Cardio exercise is any continuous activity that raises both heart and breathing rates and is sustained over a prolonged period. It can be brisk walking, running, cycling or swimming. Alternatively, you could use a treadmill, elliptical machine, rowing machine, stationary bike, recumbent bike, stair climber or rowing machine or attend any number of aerobic classes at a gym.
Benefits of Cardio
Cardio exercise strengthens and increases the capacity of the heart and lungs. The American Heart Association recommends that healthy adults under age 65 do 30 minutes per session of moderately intense cardiovascular exercise five days a week, or 20 minutes per session of vigorously intense cardiovascular exercise three days a week. Cardio exercise also assists in weight and fat loss.
Moderately Intense Cardio
Depending on your level of fitness, moderate or low-intensity cardiovascular exercise can be sustained between 15 to 60 minutes or beyond. A 60-minute run in your local park or 30-minute brisk walk to the shopping mall and back are low-intensity cardio activities. Walking is a useful way of starting your fitness journey if you are overweight and not conditioned for exercise or recovering from illness.
Recent Developments
Recent research has cast doubts on the effectiveness of low-intensity cardio exercise. Commenting on the 1997 study by Dr. Izumi Tabata at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan, Dr. Alexander Koch, associate professor of Health and Exercise Sciences at Truman State University in Missouri, said: "The Tabata Protocol provides a strong stimulus to improve your cardiovascular fitness with a very short duration workout,...more studies are now revealing that exercise intensity, rather than frequency and duration, is the key variable behind improvement in maximum oxygen consumption."
The Tabata Protocol
The Tabata Protocol involves high-intensity intermittent cardio exercise. For example, a short 30-second sprint, followed by 30 seconds of rest or brisk walking, then repeating the sequence. Doing this five times will give you a highly intense five-minute cardio workout. You can do this outdoors or in a gym on a stationary bike, treadmill, rowing machine or any other cardiovascular equipment. Start off slowly if you are new to exercise. Reduce the speed of your sprint or substitute it for brisk walking.
Cardio and Weight Loss
Do high-intensity cardio exercise to accelerate weight loss. The body uses up a lot of the energy stored in its muscles during intense cardio activity. After exercise, during recovery, the body replenishes these stores by tapping into energy that would otherwise have gone into fat stores. Additionally, the only energy available to the body for its normal functioning will be your existing fat stores, which are easily accessible in the now oxygen-rich environment of your body after intense cardio exercise.
Cardio and Diabetes
Researchers at Aldenbrook's Hospital in Cambridge, Britain, studied 650 non-diabetic men and women to discover what type of physical activity had a significant effect on insulin resistance. They found that intense exercise had a major effect on insulin levels. Low-intensity activity did not show the same effect, suggesting that high-intensity cardio exercise can be a significant factor in reducing the risk of diabetes.
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