Health & Fitness.

Cardio Exercises – What Do You Mean By A Cardio Workout?

Posted in Fitness on January 13, 2011 at 11:26 pm

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The term cardio is short for cardiovascular; and cardiovascular is a term that refers to the heart. Cardio exercises will help in increasing your heart rate by a healthy rate and it keeps it elevated for a given period of time. The types of exercises that will get associated with a cardiovascular workout will be fast walking, swimming or jogging; where there will be no said break in the routine.

The Benefits of Cardio Exercises

There is a long (read: rather long) list of health advantages that you could avail of if you indulge in cardio workout routines –

• It helps in strengthening the heart.
• It will help to strengthen the lungs and even better the capacity of the lungs.
• It will boost metabolism and burn calories. This will help you lose weight.
• It is said to increase your overall energy and efficiency.
• It will help in the reduction of stress.
• It will promote restful sleep.

Types Of Cardio Exercises:

Now that you know of all the benefits of indulging in cardio exercises, it would help to know which one of these will help you in the quest for weight loss and maintaining your fitness.
Running:
This is one of the best activities that you could choose to do if you’re talking about cardio routines. The best part about running is that it doesn’t require you to use any special equipment; the only equipment you need would be quality running shoes. The best thing of all is that you can burn a lot of calories in the ‘long run’.
Cross-Country Skiing:



Whether you like the gym machine, or you like swooshing over a lot of snow, the option of cross-country skiing is said to be an incredible form of cardio exercise. What is great about cross-skiing is that it will support your lower and upper body. This would mean that it will not get your heartbeat soaring. The downside of this activity is that it is hard to achieve, so it would mean you should take your time to ease into it.
Cycling:
Cycling, whether you choose to do it indoors or outdoors, will make for some great cardio routine. This activity also uses up a lot of power in your legs. This will allow for you to increase your endurance; and the best part is that you will burn a lot of calories along the way. This would depend on how fast you decide to cycle, and your resistance would also have a say in it.
Swimming:



Swimming is also an exercise that uses your full body. The idea behind any sort of exercise is simple – the more body parts that get involved in a workout, the higher the number of calories you will end up burning. If you spend around half an hour doing the breaststroke, you will end up burning a good 400 calories. The best thing about swimming is that all of your joints are fully supported. This would mean that you needn’t worry about high-impact injuries.


Walking:
If you try and involve some oomph into walking, it could actually be a great exercise. If you add hills and sprints, it could end up increasing the level of calories you are burning. Try and walk around briskly. While doing so, make sure that you keep your head up, your back straight and keep swinging your arms.
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