Common Cardio Activities
Exercise To A Beautiful You
Aerobics or cardiovascular exercises means any type of physical
exercise performed at moderate level but increase the intensity
for extended periods of time.
The word aerobic means oxygen and refers to the use of oxygen
by the body throughout the activity. Cardio exercises are
good at increasing your heart rate & effectively burns
calories.
Some people tend to relate cardio activities to weight loss.
Although it is true that aerobics and cardio activities increase
the metabolism thus resulting in loss of fat mass, other health
benefits of doing cardio exercises go beyond just your average
weight loss program.
Cardio exercises can help to:
1. Strengthen your respiratory muscles resulting in smoother,
unlabored breathing.
2. Strengthen the cardiovascular muscles and improve the hearts
pumping efficiency.
3. Tone muscles in all parts of the body to improve blood
circulation and reduced blood pressure
4. Increase the number of red blood cells in the body which
makes for improved transport of oxygen throughout the body
Regular and disciplined aerobics can reduce the risks of
having cardiovascular diseases as well as reducing the risk
of having other health problems such as respiratory diseases
and osteoporosis.
Examples of common cardio exercises:
1. Walking is the most common form of cardio exercise and
sometimes people might not even realize that they are already
doing aerobics just by pacing around the house! Walking is
a very low-impact exercise and you can do it wherever you
are. It is one of a few aerobics exercises that is part of
your life. A 15-30 minute walk around the mall make you lose
just as much calories as you would on the treadmill. You can
increase your fat loss by increasing the speed of your walks.
2. Running or jogging is the next most accessible and easier
cardio exercise. Depending on your physical capacity, beginners
might want to try speed walking first before progressing to
jogging then running. Walking, running & jogging can be
done in a lot of places which include the beach, the park,
around your neighborhood or at a track. Running is a very
natural activity for your body and you can easily adapt it
once you make it a regular exercise.
3. Aerobic Dance Classes is the 70’s saw the explosion
of the Jazzercise programs, the 80s brought Jane Fonda &
Richard Simmons and the 90s brought supermodel-lead aerobics
lessons. And lately, we heard of Madonna-inspired cardio exercises
like yoga and Pilates among others. Throughout the decades,
aerobics dance exercises may have evolved but never faded.
People still prefer exercising to a thumping beat and aerobic
dances are very effective yet fun ways of keeping the weight
off for a trim and tone body.
There are several types of aerobic dance lessons:
a. Low-impact: This type of aerobics keeps your foot on the
ground. It also does not have jumping or bouncing movements
that might hurt the joints. This aerobic dance is suitable
for people who cannot or must not move around or jump around
like older people or overweight people.
b. High-impact: This exercise will involve a lot of jumping
action and more complicated body movements that will need
a certain amount of agility and rhythm.
c. Step aerobics: Step aerobics requires the use of a raised
platform and body movements are required for the stepping
movement. Step-aerobics can be used in both the low and high-impact
cardio activities.
d. Water aerobics: As mentioned in the name, this type of
cardio is done in the water. Though water aerobics is a very
low-impact activity but it does require a certain amount of
ability in swimming since it is usually done in waist-high
water or deeper.
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