subject: Top Cardio Exercises To Try [print this page] There are many different choices out there so you should figure out what you would enjoy doing on a day to day basis. But you do not have to pick just one activity, you can pick several.
Running is one of best activities you can do because you do not need to buy anything to do it. You can just jog around your neighborhood, a park, the beach, or anywhere else you are.
Best of all, you burn some serious calories while jogging, especially if you add hills and sprints to your routine. A 145 pound person can burn 300 in 30 minutes going at a moderate pace.
The downside is, it takes lots of practice to work up to a consistent speed. You should also watch your knees and ankles for any discomfort or pain from the impact of your strides.
Whether you are on a gym machine or swooshing over miles of snow, cross-country skiing is an incredible cardio exercise. What makes it so great is that it involves both your upper and lower body.
Because it incorporates both, it does not take much to get your heart rate to its target level. A 145 pound person can burn about 330 calories during 30 minutes of skiing.
The downside is that the activity is extremely hard to do. If it is something you want to pursue, take your time and ease into it until you get a solid pace going.
Outdoors or indoors, cycling gives you a great cardiovascular workout. Using all the power in your legs, you will increase endurance while burning a lot of calories.
You can burn anywhere from 250-500 in 30 minutes, depending on how fast you go and how high your resistance is. The elliptical trainer is a great way to build endurance while protecting your aching joints from high impact activities.
Plus, if you use one with arms, it is just like using a cross-country ski machine. The elliptical trainer is also a good choice for runners looking for a break from pounding the pavement.
A person can burn about 300 calories in 30 minutes on an elliptical trainer. Swimming, like cross-country skiing, is a full body exercise.
The more body parts you involve in your workout, the more calories you will burn. Best of all, your joints are fully supported in the water so you do not have to worry about high-impact injuries.
It is also great cross-training for other cardio activities and will help you tone your entire body in less time than you would with land exercises. Step aerobics is still a popular activity for gym goers, and women are not the only participants.
Step is one tough workout that targets your legs, butt, and hips while burning almost 400 calories in 30 minutes of high intensity sessions. Though it might look complicated, step is easy to learn if you start with a beginner class or video.
This is an often overlooked machine in the gym because most people are confused about how it works. A rowing machine can really get your heart rate up while working your arms like crazy.
In addition, it is probably not something you do very often which means you will burn even more calories. Because your muscles are not used to the motion, they will work harder, which will result in more calories burned.
Rock climbing burns a lot of calories in a short time, but it is not an activity that should be pursued by the faint of heart. It requires strength, endurance, and a high tolerance for heights.
Though you use strength and power with your arms and legs, rock climbing has a high learning curve and requires lots of special equipment. It can be more expensive that the other cardiovascular activities, but it is a chance to get you outdoors to take in nature.
