An Introduction to Cardio Workouts

Posted by Charlotte James on Nov 16, 2011 in Cardio | 0 Comments

Home > Exercise > Cardio > An Introduction to Cardio Workouts

Cardio is easily the best workout you can offer your body as it is designed to raise your heart rate, strengthen your heart and increase the delivery of oxygen to cells in your muscles.

And let us tell you, the more oxygen your muscles receive, the easier it is for you to burn fat during exercise and inactivity.

What is cardio?

The main purpose of cardio is to make large muscle movement over a prolonged period of time, whilst keeping your heart rate at 50% of its maximum level. To do this you need to keep your pulse elevated for at least 20 minutes and make it so you can’t finish a sentence because you are so out of breath.

Now this is a lot easier than it sounds, so don’t worry if you are not used to intense exercise. With practice you will be able to build up your stamina, and achieve it all without having to take a single step into the gym.

In fact, you can choose from a variety of different exercises: walking, running, cycling, swimming, rowing and aerobics, plus you can mix them up so exercise doesn’t get boring.

Getting started…

It’s important when you first get started that you don’t put your all in too soon, as too much strain on your muscles will leave you reluctant to do them again. Instead aim to pick from the following and gradually build up your stamina.

Go walking – warm up with a 5 minute gentle walk, before switching into a power walk. Aim to swing your arms at the same time to help exercise your whole body, and walk at a speed which triggers a sweat. Keep this up for 20 minutes, before cooling down with a gentle 10 minute walk.
Go for a jog – keep it simple at first and ensure you run on the grass to reduce impact on your joints. As you get used to jogging, try to increase your difficulty by running faster, jogging up hill and adding weights to your wrists and ankles. Similar to walking, ensure you do at least 20 minutes with your pulse elevated.
Cycling – this offers the least impact on your joints, but is great for working out your whole body. Again build up from a gentle ride before introducing hills and modifying your gears so you have to peddle harder.
Swimming – similar to cycling, swimming is good for your joints whilst giving yourself a full workout. Start with a gentle front crawl before switching to breast stroke. Alternatively, join an aqua aerobics class and take part in water walking.
Aerobics – combines a variety of different exercises – grape vine, squatting etc which focus on different areas of your body. We recommend joining a class with the friend or purchasing a DVD that you can do at home.
Rowing – this form of exercise is great once you get going as it strengthens your arms and your legs. Just make sure that you get an instructor to show you how to use the equipment first, and modify your intensity.

Each of these exercises are great for introducing your body to the benefits of cardio, so give them a try and aim to do them at least 3 times a week. Done for at least 30 minutes at a time and you can experience credible weight loss.

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

No related posts.

Leave a Reply

About the Author

Charlotte James

Charlotte is the main curator of our Slimming Advice section, she works with a range of guest authors as well as fitness experts to moderate and produce all the guides, advice and news on the Slimming Advice Blog.