Essential Guide to Cardio Workouts and Their Benefits

Cardio workouts, also known as aerobic exercises, elevate your heart rate and increase breathing efficiency, promoting optimal oxygen circulation throughout your body.

Activities like brisk walking, running, swimming, or engaging in sports such as tennis, soccer, or basketball qualify as effective aerobic routines. Tasks like yard work or mowing the lawn also count toward your cardio exercise.

These exercises offer numerous health advantages, notably enhancing heart, lung, and circulatory health. Regular aerobic activity makes the heart more efficient at pumping blood, thereby improving overall cardiovascular function.

This type of exercise also helps lower bad cholesterol levels, reducing arterial plaque buildup. Recommendations suggest adults perform at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio weekly, divided into manageable sessions of about 30 minutes. For high-intensity workouts, 75 minutes per week is adequate. Always start slow, gradually increasing intensity to prevent injury. Those with joint issues or heart conditions should opt for low-impact activities and seek medical advice prior to beginning any new exercise routine.

Appropriate beginner options include:

Walking - An excellent starter activity, especially outdoors. Walking at 4 mph can burn approximately 300 calories.

Step Aerobics - Once popular in the 80s and 90s, this fun workout requires a stepper and jogging shoes, burning around 375 calories per hour. Intense sessions can burn up to 600 calories.

Elliptical Trainers - Ideal for beginners, these machines target both upper and lower body muscles, with workouts burning 400-600 calories depending on effort. They can be used forward or backward for variation.