What Are Cardio Exercises? | The A2Z Articles Directory

What Are Cardio Exercises?

The best definition that describes cardio exercises is the one that stresses your heart and lungs while performing them. This means that almost any exercise can be considered as cardio exercise because all exercises, regardless of the duration or intensity, stress the cardiorespiratory system to either sustain the activity or to recuperate from it.

The most common cardio exercises are the ones that are done for a prolonged period of time, 20 minutes or more. These exercises are performed in the aerobic zone which means that the body can recuperate while performing the exercise. The best examples of these exercises are walking, jogging, cycling, etc. The body can sustain these activities for the extended period of time and produce enough energy from the oxygen intake.

The other forms of cardio exercises are those performed in the anaerobic zone. This means that the exercise is so intense that the body cannot sustain the activity for more than a few moments. These exercises usually last up to 2 minutes and they require bursts of power that requires the body to recuperate with increased oxygen intake after the exercise. Given the intensity of the workouts, the recuperation can sometimes last from 24-48 hours, which also has a benefit of increased metabolic rate. This is why anaerobic exercises are considered to burn more calories than the exercises that are constantly performed in the aerobic zone.

Cardio exercises can be used as warm-up exercises (jogging, light running, cycling), main exercise activity (sprinting, high intensity interval training or even weight lifting) or as cool-down exercises (walking, light running).

The special type of cardio exercises is called high intensity interval training or HIIT. These are the exercises where you would constantly switch from aerobic to anaerobic zone and repeat that for a couple of intervals. The common HIIT exercise consists of walking or jogging as a warm-up, progressively increasing the speed to sprinting with the intensity where you cannot sustain it for more than 2 minutes, and then gradually slowing down to jogging or walking speed again. HIIT exercises have more benefits than classic steady-state cardio exercises because they are shorter in length, put more stress on the muscles which triggers muscle growth, increases the overall strength and power levels, and increases the metabolic rate which spends more calories even when your body is at rest.

Do you want to find out more about cardio exercises and the way the can improve your health and fitness level?
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Fitness enthusiast and content contributor for many fitness blogs and article directories. Dinko was computer hobbyist from the age of 5 but when it became his everyday profession, 12 years ago,?his thirst for knowledge and?a need to relax was fulfilled with fitness and healthy living ideology.

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