Fitness is becoming an increasing problem. Every year it seems that more and more people develop poor eating habits and spend more time in front of TV and computer screens than exercising. However, that trend can be turned around. One way to do that is through cardio fitness.

Defining Cardio Fitness

Before we can understand the ins and outs of cardio fitness, we need to understand what cardio fitness actually is. Generally, people think of a cardio activity as any prolonged sort of exercise, such as biking or jogging. That’s somewhat true, but there’s more to it than that.

Cardio exercise is actually exercise that raises your heart to the latter end of your target heart rate zone. That’s sort of an exercising sweet spot. It’s the point at which your heart is pumping your blood enough to be working hard, but not over worked. Typically, that means that you’re feeling the workout, but still able to breathe regularly and talk without too much difficulty, while you train.

Benefits of Cardio Exercises:

Although many people do cardio to lose weight, there are many hidden benefits of cardio exercise. For example, it helps you to sleep better at night. That can give you more energy, help you to avoid illness and fatigue and even improve your mood. Cardio exercises can also lower your blood pressure and your cholesterol, which will reduce your chances of heart attacks and strokes. When you combine all of that with weight control, the benefits are clear.

High Versus Low Intensity Cardio:

You’ve probably heard cardio described as either low or high intensity, but what’s the difference. Well, low intensity cardio is typically done for about 30 to 60 minutes at a time. It’s any exercise that gets your heart pumping at about 60 or 65 percent of its maximum capacity.

On the other hand, there’s high intensity cardio. That involves getting your heart pumping to up to 85 percent of its capacity. It’s usually only done for short spurts, though. The typical length is about 20 to 30 minutes per session. What cardio routine to do will depend a bit on you.

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