A cardio workout is a great way to stay fit while increasing your stamina and improving your overall health. The cardiovascular system consists of important organs like the heart and blood vessels. It works in tandem with the respiratory system (the lungs). Needless to say, cardio exercises improve the overall functioning of the heart by regulating heart rates, reducing high blood pressure, and improving blood circulation throughout the body.
Regularly doing cardio exercises is good for your physical and mental health!
So, let's jump right in and find out what amazing benefits complete cardio training can bring to your body.
“If you don’t make time for exercise, you’ll probably have to make time for illness.” -Robin Sharma
What Are Cardio Exercises?
Cardio exercises are also known as aerobic exercises. They are anything that gets your heart pumping and your breathing increasing.
Some of the most popular forms of cardio are
- Running or jogging
- Power walking
- Trekking or hiking
- Stair-stepping
- Cycling
- Rowing, kayaking, canoeing, paddling
- Swimming
- Skiing
- Roller skating, skateboarding
- Sports like football, basketball, cricket, pickleball, tennis, and baseball
- Jumping jacks
- Burpees
- Jumping rope
- Grapevines
- Calisthenics
- Ashtanga yoga
- Boxing and kickboxing
- Playing games that include running like tag
- Dancing
- Parkour
- Intensive gardening, landscaping, cleaning, and housework
Whole-Body Benefits
The entire body benefits from moderate cardio exercise. This method of exercise impacts the heart and lungs, of course, but it also helps make the rest of the body healthier either directly or indirectly.
Your entire body’s stamina is increased every time you do any bit of exercise: you’ll notice that you can exercise for longer, exercise more intensely, and that same stamina will be present in your daily life, too.
Heart & Circulation
Cardio forces the heart to pump more than usual. Like any muscle, the heart is strengthened through use. Therefore, cardio strengthens the heart!
Since the blood is pumping more vigorously through the body, all your veins, arteries, and capillaries are also strengthened to handle the increase in blood flow and pressure.
This increased blood flow increases oxygen absorption in the lungs, reduces cholesterol in the blood by circulating it through the liver (which helps the circulatory system and prevents heart disease), and lowers blood pressure as the heart becomes more effective and the arteries become more clear of obstructions.
Lungs
The lungs are also utilized heavily while exercising with cardio, so they become trained to be more effective as well.
The lungs are trained to expand more effectively and become able to hold a bigger breath. The oxygen absorption and carbon dioxide expulsion become more efficient.
As a result, your lung capacity and efficiency are improved both during exercise and in daily life, which means you’ll feel more awake and focused during the day.
Brain
Exercise directly releases endorphins like dopamine and serotonin, which improve your mood on a molecular level. This helps your mood improve, leading to a virtuous cycle of being more upbeat and reduced anxiety and depression.
The brain benefits from the same boons as the heart and lungs do: increased blood flow to the brain means further mood increase, reduced risk of brain diseases and stroke, and increased brain function including cognition, memory, coordination, and more!
Each time exercise helps a part of your body, the brain also benefits by receiving signals of good health, reduced pain, increased ease of life, and overall improvement in health.
Digestion
Exercise manually stimulates digestion. Think about it: you’re jiggling your body around, your muscles are contracting around your digestive organs, and your body is producing hormones that optimize all the body systems.
If you’re having constipation, you can help yourself with walking, running, jumping, and torso twists.
Joints & Bones
Did you know that bones actually get weaker or stronger to meet the requirements you set upon them?
If you never run, your leg bones don’t experience high-impact force. Therefore, they decide it’s best to not waste resources on having overly-fortified bones. This increases your risk of breaking bones, especially as you age and bone density naturally decreases anyway (especially for post-menopausal women).
Mix low, medium, and high-impact workouts to keep your bones and joints strong and limber. The more you bend your joints, the more your body ensures to lubricate and rejuvenate them. The more you put light stress on your bones, the denser your body makes them.
Overdoing high-impact exercise can cause damage to joints over time, however, so be sure to eat all the vitamins and minerals required to replenish your cartilage and connective tissues and consult a doctor as you age or if you experience any pain.
Swimming is a great way to combine cardio and resistance training, which strengthens bones and is easy on joints.
Muscles
While cardio alone won’t build muscle, muscles still benefit from cardio exercise.
The increased blood and oxygen flow in the body makes the muscles abundant with resources for optimal functioning. Moving the body around quickly requires the muscles to become more toned, reactive, and coordinated.
How Does Cardio Burn Fat?
There is a substantial body of research that supports the idea that cardiovascular exercise can be effective for burning fat.
