Cardio exercises. This is a term that you have heard more than once, but: do you know exactly what cardio is and what is it for? This is what we want to explain in this post, and we will give you some tips to help you achieve your goals.
What is cardio and what is it for
Cardio exercises are those that are also known as aerobic exercise. That is, those that are performed with efforts of low or medium intensity, but with a long duration. They are the opposite of anaerobic exercise, which emphasizes strength through intense effort in short periods of time. There are many disciplines that can be considered cardio, from running to dancing, walking, swimming …
But what is cardio really for? Well, for a lot of things. Mainly to maintain general well-being. Because it can be done at moderate intensity, all people can do this type of exercise, as opposed to anaerobic exercise, which requires more physical fitness.
On the other hand, its name gives us another key to understanding what cardio is for: it improves the functioning of our cardiovascular system. And, in particular, our heart. They make you work at a higher frequency, raising your heart rate and keeping you fit. However, it is necessary to know our own limitations, in particular the maximum heart rate that we can achieve. This limit is calculated using the formula 220 minus our age.
The heart isn’t the only organ that benefits from cardio exercise. The lungs do this as well, causing our physical resistance to increase. In particular, the volume of the lungs, that is, the volume of air that we can process.
But let’s not kid ourselves: many have a favorite answer to the question “what is cardio for”? This: Burn Calories Anaerobic exercise is very effective for losing weight, especially in the early stages, when excess fat in our body is evident.
Why not? Cardio also serves to improve our mood. By playing sports, we feel better, relieve stress and show what we are capable of. For many, doing these exercises first thing in the morning is the best way to start the day.
How to do cardio
There are no universal rules for doing cardio exercises, but the following conditions will help you plan:
- Choose an activity that really suits you. For example, one, if you want to meet at a training session or in a company, if you think now is the right time to chat.
- Did we say activity? Let’s put “different activities” better. An interesting tip is to change your cardio exercises to avoid monotony and make your workouts more complete.
- Think about it to follow a certain regularity. It will be useless for you to work hard, with intense sessions very often and others widely spaced in time. This will give you overload and risk of injury.
- Create a suitable exercise environment. If you decide to tune your fitness at home, make sure nothing distracts you. If you’re going for a run, wear good headphones to listen to your favorite music. And so with many other examples
- Don’t forget about stretching, which is the key to preventing injury. In this recent post, we touched on this topic related to cardio: running.
And now that you know what cardio is for and how to do it successfully, one final outfit tip: wear appropriate clothing. Choose based on the comfort, comfort, and sweat you want, because cardio will make you sweat. In our online sports shop we have a wide range of offers on this subject: from sweatshirts to tops, from long tights to sweatpants.