Have you ever made a run of few meters or climb few steps and felt like you are out of breath? or have irregular heartbeats that feel rapid and pounding? that’s a sign of a poor or unhealthy cardio vascular system. This is where the importance of cardio exercises can be vital because it can be the first step to improving our health and making our cardio vascular system stronger.

Cardio exercise is any exercise that raises your heart rate and improves the function of your heart, lungs and circulatory systems. see also most-effective-fat-burning-home-exercises. If you have just started your fitness journey and you don’t know which exercises are cardio exercises, then it’s Ok, we will outline those activities you can do either at home or in the gym or just out that will help boost your system and improve drastically in your health.

Cardio exercises or workouts

A. Walking: This is the best way to start your cardio exercise journey, It is easy, safe and cost free. You can increase the speed base on your health and fitness levels

B. Swimming: It is one of the best cardio workouts and more importantly, it is a full body workout exercise.

C. Running: It can either be long distance running or sprints, both are good for cardio and weight lose as well. Just go to the rhythm that best suits your needs and capabilities.

D. Cycling: It helps elevate your heart rate and can be done either indoors or outdoors.

E. Rowing: It works both the lower and upper body muscles

F. Stair Climbing: Builds a lot of energy and uses more muscles than walking. One of the best exercises to elevate your heart rate.

G. Rope Jumping: One of the favorite exercises as a kid, burns lot’s of calories and can be done both in and outdoors. very cheap and easy to afford.

H. Jump Squats: It helps burn calories both during and after workouts and can be done at anytime anywhere.

I. Jump Box: All you need is a box placed in front of you, depending on the size of the box, you either jump on it or over it.

The Importance of Cardio

A. Improves heart and lung health by raising heart rate:  cardiovascular exercise improves heart health by improving HDL (good) cholesterol, blood pressure and triglyceride levels as well as insulin sensitivity, explains Dr. Dermot Phelan, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Sports Cardiology Center. What’s more, it expands the body’s blood vessels and strengthens the heart muscle. The fact that during exercise we breath faster and deeply helps improve lung functioning.

B. Tones the body muscles: In a review of 14 studies published in the journal exercise and sports science reviews found that on average, men who did 45 minutes of moderate to interns cardio 4 days a week saw a 5% to 6% increase in leg muscle size.

C. Improve Cholesterol Levels: Cardio exercise helps control blood sugar, improves good cholesterol and lower blood fats. Exercise Can Help You Lower Cholesterol Numbers Even If You’re Overweight. In The Journal Of Obesity, Researchers Reported That Overweight And Obese Adults Who Walked, Jogged, And Cycled While Eating A Cholesterol Lowering Diet Improved Total Cholesterol, Ldl Cholesterol, And Triglyceride Levels.”

D. Muscle Growth: Cardio exercises increases oxygen supply allowing muscles to work harder, it also allows muscles to adapt to an increase workload making regular activities seem easier.

E. Better Memory. Fight against brain declined functioning and may help in preventing the development of Alzheimer disease and improves memory and thinking ability.

F. Weight Loss: With cardio exercise, you burn fats and calories thus helping in weight loss. You maintain a healthier weight by burning more calories through out the day and combining it with some strength training workouts can help you increase the rate at which you lose weight.

G. May Help Protect Your Immune System: Exercise helps flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways thus reducing the chance of catching a cold, flu or other illnesses. Simple, it helps boost your immune system which is the body’s defense against infections.

Re-Cap

Exercise in general is very important for our health and well-being and cardio in particular is the pillar. There are numerous health benefits to it and lots of them can be done with at little or no cost. What is needed is only our individual resolve and majority of cardio exercises can be done both indoors and outdoors.