Quick Fitness Guide ? What is Cardio? ? Health & Fitness

Introduction

Any type of exercise that raises your heart rate to a consistent level for a given period of time is called cardiovascular exercise. Cardio is sometimes also called aerobic exercise, and in this article I give some of the benefits of a cardio routine and some basic info on a few of the most common exercises.

Health benefits

There are a great many health benefits to cardiovascular exercise. Cardio strengthens and improves the efficiency of the heart, increases lung capacity, and helps to elevate metabolism and therefore burn fat. People who regularly undertake cardiovascular exercise are also less likely to be prone to stress and anxiety, as well as being more likely to experience a sense of general well-being. Better quality sleep and the ability to concentrate more on daily tasks are additional benefits.

Image benefits

The main reason that many people start a cardio exercise regime is to improve their image as well as their fitness. Fitter people tend to be slimmer and healthier looking (for the reasons stated above) and gain an overall confidence boost as a direct result of this. This usually leads to a person looking and feeling more attractive and therefore gaining more attention from the opposite sex.

Running

Running is often the first exercise recommended when people ask about cardiovascular exercise. There are many simple reasons for this ? no gym subscription is required, you only need some loose-fitting, comfortable clothing and good running shoes, and you can do it pretty much anywhere. Although running is very beneficial for weight loss and general fitness, it does have some negatives. Running creates a lot of impact on your feet, knees and hips, and people often experience other minor injuries such as Achilles tendonitis and shin splints (ow!). For heavier people, the likelihood of these injuries is increased. For many people, brisk walking is a good compromise until some weight is dropped and fitness starts to improve, but many people believe it is better to start off with another exercise ? swimming.

Swimming

Many experts consider swimming to be the best cardio exercise of all. The water supports your body, so swimming is pretty much a zero impact activity. Almost every muscle in your body is used during swimming, so a lot of energy is expended and strength and physique are also improved. Ensure that your technique is good (this is very important) ? if you haven?t got much experience then taking some lessons for a few weeks could be a good idea. Swimming is very popular with people of all ages, mainly for the reasons stated above but also because it?s great fun!

Jump rope

As a long time martial artist, one of my personal favourite cardio exercises is jumping rope (or skipping). Jumping rope is a skill that takes a little while to learn, but when you can perform this activity efficiently it creates far less impact on your joints than running (your feet should hardly leave the found with each jump). You are also using your arms to spin the rope, so skipping can also be considered a compound exercise. As with Swimming, it is important to start slowly, perfect your technique then gradually build up the amount you do over a period of time. As a basic guide to the fitness level that can be achieved through this activity, many martial artists skip for half an hour as a part of their warm up!

Closing comments

So there are the basics ? some of the benefits of cardio exercise and some of the most common exercises to get you on your way. I hope this article has been useful and wish you the best of luck in achieving your fitness goals and weight loss goals.

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Source: http://health.blogmeout.net/2011/08/quick-fitness-guide-what-is-cardio/

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