Cardio, which is the short term of cardiovascular includes aerobic exercises that revitalize and strengthens the heart and lungs. So the question is how much cardio should I do in order to stay healthy? There are several cardio exercises and activities in our everyday lives. In fact, we can do a lot of physical activity by just staying indoors. You may jump on this website to check quality home gym equipment.

Aerobics help in burning calories resulting in weight loss. Combining aerobic exercise and different strength training workouts can do more effects on the body than just doing cardio alone.

Everyday Cardio

For beginners, a 3 to 5-day cardio workout is enough to start boosting your cardio activity. You may do a moderate exercise for at least 30 to 45 minutes. Afterward, it is recommended to add intensity and two more days of workout to your routine for a total of 5 days of physical activity per week. High-intensity strength training would require a shorter period of workout. For example, if you jog and use the treadmill alternately, you can reduce your training to 20-30 minutes per day.

Importance Of Cardio In Weight Loss

Achieving your weight loss goal by doing cardio would depend on your physical condition prior to beginning physical activities like your age, weight, diet, and daily routine.

The type of physical activity that you choose has an effect on the rate of your weight loss since each cardio activity has its own purpose and each one gives a different result. In other words, the intensity of the cardio workout is paramount, the higher the intensity, the bigger the weight loss.

Factors That Affect Weight Loss

• Age. Older people are expected to burn fewer calories than younger ones.
• Gender. According to studies, men burn calories faster than women.
• Weight. The bigger the weight, the more calories to burn.
• Daily activity. Simple daily activities like stair climbing can be considered as doing moderate cardio.
• Workout intensity. You can lose more weight by increasing the intensity of your cardio workout. Adding strength training to your aerobic exercise will give more satisfactory results.

Types Of Cardio Exercises

Doing cardio exercises will benefit us in so many ways, not only that it keeps us physically fit, it also contributes to the improvement of our health. It is essential to add cardio to our daily activities to prevent numerous heart and lung diseases. But what physical activities are considered as cardio and how can you benefit from them?

Below is the list of the most common aerobic exercises:

1. Walking. Walking for at least 3.5 miles per hour can help you burn about 314 calories. Beginners are advised to start their cardio exercise by walking to warm up the body and train the body without shocking the muscles. The elderly who are already having problems in working out can walk every morning to keep their muscles active.
2. Sprinting. Sprinting can be done outdoor, on stairs, or a treadmill. A 1-minute sprint can burn 20 calories, doing a total of 8 minutes sprint can help you burn additional 150 calories. This cardio is convenient in a way that you will not need any equipment and you can just do it anywhere. Sprinting in between your workout can help to increase your heart rate thus resulting in more calories burned.
3. Rowing. Rowing incorporates the lower and upper body. Weight loss can be achieved by rowing, this training is more effective if you keep your chest up and use force on the entire body including the legs. Moderately rowing for 30 minutes can burn about 210 calories while rowing with more strength for 30 minutes can burn 255 calories. Rowing can also be considered as strength training as you will have to exert an effort to strengthen the muscles.
4. Swimming. Swimming for an hour can help a person weighing 130 pounds to lose 413 to 590 calories depending on the speed. The calories burned also depend on the stroke used by the swimmer, the butterfly stroke for example can burn up to 649 calories for a 130-pound person and 1,024 calories for a 205-pound person.
5. Cycling. Biking or cycling for about 12 mph can help a 155-pound person burn 298 calories considering that they cycled consistently for 30 minutes. A person can burn more calories by cycling faster, however, you can combine slow and fast speed biking to achieve your desired amount of burned calories.
6. Jumping rope. This physical activity is one of the most important routines for boxers. Jumping rope helps in increasing foot speed and burns a lot of calories. A person can burn about 15-20 calories for a minute. Average people can jump rope for 15 minutes and burn 200 to 300 calories.
7. Running. This is a well-known cardio activity that speeds up weight loss. People who are not fond of doing sports and extreme physical activities resort to running most of the time. According to research, a 120-pound person can burn 11.4 calories per minute or a total of 114 calories for a 10-minute run.
8. Dancing. This cardio is great in keeping your body in shape because it requires the use of the whole body. Dancing can help you burn 200 to 400 calories for a half-hour continuous dancing. Zumba, for example, is a good way to start your dancing routine, this kind of exercise promotes a great environment supervised by a dance instructor.
9. Stair climbing. Weight loss can also be achieved by stair climbing. Constant leg lifting will be needed in this activity resulting in stronger legs. A person can burn about 0.17 calories for each climbed stair. A 20 step stair can help you burn about 3.4 calories. This activity can be quite hard for people who have knee and joint problems.
10. Kickboxing. This exercise can be done at home. It is a combination of boxing and karate that gives an excellent result. This is also a safe and good way to release stress and anger. A 125-pound person can burn at least 600 calories for a 1-hour training.

Health Benefits Of Doing Cardio

Our body can benefit substantially from doing aerobic exercises. Let’s list down how our well-being is affected by regular cardio.

• It improves cardiovascular health. Doctors highly recommend cardio to people who have heart disease. Exercise strengthens the heart making it pump more blood throughout the entire body. Studies suggest that cardiovascular activities help in lowering blood pressure and keeping the arteries unblocked. 40-minutes cardio for 3 to 4 days a week can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
• Cardio helps in regulating blood pressure. Doing physical activities balances the insulin level and blood sugar of our body while keeping the body fit. Diabetic people can benefit well in doing moderate cardio.
• It reduces asthma symptoms. Asthma is a chronic disease that involves an inflamed airway causing difficulty in breathing. Cardio help decrease the symptoms, frequency, and severity of the asthma attacks.
• Exercising can also reduce chronic pain. Low-impact activities like swimming and walking can help decrease certain chronic conditions such as back pain. It also helps in restoring muscle function and endurance.
• Physical activity can help in aiding sleep issues. A regular exercise routine combined with your pre-existing sleep medication can give you a more comfortable and complete sleep. Exercising before bedtime can make swift sleeping difficult, try to allot a 2-hour gap after your routine before going to bed.
• One of the main reasons why people do cardio is to lose weight. Losing weight could be more achievable with a combination of proper diet and regular exercise.
• It strengthens the immune system. Research proves that physically active people are less likely to contract a virus and common flu. This is because while they are working out, the body accumulates a number of certain antibodies which is essential in keeping the immune system strong.
• Working out improves brain power by decreasing the reduction of frontal, parietal, and temporal areas of the brain. This only means that physical activities are not only good for the body but for the mind as well.