Cardio exercises keep the body healthy and heart important, enhance your fitness, and are as easy as walking or running, but mastering them may require some effort and patience, to get their benefits.
For example, you should warm up before exercising, as well as gradually increase the intensity or duration of the exercise.
So how to carry out cardio exercises efficiently? How do you make the most of your health and fitness?
What are cardio exercises?
Cardiovascular exercises, in which your large body muscles are used in motion over a continuous period of time, while maintaining your heart rate at least 50% of its maximum level.
One example of these exercises is running, walking or swimming, they are easy exercises, so cardio exercise may be the preferred option for beginners.
Cardiac exercises are divided into:
1. High impact exercises:
like rope jumping, where your foot is off the floor, which is known as weight-bearing exercises; It supports your body weight against gravity.
2. Low impact exercises:
Like a walk, one foot remains on the floor at all times.
3. Impactless exercises:
Like swimming, water mitigates the effect of gravity on the body, but no effect means it’s unhelpful, as swimming is a very useful sport for the body.
How to carry out cardio exercises efficiently
Choosing the exercises you prefer before anything, warming up before exercising, as well as grading and not suddenly increasing the duration or intensity of the exercise, as shown below:
1. Choose a workout you love:
You should choose an exercise that you prefer, because it will help you to adhere to. Walking is an example of a favorite exercise for many people, and it doesn’t require special equipment, and it can be done anywhere.
If you are not a walking amateur, there are other exercises you might prefer, such as swimming, running, cycling or others, what’s important is to choose what works for you.
But don’t forget that any exercise can be difficult, especially at first, so don’t rule out any exercise just because it’s difficult at first; It then becomes easier as long as it continues to practice it.
2. Body and Brain Preparation:
If you have just started working out, you may not know how much exercise is right for your body, or can handle it. If you are a beginner, for example, it is preferable to start working out three days with a rest day between them.
This will help you learn about your body’s response to exercise, as well as how you feel about adhering to an exercise schedule if it’s simple, the brain needs time to adapt to changes like the body as well.
3. The importance of warm-up:
It is preferable to start each warm-up exercise session for 5 – 10 minutes, this warm-up may include light exercises to gradually increase heart rate; Exercises should not be performed with force or high speed without warm-up.
Exercises should also be quietly finished, helping to relax and keep your muscles flexible.
4. Choose the right speed and intensity:
Your effort should be slightly greater than your comfort level, while continuing to carry out exercises for as long as possible, and you should start with the right fit, neither at high speed nor too strong a greater probability.
You may initially only be able to perform cardio exercises for a few minutes, but as the duration and intensity of the exercise will increase.
Nor should you focus too much on the distance or speed you go through any exercise, especially in the first few weeks, just focus on doing the exercise properly, and as you can gradually improve your fitness, you can increase it.
5. Increase the duration of exercise:
You can slowly increase the duration of your workout every week until you reach a workout of 30 minutes per session, and if you increase by 1 minute per workout, that’s enough.
Better to increase progressively, this will make you a better advantage than to suddenly increase the intensity of your workout, and then stop doing it, because you haven’t graded according to your ability.
How to improve your performance in cardio exercises
These following tips may help you increase the effectiveness of exercises and improve your performance of cardio:
+ Prepare for exercises:
by eating appropriate food and ensuring that the body is hydrated by drinking appropriate amounts of water before exercising.
+ Start exercises slowly:
Start by increasing the intensity of the exercise suddenly and quickly may expose you to injury, exercise should be done as much as you feel comfortable with, and increase the intensity or duration thereafter slowly without rush.
+ Rest and Recovery: Extra days should be taken to recover, especially if you feel tired or in pain, sometimes you may feel more powerful, but once that energy is depleted and you feel tired after exercising, it is okay to take some rest, it is necessary.
+ Try new activities:
Once exercises are used, try to make some changes, for example by doing a new exercise, because repeating the exercise itself can lead to boredom, as well as occasional muscle injuries.
Ways to increase the effectiveness of cardio exercises
Some innovative methods may help improve outcomes for cardiac exercise, such as:
1. Track your heart rate:
Exercising without a heart rate monitor is like driving your car without a speedometer; This device, which may be a smart watch, allows you to monitor your heart rate, track changes in exercise, and make your workouts more organized.
Following up on your heartbeat during your workout explains how difficult your workout is, and this data also helps you know when your workout is shortened.
Here’s this additional information, The target heart rate area varies depending on age and intensity of exercise. For example, for a 30-year-old, the heart rate area is as follows:
- Low-intensity exercises: 95 – 114 strokes per minute.
- Medium-intensity exercises: 114 – 134 strokes per minute.
- Aerobic exercises: 133 – 152 strokes per minute.
- High-intensity exercises: 143 – 162 strokes per minute.
- Maximum intensity: 190 strikes per minute.
2. Focus on heart rate recovery:
The heart may slow down more quickly after strenuous exercises. This decrease in heart rate after doing these exercises determines your fitness level.
After high-intensity exercise, track how fast your heart rate is dropping for one and two minutes, target at least 10 strokes in the first minute, and 20 or more strikes in two minutes.
3. Build heart strength:
High-intensity cardiac exercises may help build heart strength; The heart adapts to exercise, and the rate of its impact increases.
A high-speed treadmill can be used to increase heart strength, during which you will feel your heartbeat rise, when you reach 85-90% of the estimated peak heart rate; Slow down the pace of walking to allow yourself time to recover.
You should also keep walking until your heart rate is 60% lower than the peak of your heart rate. Increasing your heart rate on this format builds heart strength and increases the effectiveness of your exercises.
