The importance of Cardio Exercises in Fitness

As long working hours, consuming junk food and travel through teeming traffic have become the order of the day, we cannot but escape the stress and fat building up in our body unless we make a conscious effort to keep ourselves fit by following a fitness regime.

Fitness experts across the world recommend 'cardio' exercises to stay fit and healthy. Suitable for people of all ages and gender, Cardio exercises come with a host of health benefits and it is quite easy to follow. For those who are not familiar about cardio exercises, it is a form of exercise that involves rhythmic physical activity which will raise the heart rate to the extent that your body will begin to burn calories and fat build up in the body. 

Walking, running, swimming, bicycling, aerobics are among the types of cardio exercises. The best part is, you don't need any equipment or a furnished space to carry out cardio exercises. You can simply choose the one that you are most comfortable with and begin. You can switch to a different cardio exercise to bring in variety and to avoid boredom.

Whether it is to reduce weight or to stay fit, including 'cardio' exercises in your fitness routine is a must. 'Cardio' is a popular term among gym goers and fitness freaks. Apart from many health benefits, cardio exercises are known to strengthen the heart and enhance the lung capacity. Cardio exercises work wonders in reducing the risk of heart attack, diabetes, high cholesterol, and blood pressure by burning unwanted fat accumulated in our body. They are proven to burn more body fat in a limited period of time, which is why including them into your regular fitness regime is highly recommended.  

Cardio exercises are not only stress busters but can make you feel good as well. Want more reasons?

Why is Cardio the best bet for weight loss?

For those who are out to lose weight, cardio exercise is the safe bet that they can depend on. Unlike strength training and other tough physical exercises which require muscles to rest to recover and grow stronger, cardio can be done on all days of the week.

Resorting to an effective cardio program can help you burn calories and fat lined up in the body at one go. Further, you can burn more calories if you increase the intensity of the exercise. You can sweat it out and burn more calories by moving faster, jumping higher and running harder or just about any activity that gets you motivated to pump more.

That won't be the case with strength training as you need to exercise caution. Going harder on strength training without the support of a trainer can be dangerous and can lead to injuries; which means you have to shell out more money to shed those extra kilos.

When you begin to enjoy cardio, you need not worry about following your diet strictly. Even if you gobble few extra pizzas or your favorite evening snack, you need not worry about it as you can burn those extra calories by adding few sessions on your cardio workouts. 

Cardio is known for its whole body stimulation. It is one of the exercises that involve both your upper and lower body

Nothing works on your whole body the way cardio does. When you do cycling, skiing, jogging, swimming you can see your heart rate pump up and burn more calories.

So, when you are determined about losing weight, choose a cardio program that is suitable to you and make sure you stick to it vehemently. Often times, people wanted to know which the best cardio exercise is. The one that you enjoy and can do it regularly is the best one for you.

Cardio Exercise - How much is too much?

We all know about the benefits of cardio in weight loss. But it is important that you should exactly know how much cardio is needed for you to achieve your goal. Otherwise, you might end up overdoing and exhausting yourself.

The Indian Medical Association recommends about 45 to 60 minutes of moderate to intense cardio exercise on 6 days of the week. It is a general recommendation and the timing and intensity could vary from person to person depending upon the age, gender, metabolism, fitness level, body-mass index, accumulated fat, dietary habits, consumption of calories per day, exercise schedule, the intensity of the workouts etc.,

However, there are further recommendations from fitness experts to make cardio work for you.

-  For a beginner, 3 to 4 days of cardio exercise every week is fine

-  You can choose any workout that is comfortable to you and workout only to the extent that you can handle

-  You can start with 20 minutes and slowly add 5 to 10 minutes each week until you can comfortably carry out 45 minutes of continuous exercise

-  You can slowly increase the number of days. You can work 5 to 6 days a week.

-  You can vary the exercise pattern and intensity. As you grow stronger, you will be able to do the same exercise more vigorously.

-  Then you can try interval training once a week, which is very effective in boosting endurance and burn more calories.

There is nothing like best cardio exercise. You can choose any cardio activity that is comfortable to you. The best is the one that you can do it on a regular basis without any break. Hence, it is important for you to identify the one that you enjoy doing with and pursue it consistently until you reach your goal.

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