The effects of aerobic exercise include lowering of the level of bad cholesterol in the body, decrease in hypertension, improvement in the body's immune systems and good moods and alleviated feelings on account of release of hormones that are good for your body.
In addition to burning calories and lowering your body fat, cardio will help to strengthen your heart and lungs. Since heart disease is the leading cause of premature death for both men and women, cardiovascular fitness is a very important.
With that in mind, here are 12 tips to get the best of out of your cardio…
1 - If your primary reason for beginning an exercise program is to become leaner, now is also a good time to have a photograph of yourself taken (preferably in a bathing suit or workout gear). This photograph will be indispensable in motivating your to continue - and in benchmarking your progress.
2 – Picking the right type of music as you exercise to can be very important. You may end up trying to keep up with the beat of the music, or perhaps slowing down. Put on a lively CD and let the music pump your energy. The activity will keep your mind busy and the music will pump your adrenaline. You'll finish with your workout before you'll even know.
3 – Before you start your cardio session, do five to ten minutes of low-intensity exercise on a stationary bike or a treadmill. This will elevate your body temperature which helps avoid injury. Once your muscles are warm (after warm up) and after the cardiovascular exercise, you should stretch those muscles used in the exercise.
4 - Far from being the bad boy of metabolism, lactic acid provides fuels for many tissues, helps use dietary carbohydrates, and serves as fuel for liver production of glucose and glycogen. In fact, lactic acid is nature’s way of helping you survive stressful situations.
5 - Most people lose any and all the benefits of a heightened metabolism within 30 minutes of finishing a step aerobic workout. If you want more fat burning its better to combine interval training and weight training as it can go on for a 72 hour lift in metabolism.
6 - Remember, exercise only accounts 20% of your weight loss success. The other 80% is determined by your diet, so to get the best results from your cardio try to eat as “clean” as possible.
7 - If you don’t want to take your pulse all the time during aerobic exercise, apply the talk test to see if you’re in your training heart rate range. You should be breathing heavier than normal, but still be able to carry on a conversation.
8 - Write down a weekly target and stick with it. Use a calendar and mark each day you’ve followed this plan with a big red “X” this can motivate you and give you a feeling of accomplishment when all those “X’s” start to add up.
9 – Pick 3 to 5 cardio exercises and rotate them this way you don’t become bored doing the same exercise or using the same exercise equipment over and over again. By rotating your exercises, you keep your body and muscles from getting used to that exercise and you can achieve better fat burning benefits.
10 - Remember that too much exercise is bad for you so stick with 3 to 4 workout sessions per week each being 30 to 45 minutes in length and maintain a good level of intensity. This way you won’t overdo the cardio and burn out and help to avoid an injury to yourself.
11 - Get out of an exercise rut with these fun alternatives to joining or dragging yourself to a gym. Why not take up dancing? Its fun when you dance, you open yourself up to physical, mental and social benefits. Also dancing regularly and you will strengthen your cardiovascular system, relieve joint stiffness, increase flexibility and improve balance.
12 – If you can avoid any types of energy drinks as these can added to your calorie intake, and you will only have to burn them off also. Why not try drinking beetroot juice! In recent tests beetroot juice was found to help as much or even as much as “hi- energy” drinks.
By: Barry J McDonald
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