It is always said, regular exercise is good for your healthy living, and most of you already may know the cardio workout is essential for several reasons. It assists you in burning calories and losing weight fast, and it maintains your health, especially your heart and lungs. Moreover, it helps prevent certain types of cancer and saves you from diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Unfortunately, everyone is busy with a sedentary job and has a less active lifestyle. Yet knowing the benefits doesn’t always make it easy to get started, mainly when you have never exercised, but a good guide can help you do it quickly. As it’s never too late to start, so let’s begin and bring more physical activity into your life.
This beginner’s guide for cardio exercises will change your life. Please continue reading about cardio training, its benefits, different workouts, and the know-how to create the best cardiovascular routine.
Cardiovascular exercise
cardio exercise is also known as cardiovascular or aerobic exercise, a type of physical activity that increases the heart rate and controls the body's overall oxygen when breathing faster. Moreover, it helps the muscles burn calories.
Benefits of cardio exercises:
- Pumps the blood
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduces the risk of heart diseases and fall
- Controls blood sugar level
- Weight management or weight loss
- Enhance lung function
- Abide resting heart rate
- Boosts your immune system
- Improves your sleep and sleep cycle
- Better your mental health and boost your brain
- Lessens chronic pain
When you are new to exercise, having a good direction is essential to tell you what to do, how to do it, and why. The good news is that cardiovascular exercise is one of the simple and easy ways to initiate your journey. The best part of cardio exercises is that you can do them anywhere and anytime.
Why should you do warm-up and cool-down?
It is vital to understand why we need to prepare our bodies for the type of workout and the benefit of cooling down.
Warm-up before workout:
A warm-up prepares or prepares our body for performing any physical activity; it could be gym activity, cardiovascular exercise, or sports training. Usually, it includes low intensity and slower pace exercises that help improve performance, prevent injuries and muscle soreness and assist in recovering to the normal state after a workout. Moreover, it prepares your cardiovascular system by increasing blood flow to your muscles, improving oxygen efficiency, preventing injuries, preparing mentally, and increasing the core temperature.
Cool-down after workout:
Cooling down after your workout brings your heart rate and blood pressure to their normal state. Your heart pumps much higher than usual when exercising, and it's essential to get normal body condition slowly instead of frequently stopping the movement. Besides recovery after intense exercise, it also helps reduce DOMS(Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).
Simple and easy cardio workouts
1. Walking and Running
Equipment:
Sneakers or joggers, treadmill
Benefits:
- Maintaining a healthy weight and losing body fat
- Preventing heart issues
- Improving cardiovascular fitness
- Boosting your bones and muscles
- Improving balance and coordination
- Reduce stress and improve the immune system
- For better lung performance
- Enhance core strength and stability
Safety:
Wear a good pair of shoes and possess a good posture while walking or running. Working out on a treadmill is effective for better performance, and here are the safety precautions to avoid any mishap.
- Follow treadmill safety rules.
- Do not hold onto handrails.
- Look ahead instead of down.
- Do not lean forward or backward.
- Avoid over-striding
- Wear the correct type of shoes
- Know the features of the treadmill
- Never go too fast
Techniques:
To turn your regular walk into a fitness stride, you need to have a good posture and purposeful movements. In addition, warm-up and cool-down are essential for avoiding muscle pain.
Duration and frequency:
According to the Department of Health and Human Services recommendation, for a healthy adult, moderate aerobic activity for at least 150 minutes and vigorous exercise for 75 minutes a week is enough for health benefits.
Furthermore, you can track your performance through different time tracking apps to ensure you are on the right track to achieve your goals.
2. High knee
Equipment:
There is no special equipment required. It would help if you found a calm place.
Benefits:
- Strengthen your hip flexors and leg muscles
- Lower body and core stability
- Boost resting metabolism
- Improves overall health
- Increase heart rate and burn calories
- Promote a healthy weight lose
Safety:
- Warm-up before workout
- Make sure a good posture; keep your back straight
- Move your arms naturally
Techniques:
- Stand with your legs together and arms at your sides.
- Lift one knee toward your chest. Then lower your leg and do it again with the other knee.
- Continue repeating the movement with both knees
- Keep moving your arms up and down.
Duration and frequency:
Continue for 30 seconds and increase the intensity and repetitions.
You don't need a bunch of equipment and a specific place for cardiovascular exercise. It can be performed anywhere and is not time-restricted. No matter what type of exercise you are performing, having enough knowledge, following the proper steps, and taking care of safety measures are essential. Moreover, a regular workout has various health benefits, and you must choose an exercise that fits you yet move on to other challenging movements overtime when fitness improves. More excellent training can give you more fabulous perks but working out for a short period is beneficial. Being active for a few minutes a day can aid your overall health.