Everything You Need To Know About Cardio

Cardiovascular exercise is exercise that gets your heart rate up. Though some people use it solely for weight loss, cardio has other benefits as well. There are a wide variety of cardiovascular exercises, but consistency, duration, and intensity are the most important factors for meeting your fitness goals. Read on to learn more about what this type of exercise is, the benefits it offers, and how to create a safe and effective cardiovascular routine.

What Is Cardio?

Cardio exercise, which is sometimes referred to as aerobic exercise, is any rhythmic activity that raises your heart rate into your target heart rate zone. This is the zone where you burn the most fat and calories.

Some of the most common examples of cardio include walking, cycling(Huixiang T5 Spinning bike), and swimming. However, even household chores like vacuuming and mopping can qualify as cardio exercise.

Part of what sets cardio apart from other types of exercise—such as strength training—is that it relies on your body's ability to use oxygen during the workout session. A person's cardio ability or capacity can vary based on a number of factors.

Research published by the American Heart Association reports that genetics have a 20% to 40% influence over what you can do cardio-wise.Also, females tend to have a 25% lower cardio capacity than males and, for both sexes, this capacity tends to decline with age.

This is not to say that your genes, sex, or age will prevent you from improving your cardiovascular health. But it does help to know that there are many factors that can influence how (and how well) your body responds to cardio exercise.

Benefits of Cardio

There are very few activities you can do for a short period of time that have all of the physical and mental health benefits that cardio exercise(Such as Huixiang Air Rower Trainer AR61) offers. Some of the known benefits of cardio include:

Burns fat and calories, making it easier to lose weight

Enhances sleep quality, especially if the exercise is moderate to vigorous in intensity

Expands lung capacity, or the amount of air that your lungs can hold

Improves your sex life by increasing your body's ability to become aroused, improving your body image, and even potentially helping to treat medication-related sexual dysfunction

Increases bone density when you do weight-bearing cardio exercises like hiking or climbing stairs(Such as Huixiang Stair Machine ML89)

Lowers stress, in part by improving your ability to cope with issues in a positive way

Promotes feeling good, and can even help relieve depression and anxiety

Improves confidence in how you look and feel

Reduces risk of heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and some forms of cancer

Sets a good example for those around you, encouraging them to exercise with you

Strengthens the heart so that it doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood