How is cardio exercise best described

If you can't do the work required to reach your goals, you may have to change your lifestyle. Or, if that isn't working, change your goal to fit where you are in your exercise or weight loss experience.

Once you've gotten used to exercising and are up to 30 minutes of continuous movement you can start working on your intensity. How hard you work is a crucial factor in your workout because of:. Your best exercise intensity level depends on several factors, including your fitness level and goals. There are three different levels of intensity you can focus on during your workouts, and you can even incorporate all of these levels into the same workout:.

You might want to use a combination of perceived exertion and your heart rate to find a range that works for you. While the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans suggest that most people get minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, the amount of exercise needed to lose weight is often greater. These guidelines state that moderate-intensity activity is any activity that gets your heart rate going.

However, they also indicate that incorporating high-intensity interval training often provides better results for people who are overweight or obese. Adding resistance training to your weekly cardio can also help. It works by increasing your lean muscle mass. Muscle creates a higher energy demand on your body, meaning more calories burned both at rest and while exercising. Combine your cardio with a healthy diet and you can boost your weight loss more. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends eating fruits, veggies, grains, low-fat dairy, lean proteins, and healthy oils while limiting added sugar, saturated fat, sodium, and alcohol.

Before beginning this or any other exercise program, talk to your doctor. Make sure the exercise is safe for you to do. Also, listen to your body. If it tells you that you are doing too much, it's time to reduce the intensity, frequency, or duration of your exercise sessions. Whatever you do, remember to keep your cardio workouts simple.

Just start somewhere and make it a goal to do something every day, even if it's a 5-minute walk. Try doing it at the same time every day and schedule it on your calendar. The more you practice, the easier it gets. Get exercise tips to make your workouts less work and more fun. Exercise and the cardiovascular system. Circulat Res. Combined effects of time spent in physical activity, sedentary behaviors and sleep on obesity and cardio-metabolic health markers: a novel compositional data analysis approach.

PLoS One. The effects of exercise on sexual function in women. Sex Med Rev. The impacts of physical exercise on stress coping and well-being in university students in the context of leisure. Exercise therapy improves both mental and physical health in patients with major depression.

Disabil Rehabil. An examination of the anxiolytic effects of exercise for people with anxiety and stress-related disorders: a meta-analysis. Psych Res. Agarwal S. Cardiovascular benefits of exercise. Int J Gen Med. Non-adherence to diet and exercise recommendations amongst patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus attending Extension II Clinic in Botswana. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans: 2nd edition.

Published National Library of Medicine. Can you boost metabolism? But the increased release of hormones also reduces stress, boosts stamina, increases energy, and improves memory and mental focus.

The release of FGF21 also speeds up metabolism and boosts immune system. Actually, cardio protects the body against several illnesses, including hypertension, stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes and heart disease.

Cardiovascular exercise helps to reduce the pain associated with arthritis and minimize stiffness at the joint through movement. For maximum benefit, you will need to engage in cardio activity for at least three days every week. For instance, if you have more time during weekends, you can schedule the first two days to be on Saturday and Sunday, then look for one more day in the middle of the week. Big blocks of time are not required for cardiovascular exercise.

With cardio, short bouts as short as 5 minutes each are just as effective as longer sessions, provided the intensity level and the total cumulative workout time are equal. For example, twelve 5-minute bursts of high-intensity cardio is as effective as a single minute session. If you are worried about your tight schedule, then cardio is a great option for you. For a beginner, it is prudent to start with low-to-moderate intensity activities, such as walking, bicycling, swimming, dancing, jogging, martial arts, in-line skating, canoeing, golfing, and water aerobics.

This will enable you to do them for long periods of time and gain more health benefits. But as you choose your activities, go for those that you enjoy so you can stick to them as you get along. Besides, it is better to increase intensity over time than to increase the volume or length of an activity.

Cardio is not something you should overdo and spending hour after hour at a low-to-moderate pace is not going to give you any further benefits. So after you are able to do minutes of an activity times a week, you should step it up a notch and go for its advanced principles. Start simple. For instance, begin with a 5-minute walk in the morning then another 5-minute walk in the evening.

After that, add a few minutes gradually and pick up the pace over time. In no time, you will be comfortably walking for 30 minutes a day. As you begin, make sure to consider activities that interest you and that you will do without financial or time constraints. Viable options include hiking, jogging, cycling, rowing, running, and elliptical training. Just remember, it is any activity that increases your breathing and heart rate!

At the start of every session, take minutes to gradually rev up your cardiovascular system and improve blood flow to your muscles. Warming up means you engage in lower-intensity versions of the cardio activity you intend to do. For example, if you intend to take a brisk walk, you can warm up by walking slowly. Moving at your own pace, make sure you condition your body to be able to accomplish at least 30 minutes of cardio per day. In fact, for cardio to benefit you, then you need to develop your aerobic capacity by increasing your heart rate, depth of breathing and muscular endurance to the point you are able to comfortably do at least 30 minutes of your chosen activity.

At the end of each session, take minutes to cool down. You can cool down by stretching your calf muscles, upper thighs quadriceps , lower back, hamstrings and chest. This post-workout stretch will enable your muscles, lungs, and heart rate to return to normal conveniently. Cardiovascular exercise has been long known as the cornerstone of any effective fitness program and the key to living a longer, more joyful life.

Exercises that are done primarily to build strength, such as lifting weights, using weight machines, resistance exercise, and core workouts, are usually not considered to be cardio exercises. They are intended to challenge strength, not cardiovascular endurance. However, you can structure certain weightlifting workouts to raise your heart rate and gain a cardio benefit. For example, a superset workout provides little rest in between exercises. As a result, your heart rate stays elevated throughout a series of complex exercises.

Warming up before the more intense portion of your workout gets the blood flowing to your muscles and loosens you up. This is essential; you should not just start your workout at full effort.

Traditionally, the guidelines were to stretch the primary muscles to be used in the workout during your warm-up. There are several schools of thought on the use and effectiveness of stretching, with some experts advising a dynamic warm-up but not static stretches before cardio exercise.

The standard advice:. Traditionally, you would end your workout with gentle stretching of the muscles used in the workout. This is no longer universally recommended, but you can do it if you wish. The minimum recommended amount of cardiovascular exercise is minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic exercise, or a combination.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends cardiovascular exercise three to five days a week for most people. To give your body time to build and repair muscles, alternate intense or long cardio exercise sessions with a day of rest or easy exercise. An "easy day" might mean a slower walk, stretching, or yoga. How long should you exercise in each exercise session?

For cardiovascular benefits, aim for 20 to 60 minutes in your target heart rate zone , apart from the time you spend in warm-up and cool-down. At this duration, your body burns through its available glycogen energy and begins to burn stored fat.

You will still burn calories if you exercise for less than 20 minutes in your zone.