What are the benefits of Cardio exercise?


Cardio exercise is one of the most hated aspects of any fitness routine. Gyms are filled with  machines like treadmills, bikes, elliptical trainers and rowing machines, all of which aim to get your heart racing and you breathing deeply. The vast majority of people, even people who are focused on fitness, ignore cardio exercises though and instead focus on weights and bodyweight exercises. 

If you’re serious about fitness though you need to get serious about Cardiovascular exercise. There are numerous studies which show that Cardio offers a huge array of benefits to your health and well being. If you need motivation into why you should do Cardio then keep reading as we’ll outline the benefits you need.

If it wasn’t clear enough already not all exercises count as cardio. Cardio exercises are exercises that elevate the heart rate and get you breathing deeply. The aim is to get your heart rate into a target zone. You can calculate your  target heart rate by following the steps below (taken from experts at the Mayo clinic):

Subtract your age from 220 to get your maximum heart rate.

Calculate your resting heart rate by counting how many times your heart beats per minute when you are at rest, such as first thing in the morning. It's usually somewhere between 60 and 100 beats per minute for the average adult.

Calculate your heart rate reserve (HRR) by subtracting your resting heart rate from your maximum heart rate.

Multiply your HRR by 0.7 (70%). Add your resting heart rate to this number.

Multiply your HRR by 0.85 (85%). Add your resting heart rate to this number.

These two numbers are your average target heart rate zone for vigorous exercise intensity when using the HRR to calculate your heart rate. Your heart rate during vigorous exercise should generally be between these two numbers.

Once you’re in that target heart rate zone and staying in it, congratulations you’re doing cardiovascular exercise!

What are the benefits of Cardio then?

There are a number of ways that Cardio can provide benefits for you which have been proven by scientific studies. A few of the most common benefits include:

Weight Loss

Weight Loss is one of the most common reasons that people seek to start exercising. While fitness itself encompasses more than just losing weight  cardio vascular exercises is one of the most effective ways you can achieve that aim. The reason it’s so good is that Cardio exercises tend to burn more calories / minute than any other sort of exercises, and as we all know burning calories is the key to losing excess body fat.  So if you want to get rid of your spare tyre you should go for a run or  hop on a bike.

Heart Wellness

Whilst we call the exercises cardio for short, the full name is cardiovascular exercises. This is because Cardio focuses on improving your cardiovascular system, which is defined as the system in your body that circulates blood to your various organs. At the centre of this system is the heart. So it makes sense that cardio exercise would help you build up a healthy heart so that you can get your blood pumping and delivering oxygen to your body. The impact of a healthy cardiovascular system can’t be udnerstated. By getting cardio exercise you lower the risk of heart disease and cardiac episodes, so make sure they’re a part of your workout.

Body Strengthening

Cario exercises are  a great way to keep your muscles tones. Whilst it used to be thought that cardio wasn’t an effective means to build muscle ( especially in comparison to body weight exercises or weight lifting) cardio can really help tone muscles in certain areas of your body. Going for run  will help build up muscles in your legs much like cycling will. All over body workouts like swimming can strengthen your entire body with a single cardio workout. 

Less Stress and more Sleep

Cardio exercise not only has physical benefits but mental ones as well. Studies have shown that cardio can help reduce stress and even reduce instances of depression due to the way that cardio exercise helps increase the production of serotonin in the body. Serotonin is an important hormone which helps stabilise our mood and keeps us happy. It’s the hormone responsible for what is often called the “ Runners High”. With Cardio exercises like running, and biking all helping produce more serotonin by adding more cardio into your exercise program you’ll be able to  

To learn more about how Cardio exercise can benefit you head over to My Home Personal Trainer and talk to one of our expert trainers.