Any activity that raises your heart rate and keeps you in continuous motion counts as cardiovascular exercise. Combining a regular cardio program with a healthy, reduced-calorie diet will help you shed unwanted pounds while improving your physical fitness and reducing your risk of heart disease, according to Mayo Clinic. Know how much weight you can lose in a month of doing cardio so you can set realistic goals.
Factors
The amount of weight you can expect to lose by doing cardio depends on several factors. For instance, the time you spend exercising is critical; get at least 2.5 hours of exercise each week, recommends Mayo Clinic. How hard you exercise also matters. You'll burn more calories -- and lose more weight -- if you exercise longer or at a greater intensity. Your size also makes a difference. A heavier person has to use more energy to walk a mile or swim a lap, which means he'll burn more calories. The type of exercise you choose affects your progress, too. For example, ice skating tends to burn more calories per hour than hiking.
Goal Setting
If you haven't been exercising on a regular basis, the amount of weight you can lose in the first month or two of doing cardio will be limited. Start slowly. For example, begin walking at a moderate pace for 20 minutes a day three or four days a week. While this won't take off more than a pound or so, you'll prepare your body for greater effort in the future. Each month, set a goal for doing cardio based on your current level of physical fitness. Gradually increase the duration and intensity of your workouts -- the amount of weight you lose each month will steadily increase.
Intensity
Start your cardio workout with an intensity that raises your heart rate to about 50 percent of your maximum heart rate, or MHR, recommends The Walking Site. Deduct your age from 220 if you're a man, or 226 if you're a woman, to estimate your MHR. As your level of physical fitness improves, increase your exercise heart rate to between 60 and 70 percent of your MHR. This cardio intensity level lets you burn plenty of calories without pushing your body too hard. While it's important to do cardio at an intensity you're comfortable with, you also need to work toward a greater intensity so you can lose more weight each month. For example, a 160-lb. person running 5 mph burns 584 calories per hour, according to Mayo Clinic. The same person running 8 mph expends 986 calories per hour.
Calculation
It's easy to calculate how much weight you can lose once you know the amount of time you can spend doing cardio each month, as well as the type and intensity of activity. You must burn about 3,500 calories to lose 1 lb. Multiply the hours per month you exercise times the calories burned per hour for your weight and type of exercise. Divide this number by 3,500 to determine how many pounds you can lose in a month. For example, a 160-lb. person who runs 8 mph will burn about 986 calories per hour. If she exercises 15 hours in a month, she'll lose 4.2 lb.
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