Cardio Workout HQ

About one in four Americans is overweight, but whether or not you have weight concerns, cardio workouts are important for your overall health. They’re also good for your emotional wellbeing. Cardio workouts increase endorphins, which give you a sense of well-being. A good cardio workout will exercise your heart muscle, increase your lung capacity, burn calories and reduce stress.

There is no one “best” cardio workout. The ideal cardio workout is one that you enjoy, because you’ll be more likely to do it. Success is measured by how hard you work-but it doesn’t have to feel like work. For some people, a pleasant workout is spending 20 minutes on a treadmill watching TV or a movie; others have more fun when the workout takes the form of dancing. If the time goes by quickly, you know you’ve found the cardio workout for you.

There is also no one best time of day for a cardio workout. The advantage to doing a cardio workout in the morning is that it helps burn off fat stored overnight, helps you start off the day with a sense of well-being, and jumpstarts your metabolism. However, working out later in the day burns off calories you’ve consumed during the day, and helps release stress that may let you sleep better. You may find that setting a regular time for your cardio workout helps you keep to the routine, but you will get just as many benefits if
you aren’t consistent. Just make sure that you do a cardio workout that keeps you at your target heart rate for at least 20 minutes at least twice a week. If you want to lose weight, make sure you work out for at least 30 minutes three or four times a week.

A cardio workout is good for your heart. Your heart is a muscle, and like all muscles, benefits and improves through exercise and training. Cardio workouts benefit your whole cardiovascular system. Plus, cardio workouts burn
calories.

In a cardio workout, your activity level increases your heart rate. A cardio workout is aerobic when it also increases your breathing and oxygen intake. If you’re new to cardio workouts, let your body be your guide to the right cardio workout level for you. If ever you feel lightheaded or dizzy, stop and rest. If you’re not breaking a sweat, you’re not working hard enough, so pick up the pace.

Any activity that keeps you moving at a sustained level of exertion can be a cardio workout: walking, jogging, running, mountain biking, hiking, calisthenics, and aerobic dancing are only a few. You want to build up to a higher level of exercise that you can maintain for at least 20 minutes at least three times a week. Exercises where you start and stop, or coast-which include tennis, most team sports, and bicycling around a flat neighborhood-are a good adjunct to a cardio workout but do not alone provide enough sustained aerobic benefit. If you’re trying to lose weight, any activity burns calories, so go for it!

To start any cardio workout program, pick an activity you enjoy and do it at a level just past your comfort zone until you are tired but not exhausted. In the beginning, you should be working on your conditioning and endurance; it’s too soon to be thinking about distance or speed. Listen to your body; if it’s sore or tired, take an extra day of rest. Once you can handle 30 minutes of sustained activity, you can think about increasing your intensity.