subject: Cardiovascular Exercises - Pick a Fun One To Suit You! [print this page] When aiming to improve fitness and general health, cardiovascular exercise should play a significant part. Fortunately, there are a huge amount of different cardiovascular workouts which can all really help raise fitness levels. The key is to having greater success is picking exercises that you actually enjoy doing and will want to keep doing on a regular basis. The following example are all really good cardio exercises, so why not see if any of these appeal to you and then, get going!
When doing cardio training you want to be working hard enough that your rate is at least 65% of your maximum heart rate. You can get a rough estimate of your maximum rate by taking your age away from 220. So, if you are 35 years old an estimate of your maximum rate would be 185 beats per minute, and a good training rate would be 75% of 185 which is about 120. Now, of course, this is just a rough estimate so your training rate might be a bit lower or it might be a bit higher; but this just gives you an idea.
When you are doing cardio exercise as a beginner always make sure that you begin slowly and end slowly so that your rate climbs and fall gradually. This will give you good warm up and cool down periods.
To get a quick idea of your heart rate whilst exercising simple feel for your beats and count how many there are in 10 seconds. Then multiply this number by 6 to give you your rate over a minute.
Cycling
Riding on a stationary cycling machine can give you a great cardio workout whilst also toning and working your legs and upper body. When you first get on the machine make sure the seat height is properly adjusted to suit you. You want your knees to be slightly bent and not over stretched. When cycling try not to lean onto the handle bars too heavily and relax the shoulders. Be sure to keep your legs and feet parallel and point straight forward and push through each pedal stoke. On most machines you can adjust the level of resistance to suit your requirements.
Walking
Going for a walk is such an everyday activity that many people don't consider it real exercise. When walking for fitness you do really need to pick up the pace a little bit as a gentle stroll around town is unlikely to get your heart beating very fast. Instead, go for an energetic power walk, take in the sights and feel the benefits of this great cardio exercise.
Boxercise
Mimicking a heavyweight boxer, you might feel silly at first, but as you soon as you get into the swing of it you'll be hooking and jabbing with the best of them. This really is a great cardio workout and is great at dispersing built up stress and tension! Just make sure you don't connect with anything, or anyone for that matter!
Have a Boogie
Yep that's right, get up, put on your favourite tune and get down! Dancing is a fantastic cardio workout and one that so many people enjoy so much they don't even realize how long they are going for. To get the full benefits you'll need to get really into it and get those arms (and legs) in the air!
Skipping
Skipping, or rope jumping, is a favourite of kids and, err, boxers alike! They are both definitely onto something though as jumping a rope is great fun and an excellent workout. If you are a beginner, please be careful at first, or just start off without the rope!
Step Aerobics
This is another good one for working those legs and the best thing is that most people can do it in their own home right on the stairs. If you don't have stairs then a workout step can be purchased pretty cheaply and really easily. To get the most out of it don't forget to get your arms involved too - no hands in pockets!
Cardiovascular Exercises - Pick a Fun One To Suit You!
