Weight loss is a complicated process involving so many aspects of your life including: having a healthy diet plan, balancing your hormones, addressing any gut issues and lowering inflammation. Cardio is a great component of exercise to lose weight. It works by increasing your heart rate and burning the calories in the form of glucose and fat.
Whether you want to lose weight, get fit, or just be healthier, cardiovascular exercises are an essential component of any workout. Health specialists recommend 150 minutes of cardio per week to reduce health risks. If you want to lose weight or keep it off, you may have to do more.
Some benefits of cardiovascular exercises include:
- It helps you burn fat and calories for weight loss.
- It makes your heart strong so that it doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood.
- It increases your lung capacity.
- It helps reduce your risk of heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and some forms of cancer.
- It makes you feel good, and can even provide temporary relief from depression and anxiety.
Here are top 5 cardiovascular exercises you can start now to help you lose weight…. And guess what? You do not necessarily need to go to the gym!
- Intermittent Sprint
Running is a good exercise for weight loss. It could be done in your neighborhood, road, cross country, track or at the gym using the treadmill for about 30 mins nonstop. One of the most common cardiovascular exercises, running helps to burn up to 1200 calories. Running on an incline rather than on the flat burns more calories by as much as 50%. Incline running increases your heart rate quicker. During your 30 minutes running workout, run on a flat surface and try incline running every 5 – 10 minutes. Regardless of your running prowess, get the best tips money can’t buy here.
- High-Intensity Interval Training
This includes a number of exercises at high-intensity – like burpees, jumping squats, jumping lunges, high knees, and step jumps. It helps to burn up to 500 calories within 35 mins. Ensure you are doing these exercises in the correct form and preferably do a set of 10 reps of each exercise then take a break of 10 secs. Never extend your rest period in order to achieve the number or calories expected to burn. Glazia Contributor and renowned fitness expert, Maje Ayida and his team at HIIT Sqaud do some great HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), you may want to check them out here.
- Skipping
This is one of the easiest and effective cardiovascular you can do at home. Get a jumping/skipping rope and Grab a handle with each hand. Flip the rope over your head to your back. Start hopping at a low speed and jump the rope. After finishing 25 jumps, increase your speed and jump the rope 50 times. Take a 10 second break and continue with different styles.
- Cycling
In cycling you require a stationary bike or gear bike to perform this exercise. It is very effective as it helps to burn 200-300 calories within 20mins. Start pedaling at a medium speed. After about a minute, increase your pedaling speed so that you feel the burn in your thighs in just a minute or two. Do not stop pedaling for 3 minutes. Slow down a bit for a minute and then do high-speed biking for 3-5 minutes.
- Swimming
This exercise require a prior knowledge of swimming to make it effective. It helps to burn calories as much as 500-700 calories in 60 mins. All you need to do is wear appropriate swimming gear, get into the water and do freestyle strokes. Do about 10 laps so that you engage all the muscles and get a good workout. Learn other strokes to help you swim faster and burn more calories.
Written by Agbaje Omoniyi