How To Improve Your Cardiovascular Health
Your heart is a muscle, and the more cardiovascular exercise you get, the stronger your heart can become.
In fact, cardiovascular exercise is particularly important for preventing coronary heart disease according to the BBC.
Cardiovascular exercise also has other considerable benefits, including weight loss, improved mood, increased energy levels and decreased body fat.
Getting regular cardiovascular exercise can also help to reduce your risk of injury since you’ll be building your body’s core strength, the part of your body that helps you keep your balance and stability.
Walking
When you first stat to increase your cardiovascular exercise, walking is likely the best exercise to choose.
Sure, everybody walks already, but few people really do it to maintain their health instead of to get from point A to point B.
To improve your cardiovascular health, try walking about 20 to 30 minutes each day at a moderate pace. You can walk on a treadmill if want to, but many people feel more inspired to walk when they can go outdoors and experience different sights and sounds each day.
Running
Running is definitely a more intense cardiovascular workout than walking, but you might be surprised at how quickly your body gets used to it.
Not only is running excellent for your heart, it’s also good for your body, and it’s one of the best ways to lose weight and build your overall endurance.
At a moderate pace, a person that weighs about 150 pounds will burn approximately 100 to 110 calories per mile. As you continue running, you should start to increase your pace as you go.
You don’t need to try to win any medals, but a seven or eight-minute mile is definitely achievable and something to work toward when you first start out.
Mountain Biking
Riding a bicycle, even a stationary bicycle is excellent cardiovascular exercise. However, riding a bicycle outdoors in nature where there are obstacles, inclines and unique paths is an even better workout for your body, as well as an excellent challenge for your mind.
Many people that don’t love rote exercises like walking or running find mountain biking enjoyable, and best of all, it’s something you can do with a partner or even your children on a safe trail.
Swimming
Swimming is a full-body exercise, and few exercises allow you to burn more calories in a single hour when done at a high intensity.
However, swimming doesn’t have to be an incredibly strenuous exercise, and it’s actually very easy on your body, which is why so many doctors recommend it to patients with joint problems.
As an added benefit, swimming will actually help you to build muscle since you’ll be using your arms, legs and core muscles to propel yourself through the water.
High-Intensity Interval Training
High intensity interval training, unlike walking or swimming, isn’t really a cardiovascular exercise that you can do at a slow pace, so you’ll need to be in decent shape before you can really reap the rewards it can bring.
High-intensity interval training is actually fairly simple. An example of a training session might include jogging one-quarter mile, sprinting 100 yards, and then jogging for another quarter mile.
This type of training forces your body to adapt to the different intensity levels, and can burn an incredible amount of fat in a relatively short period of time, making it ideal for people that like to push their athletic limits or are just short on time to work out.
