improves your lung capacity and helps you with self-defense.

Skating – though we feel that it’s pretty easy to skate, it requires great coordination and balance of the body and qualifies as a moderate cardio exercise.

How Cardio Exercise Benefits Health?

There are multiple benefits of doing cardio exercises.

• Improved heart health: Apart from raising the heart-beat, cardio exercise helps you build stronger muscles, improves good cholesterol, lowers stress and anxiety, decreases fats that may contribute to blood clots, prevent heart diseases and reduces blood sugar.
• Improved brain function: Regular cardio exercises help the regions of the brain that control memory and thinking grow in size. It also improves cognitive function.
• Improved metabolic rate: The entire purpose of cardiovascular exercise is to increase the body’s metabolism.
• Weight management: Cardio helps in burning excess calories and thus in controlling weight as well.
• Improved mood and energy: Cardio exercises help in the secretion of endorphins and mood-enhancing hormones like dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. You feel good about yourself, and also more energized. It also helps reduce stress, boost stamina, increase energy and better mental focus.
• Improved immune system: Regular exercise boosts the release of antibodies and white blood cells that help us fight infections.
• Helps in managing arthritis: Cardiovascular exercise helps in minimizing joint stiffness and reduce pain associated with arthritis.
• Improves your skin: Cardiovascular exercise increases circulation, which in turn leads to clearer, healthier skin.
• Improved sex life: Apart from improving your body image, regular cardiovascular exercise helps with enhanced arousal for women and decreased chances of erectile dysfunction.
• Improved sleep: Cardiovascular exercise tires your body and helps you fall asleep faster. Only ensure you don’t exercise close to your bedtime or you will be too energized to sleep.

Top 7 cardio mistakes to avoid

1. Overdoing in the beginning: Whether you’ve been a fitness freak earlier or are just beginning, overdoing in the beginning, is not a good idea. Build your stamina gradually.
2. No warm-up before workout: People tend to begin their cardio straight without any warm-up. This is a very bad idea for your body.
3. Stopping immediately after the workout: Some people go from speed 6 to 0 in a few seconds and then get off the machine. This is very bad for your heart and body in general. Always take time to cool down.
4. Doing steady-state cardio: Some people do their entire workout only at one pace. The issue with this is that this doesn’t challenge your heart rate at all which is not a good form of cardiovascular exercise.
5. Doing the same type of cardio routine each time: Our bodies adapt very quickly, so ensure you vary the type of machine as well as intensity.
6. Relying solely on gym cardio machines: While it is great to follow a routine, sometimes it’s even better to break the routine and cycle outside or go for a swim instead. Or continue doing your gym cardio, just include power walking or a class of Zumba with it.
7. Making cardio the focus of your workout: While cardio is a great exercise, it cannot help you alone to get a firmer physique. Include weight training and see how you get better results in a shorter period of time.

Create your own HIIT with the following cardio forms

We’re suggesting some forms, you can mix and match them and create a different routine each time.

1. Squat jump – at least 10 reps
2. Donkey kick burpees – at least 10 reps
3. Mountain climbers – 45 seconds
4. High knees – 20 reps
5. Kettlebell swing – 10 reps
6. Pencil jump – 45 seconds
7. Plank get up – 10 reps
8. Butt kicks – 30 seconds
9. Tuck jump – 20 seconds
10. Plank jacks – 20 seconds
11. Bear crawl – 10 reps 
12. Jump rope – 20 reps