Thursday, August 20, 2009

Cardio Exercise As A Way To Pump Up Your Metabolism

By Ricardo d Argence

Cardio exercise it as necessary for overall health and fitness as anaerobic exercise (lifting weights) is. When you do cardio, you get your heart rate going and increase blood circulation throughout your body.

Basically cardiovascular exercise is something for the entire body in that you should work up a sweat, breathe a bit harder and get your heart rate jumping all at the same time, at least ideally.

A good cardio routine has many benefits the number one being working the most important muscle and organ of the body, the heart. During cardio workouts, you should raise your pulse rate and keep it raised for a minimum time period, which increases your fitness and thereby increases overall health and well-being.

Before you begin any type of fitness plan, you should see your family physician. Getting an overall physical will let you know if there are any health reasons why you cannot participate in a vigorous workout routine.

Perhaps one of the biggest and most widely touted benefits of cardio routines is the fact that it burns off unneeded calories and helps you to lose excess weight. You will get the added benefit of toning your entire body as well.

The benefits of a cardio routine do not stop there! Not only will you burn extra calories during your workout but also you will continue to burn more calories when at rest. Recent studies suggest that this added burn can continue for up to 18 hours after you complete your routine.

While you are toning and getting fit your body will naturally begin to burn more calories and at a faster rate. The main reason for this is that as your fitness level rises you gain muscle and lose fat; it is a proven fact that muscle burns more calories even while you are sitting on the couch.

Are you feeling a little down in the dumps? Cardiovascular exercise can help with that too. Cardio gets the heart pumping and stimulates the production and release of endorphins, the feel good hormones. Everyone has endorphins; they are the body�s natural painkillers and can alleviate many symptoms of depression.

That being said if you have spent a good amount of time living a sedentary lifestyle do not try to go for the gusto all at once. This can cause significant injury and will only set you back. Injuries must have time to heal and this will take time away from getting fit.

First visit the doctor like has already been suggested to make sure you have a clean bill of health. When your physician says you are able to begin vigorous activity you can set up your regimen. However use wisdom and common sense, begin slowly perhaps by taking a ten-minute vigorous walk each day. Do not feel bad if you cannot do the full ten minutes in the beginning, even five minutes of exercise is better than none at all.

After about two weeks, you're going to notice something funny happening here. You're going to notice that you have more energy, that you sleep better, that you have fewer cravings for "bad" foods, and that you just in general feel better. Most of all, perhaps, you are going to notice that your mood is a lot more positive. That's great; keep going.

As you progress toward your fitness goals, you are going to have to increase your challenges to keep moving forward. Remember when you do a cardio workout you should always break a sweat and be breathing harder by the time it is over. Go for around 20 minutes per day at least five days per week.

Of course, once you embark on a good cardio program, you're only going to help yourself if you change your diet to so that you eat right, get enough sleep, drink enough water, and all those other good health changes, too. After all, once you start with cardio, you'll never want to look back.

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