Cardio Exercise & Weight Loss
The healthiest way to lose weight and keep it off is through proper diet and exercise. A key part of any weight-loss program is cardiovascular exercise. Cardio exercise may be done through several different methods to burn fat
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The Facts
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Cardiovascular exercise is any exercise that elevates your heart rate and keeps it up for a prolonged period of time. Running, biking and swimming are usually associated with cardiovascular training, and several sports such as soccer, basketball, and ice hockey also can be used for your cardio training. Cardio exercise uses large muscle groups and forces your body to constantly provide oxygen to those muscles and keep your blood circulating.
Benefits
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Cardiovascular exercise burns fat and calories and speeds up your metabolism. An increased metabolism helps break down the food you consume rather than store the extra calories as fat. As a result, you will not only be losing weight, but also preventing your body from putting on additional fat. In addition, cardiovascular training has been known to reduce the risk of heart disease, osteoporosis and high cholesterol.
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Aerobic Training
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The most common and basic form of cardiovascular exercise is aerobic training. It involves training at a static pace for the duration of the workout. As a result, your heart rate will be moderately elevated to a fixed rate for the entire workout.
High Intensity Interval Training
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A more advanced, but effective method of cardiovascular training is high intensity interval training. It is a better fat burner and raises your metabolic rate more than aerobic training. High intensity interval training consists of rapidly increasing your heart rate for a very short period and then allowing it to fall back down before the next set. Thus, you will be working as hard as you can for a short period of time and then resting in between intervals.
Time Frame
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For the best results, try to work on your cardiovascular fitness level at least three to four times a week. Start with only fifteen minutes of training a day. Then, once you feel more comfortable, slowly increase your workouts by five minutes at a time. However, do not compromise your pace to increase the length of your workouts. The optimal time frame for cardiovascular exercise is 30 to 45 minutes at a time.
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