Cardio Fitness
|What is cardio and why is it so popular?
Cardio is short for cardiovascular, which refers to the heart. Cardio fitness includes exercises that elevate heart rate and blood flow for sustained and prolonged periods of time. Cardio workouts exercise the heart, along with other muscles, and is necessary for a long and healthy life. Cardio fitness is important for many reasons. To reiterate, it’s called cardio fitness for a reason. It exercises your heart and cardiovascular system, which is the most important system in your body. It’s been proven that cardio workouts reduce high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and artery disease. The heart is the most important muscle in our body, and we must remember that, like us, it needs exercise to ensure a long and healthy life.
Cardio workouts and weight loss go hand in hand
We all know that weight loss comes down to calories consumed versus calories burned, both naturally and by exercise. Cardio workouts are the most common tool for this. Cardio fitness is great because it exercises your heart and many muscles, and it can burn a lot of calories. Some people believe cardio workouts can even reduce appetite. If that’s not convincing enough, cardio fitness is also believed to boost metabolism. Combine all of these with proper nutrition and you’re guaranteed to claim benefits.
Proper cardio fitness is absolutely essential for healthy and successful weight loss. Sleeping is one of the most important contributing factors to a staying healthy. Cardio fitness helps you sleep at night. This seems insignificant, but you’d be surprised. A good night’s sleep can carry over into the next day, and provide you with a lot of energy and a good mood. Cardio workouts have been proven to help you sleep at night. It’s also been proven that cardio fitness makes you feel good and reduces stress. Working out releases the same endorphins you get from eating and taking drugs. When you hear people say working out is like a drug, they’re not kidding.
The fact of the matter is, not only will doing cardio workouts increase your confidence and self esteem, but you will be happier and more energized throughout the day. This has been proven over and over again.
What is the best cardio?
Well, there are so many types of cardio workouts, and each has its drawbacks. One of the most common types of cardio fitness is running. Running is great because it burns a lot of calories. Running outside requires more energy than a treadmill, and can prevent boredom/ keep motivation up, work out your lungs, and most importantly, you can show off your newly toned body to the world! It can be intimidating to walk into a gym and see hundreds of different cardio machines. What is the best cardio? Each machine is slightly different, and works different muscles at different rates. However, the main muscle, your heart, should still get a good exercise. It all comes down to finding the right routine for you. And that doesn’t mean hitting the elliptical for 10 minutes and thinking it’s enough.
You need to push yourself if you expect to see results. Another reason cardio is great is because it can defy the widespread notion that exercise has to be monotonous and not enjoyable. Some exercises, like riding bikes, hiking, walking, or outdoor activities can be both very entertaining and a great cardio workout. Something as simple as mowing the lawn can burn up to 200 calories! You can do cardio at home, so no excuses! Cardio fitness is an easy way to cut calories, and this is why cardio workouts are so popular and essential for weight loss.