The range of cardio exercises is quite wide—whether you’re sprinting, cycling, jumping rope, or dancing, cardio workouts are designed to burn calories and build endurance. Below, you’ll discover some of the most popular and high-impact cardio moves, get clear answers to the question “what is cardio?”, and learn how to achieve powerful results in a short time by applying these techniques consistently.
What is Cardio?
The answer to the question, what is cardio; is a type of exercise that, although it may seem a bit laborious to most people at the beginning, if you work consistently and correctly, can significantly increase your energy and contribute to your fitness. Cardio, short for cardiovascular exercise, refers to any activity that raises your heart rate and improves the efficiency of your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. Cardio is a set of exercises that increase your heart and respiratory rate and improve the function of your heart, lungs and circulatory system.
So, how do you do cardio? There are several very common questions about cardio exercises. Below, all of them are addressed one by one and clarified.
The Most Effective Cardio Moves
Your cardio options are almost limitless. You just need to keep the intensity high enough to challenge your heart and lungs. Here are some of the types of exercises that can fall under cardio:
- Running
- Cycling
- Walking
- Swim
- Climbing Stairs
- Kickboxing
- Jump Rope
- Dance
- HIIT
- Sports Branches
1. Burpee
Burpees are one of the most preferred activities in cardio training. In the burpee series, you need to perform movements such as squats, planks, squats again and vertical jumps in quick succession. You can add different variations to the burpees, which greatly increase body coordination and agility. Like push-ups instead of planks.
2. Jump Rope
Jumping rope is one of the most popular cardio exercises and one of the most effective exercises for burning belly fat. According to research, it is possible to burn about 400 calories when you jump rope with a normal heart rate for 30 minutes. If you want to increase the calories you burn, you can wear weights during your jump, use different jumping techniques or spin the rope faster. This movement is very effective for balance, agility, muscle coordination and endurance.
3. Shadow Boxing
Shadow boxing is a full-body cardio workout that uses realistic striking and defense techniques against an imaginary opponent. Mixed movements from different branches are performed. Along with the upper body, knees and feet are also included. Shadowboxing is particularly effective for conditioning/abdominal muscle development, weight loss and body toning.
4. Rowing
Rowing is one of the most powerful and effective activities you can do to get your heart rate up and work the whole body. When you work out on the rowing machine in gyms for about half an hour, you can burn an average of 400 calories! In addition, if you like outdoor sports, you can increase your endurance and enjoy weight loss in a short time by rowing in a real boat. Rowing is most beneficial for the biceps, back and legs. Muscle volume increases significantly.
5. High Splash to Box
One of the most effective exercises in CrossFit training is the “High Jump to the Box”. It is beneficial to perform the movement in the gym with trainers, but you can also do it at home after making sure of your safety. For the movement, after squatting, you need to jump on top of the box and then jump back down to the squat position. It “s safe to say that the “High Jump to the Box” is a very effective exercise for weight loss and calorie burning.
When choosing the right and effective cardio programs for yourself, it is always beneficial to consult an expert first. With a consistent and enjoyable cardio program and a healthy diet, you can feel much more energetic and significantly improve your quality of life by staying fit and healthy.
Is Cardio Any Exercise That Increases Heart Rate?
Not really. Everything from getting out of bed in the morning, to walking around, to lifting and lowering anything can increase your heart rate. For an activity to qualify as cardio, it must meet both of the above criteria.
In short, your heart and respiratory rate should be elevated during exercise, just as you would be challenged in a chest workout or abdominal workout, and the activity in question should challenge your cardiovascular system.
Although activities such as walking and cycling have their benefits and are cardiovascular in nature, they are not cardio if you are not doing them with sufficient intensity or as a performance sport. This is because they don’t challenge the heart and lungs enough to improve their function.
Is Cardio Aerobic Exercise?
An aerobic exercise is a form of cardio, but it never functions in isolation; the aerobic system and anaerobic system work together in the body.
Think of your body as a hybrid car with two engines; one engine is aerobic, meaning it needs oxygen to run, and the other is anaerobic, meaning it doesn’t need oxygen. Both engines are always active, but depending on the duration and intensity of your training, one will work harder than the other.
The aerobic system is best for long and relatively easy activities. It is the system used for the activities you do most of your day; low-intensity types of exercise such as working at a desk, eating, walking and jogging. For 20 minutes or more of sustained low-intensity activity, the aerobic system shines.
The anaerobic system involves fast and intense activities such as barbell squats or a 30-second sprint. It is also the more dominant system during repetitive intense cardio workouts such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
Research over the last two decades shows that both aerobic and anaerobic exercise can improve cardiovascular functioning. This is why both types of activity are characterized as “cardio exercise”.