It's important to note that while cardiovascular exercise can be an effective tool for burning fat, it should be part of a comprehensive weight loss program that also includes a healthy diet and strength training to build muscle, which also increases metabolism.
The effectiveness of cardiovascular exercise for fat burning will also depend on factors such as the intensity, duration, and frequency of the exercise, as well as individual differences in metabolism, diet, and overall health.
Cardio exercise can help burn fat by increasing the number of calories you burn each day. Here's how:
Energy Expenditure
During cardio exercise, your body burns a combination of stored carbohydrates and fats for energy. The more intense the exercise, the more calories you burn, which can help you lose weight.
Boosted Metabolism
Cardio exercise can increase your metabolism, which is the rate at which your body burns calories. This means you'll continue to burn calories even after your workout is over.
Hormonal Changes
Cardio exercise can increase the production of hormones, such as adrenaline and noradrenaline, which can help break down fat and increase fat oxidation, or the process of burning fat for energy.
Decreased Appetite
Regular cardio exercise can also help control your appetite, making it easier to stick to a healthy diet and avoid overeating.
Improved Insulin Sensitivity
Cardio exercise can also improve insulin sensitivity, which means your body becomes better at using glucose (sugar) for energy, instead of storing it as fat.
Improve Your Sleep
Cardio can help improve your sleep by releasing those feel-good endorphins mentioned before.
Your increased heart and lung function help make sure you get enough oxygen even while unconscious (a lot of bad sleep is caused by a lack of oxygen) by increasing oxygen efficiency and decreasing the risk of snoring.
Sleep problems and heart problems go hand-in-hand, so if you have one, you likely have the other. Improve your sleep to improve your heart health, and vice versa.
Fortify Your Immune System
Exercise in general helps your body prevent things like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. It reduces inflammation over time, which helps the body repair and rebuild structures and reduce the risk of chronic inflammation issues.
It also directly increases the amount of white blood cells present in the blood, which are the number one player in the immune system.
It’s important to note that exercising too much without adequate diet and rest will actually harm your immune system, so make sure you take care of yourself holistically!
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” -Jim Rohn
Reduce Your Risk of Falling As You Age
Improving and protecting your fitness when you’re younger can directly help you stay safe as you age. Elderly people are at risk of falling, which is already dangerous, but if they also have brittle bones, a simple stumble can turn into a life-altering hip fracture or worse.
Strengthening your bones, joints, and muscles now will help you maintain strength, coordination, and balance, and avoid injury.
How to Make Your Cardio Effective
Cardio exercises can be very effective! However, there are some common mistakes that keep people from getting all the benefits and can even make someone dislike exercise! Avoid these errors to have the most comfortable and effective cardio workout possible.
Mistake # 1: Relying Only on Cardio Exercises
Many people rely only on cardio for overall health. While it’s part of a healthy routine, cardio alone may not get you to your ideal body goals. Weight loss with cardio can easily plateau as your body gets used to the routine. You need to build muscles, which burn calories all the time, even while you’re asleep.
Contrary to popular belief, doing strength exercises won’t make you “bulky” at the drop of a pin. If you don’t want to look too muscular and large, you can easily strength train with light weights to grow your muscles’ strength, not size.
Mistake # 2: No Diet Plan
A diet plan just means “what you eat.” You don’t have to have a specific diet like keto, Atkins, low-carb, or any other diet with a name. You just need to make sure you’re eating healthy, eating enough, and not eating too much. This way you’ll have the energy you need to workout and you won’t have a lot of excess fats and calories that contribute to weight gain.
Mistake # 3: Skipping Warm Ups
One of the most overlooked tips for a cardio workout, it’s important to remember that every workout needs a warmup. Never jump straight into high-intensity cardio workouts without warming up. Stretching and equipment-free exercises are ideal for your body to warm up.
Mistake # 4: Not Varying the Workout Intensity
Consistency is important for exercise. But so is varying the intensity of your workout. Doing only one type of exercise with the same intensity each time will help you in the beginning, but then you’ll hit a plateau. Increase difficulty and duration over time, as well as add in more difficult exercises when you feel ready.
Your Best Cardio Workout
The best workout is the one you will actually do.
So, no matter what activity you enjoy, if it gets your heart pumping, it’s the right workout for you!
If you want more guidance and inspiration, or a workout and diet plan tailored to your needs, you can seek the help of a personal trainer!
A personal trainer’s job is to make sure you know exactly how to support your health and fitness according to your specific needs. You can easily find personal trainers or in-person or virtual instruction through Superprof.
Enjoy the benefits of your cardio workout routine!
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