Cardio Fitness

A good cardiovascular workout is the foundation of any decent fitness regime. Cardio is a great way to get the blood pumping and the heart pounding, increasing fitness and health whilst also helping to lose weight and help counteract medical conditions such as insomnia and depression.

Great for Fitness & Weight Loss

So whether you are looking to shed a few extra pounds or get yourself in peak physical fitness, cardiovascular workouts are a great place to start. The core feature of any cardio exercise is a constant level of effort over a prolonged period. But with no clear parameters the limits of what constitutes a cardio workout are almost limitless, allowing for a huge variety of activities and exercises to keep you energised and enthused.

Variety of Equipment & Exercises

At any gym cardiovascular machines are in abundance; you'll find rowing machines, treadmills, steppers, cross-trainers and exercise bikes from which to formulate your cardiovascular fitness regimen. Expert opinion is divided on what constitutes the ideal cardiovascular workout period. However 30 minutes up to five days a week is an extremely good starting point for someone with reasonable fitness; or 30 minutes three days a week for someone just starting out on their fitness trail.

Whilst it is not advisable to continue exercise until the point of exhaustion, cardiovascular routines tend to allow you to go at your own pace and are of medium to low impact; allowing you to continue your workout for as long as it remains comfortable. Therefore you can train at differing intensities, depending on your ultimate fitness goals and current physical condition.

Burning Fat Through Cardio

Fat loss during cardiovascular exercise is only gained once your heartbeat reaches a certain level. A rough guidance to how fast your heart needs to be beating to achieve fat burning can be calculated through the following equation: 220 - (your current age) x 0.75. This calculation when applied to a 30 year old for example would require a heart rate of 143 to achieve fat loss.

Supplementing Cardio with Weight Training

Cardio fitness is all about long-term benefits of exercise. Asides from subduing appetite and increasing metabolism rates in the hours after the workout, the advantages to your health and well-being over time are unparalleled. However, in terms of weight loss cardiovascular exercises offer only part of the solution for continued success.

Strengthening and toning muscles is actually a far better way of increasing your metabolism and subsequently aiding weight loss. Whilst cardio will only temporarily increase your metabolism straight after a workout, the benefits of weight training are such that you can experience continued metabolism increases long after the workout and even whilst you sleep. Of course not everyone is able to do weigh training or want bulging muscles all over their body, but it is a very good way of supplementing a cardio workout and improving your overall health.