Should Heart Rate Be Monitored for a Good Cardio Workout?
Since cardiovascular exercise is directly related to how hard your heart is working, you need to know your heart rate.
Sports professionals use the Karvonen formula (Target heart rate = Resting heart rate + age (220 – resting heart rate – age)) to determine the intensity of cardio exercise. This formula allows a person to perform a cardiovascular exercise at the right intensity for their age, gender, health history, sports history and goals.
We can measure heart rate during exercise on the neck or wrist, or we can use heart rate monitors, but these methods can be cumbersome or costly. Fortunately, there is a more practical way to monitor how hard your heart is working.
It is possible to use the speech test to measure heart rate. If you find it difficult to speak even short sentences during your workout, it probably means that you are in the right range for the activity to qualify as cardio exercise.
Do You Need to Run, Bike or Swim for Cardio?
When it comes to cardio, it’s not what you do, but how you do it.
You can use the aforementioned conversation test to determine whether your chosen activity is cardio exercise or not.
What are the Benefits of Cardio?
Cardio is arguably one of the healthiest activities you can do, like brushing your teeth and getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night.
When you do cardio exercise, by challenging and strengthening your cardiovascular system, you increase your body’s capacity to take in oxygen, pump blood to working muscles and remove carbon dioxide and other waste products from your system. In addition, as your heart becomes more efficient at pumping blood, your resting heart rate slows down, reducing stress on your most vital muscle.
The bottom line is that cardio benefits help your heart and lungs work better during both exercise and rest. It’s also extremely beneficial for burning fat, controlling weight and getting fit, increasing endurance and relieving stress.
How to Choose the Best Cardio Workout for You
Research suggests that 4 or 5 cardio exercises per week are ideal for cardiovascular health and longevity. Since cardio encompasses many different activities such as cycling, dancing or even raking leaves, you can incorporate cardio into your life by choosing a few that suit you best.
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So how can you decide which cardio to do?
You can use these 4 factors to choose the right cardio exercise for you:
1. Convenience: The exercise you choose should involve minimal preparation and equipment. It should also be easily accessible.
2. Preference: Since cardio is an ongoing exercise, you should choose an activity that you love and are excited to do.
3. Physical Restrictions: If you have a history of joint injuries in various parts of your body, especially in your knees, ankles and lower back, you should avoid high-intensity activities. In such cases, stick to low-impact exercises such as Pilates or yoga. Yoga/Pilates exercises increase your heart rate and make you sweat without any bounce or impact on your joints.
4. Time: You can do cardio exercises for long minutes or, if time is an issue, you can increase the intensity of the activity and complete your workouts in a shorter time. For example, a 30-minute HIIT workout can be a very effective cardio workout.
Cardio can be a steady-state (Steady-State Cardio) exercise performed at low to moderate intensity, such as running or cycling. Cardio can also be a HIIT workout. HIIT workouts are forms of exercise that involve 20 to 120 seconds of intense loading followed by a rest period that allows for the same level and intensity of loading. For example, Tabata and Insanity Training are among the most effective cardio workouts you can do.
To get the most efficient results from cardio training, it is important to apply the right methods. For example, keep in mind that the cardio exercises you choose should include large muscle groups in the legs and torso, as small muscle groups alone do not create a large enough oxygen demand to put a strain on the cardiovascular system.
You may be interested to read: Best Exercise for burning calories.
How Should I Eat While Doing Cardio?
In order to get the best results from cardio exercises, it’s also very important to get your diet in order. A diet that provides a healthy balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins can help you achieve what you desire.
Pre-Cardio Nutrition
Before cardio workouts, it is recommended to focus more on healthy carbohydrates (whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables) because proteins and fats are harder to digest. Of course, the fibers in carbohydrates also make them harder to digest, so it’s important to get the amount right. If your workout is still 3-4 hours away, you can have a normal meal such as grilled chicken salad with wholemeal bread or grilled salmon with wholemeal rice and broccoli. If it is 1 hour or less before your workout, choose healthy and light snacks such as granola bars, fat-free yogurt and fruit.
Post-Cardio Nutrition
To recover tired muscles and re-energize your body after cardio workouts, it is beneficial to consume foods high in protein and healthy carbohydrates. If you ate less than 4 hours ago, you can replace the meal with healthy snacks such as protein bars, hummus, a glass of cocoa milk or a turkey sandwich with half a portion of whole grain bread. Healthy fats include peanut butter, olive oil, salmon, avocado, eggs and nuts.
Choosing right gear while exercising:
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Sources:
1. https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/blog/
2. https://www.masterclass.com/
3. https://www.sharecare.com/health/
