What Are Cardio Workouts?

Let’s be honest, we all like those workouts that can work out our whole body and keep us fit while saving our time. And the most important part, we get to enjoy them as well. Cardiovascular aka cardio workouts are examples of such workouts. These exercises are popular due to their promising success rate in the weight loss department and overall improvement of health. But if you are new to this cardio regime, you might wonder what exactly are cardio or aerobic workouts? This piece of writing is written to make sure that you get the concept of cardio understood well before jumping right into it. Let’s go!

What is a cardio workout?

Another name for the cardio workout is aerobic exercise, which specifies that cardio (short for cardiovascular) exercises are the workouts that use aerobic metabolism. During cardio workouts our body needs more oxygen to be supplied to the muscles for their growth, that’s why our heart rate goes up and makes us breathe more rapidly.

The cardio workout works differently from person to person based on various factors like age, sex, weight, and medical conditions. According to studies, men have 25% higher cardio capacity than females, that’s why females usually opt for low or medium-intensity cardio workouts. However, the cardio capacity for both males and females keeps declining with the increasing age.

What does a cardio workout include?

The cardio workouts are popular due to their diversity of exercises. From simple to high-intensity workouts, it has something for everyone. People choose different cardio workouts according to their choice, comfort, and fitness goals. Some might only look for the workouts that’ll have more emphasis on the improvement of cardiovascular health while some look for all-in-one package kinds of exercises.

To cater to the needs of everyone, numerous exercises can be performed under the banner of cardio to get the results, such as:

1. Low-intensity cardio workouts

Cycling, walking, pedalling on the exercise bike, swimming, jogging, cycling

2. Moderate-intensity cardio workouts

A brisk walk, gardening, dancing, water aerobics, tennis, biking at moderate speed, running at a moderate pace

3. High-intensity cardio workouts

Hiking with a heavy backpack, swimming laps, running, jumping rope and jacks, rowing, aerobic dancing, cycling at a faster pace, lunges, push-ups, elliptical workouts, high-intensity interval training, climbing

An ideal amount of cardio workout

Professionals suggest that a cardio workout should not be performed more than 150 minutes a week. You can allot 30 minutes daily to your cardio workout and can perform various cardio workouts during that time. The best part of cardio is its versatility which does not let anyone get tired of it. However, if you think working out more than 150 minutes or overdoing cardio will reap you more benefits, then you are wrong. It’s a proven thing that overdoing cardio can backfire and can reverse all the benefits of cardio.

Benefits of cardio

Cardio exercise is not only about improving your heart’s health but it is a great way to make sure that your mind and body stay fit. Some of the major health benefits that cardio offers are:

1. Improved heart health
2. Improve overall fitness
3. Improve mental health
4. Help in weight loss
5. It helps in lowering the blood pressure
6. It helps in regulating and maintaining the blood sugar level
7. Treats the symptoms of Asthma
8. Helps in the reduction of chronic pain
9. Promotes better sleep
10. Strengthens the immune system
11. Helps in boosting mood
12. Helps in avoiding injuries
13. A safe workout for everyone
14. Affordable and can be performed anywhere
15. Does not necessarily require equipment

Are there any drawbacks of cardio?

In general, NO. Cardio is the safest and simplest workout routine one can follow to get fit. However, people with pre-existing medical conditions like heart diseases, asthma, etc need to keep a check on their cardio routine. They are not allowed to perform intense cardio workouts but low-intensity cardio works well for them. Overdoing cardio can cause health problems, but that’s only if you push your limits-cardio is not the bad boy here.

Conclusion

Cardio is great if you are looking for something affordable and an effective exercise routine to get more muscles while losing weight and improving your overall health condition. However, if you are a beginner, we’ll advise you to consult your physician before starting cardio to make sure it does not worsen your underlying medical condition. Just, try incorporating cardio in short sessions and be consistent about it and you’ll keep unlocking all the benefits of the cardio.