Cardio exercises are a vital part of workouts aiming to lose weight. Besides the obvious advantage of shedding pounds, cardio workouts include additional benefits such as improving stamina, defining muscles, improving the heart and lung function, boosting confidence and productivity, raising energy levels as well as preventing depression and anxiety, enabling you to sleep better. The key is in realizing what you aim to achieve by your workout and how to achieve it. Take a look at some of the best types of cardio workouts for weight loss.
1. Running
When talking about the cardio methods that melt the fat the fastest, we must mention running. Running is defined as an aerobic activity that burns around 600 calories per hour. It is a great way to lose weight and improve cardiorespiratory fitness. And on top of all, it doesn’t require any special equipment, so everybody can do it, anywhere and anytime! When running, the whole body is activated, especially the lower part of our body, stimulating hip flexors, hamstrings, quads and calves as well as the upper part of the body, such as our arms. Running is an ideal cardio exercise if you aim to burn fat, define muscles, generally improve your fitness performance and increase your metabolic rate for up to 24 hours, among other things.
2. Cycling
Another great way of losing fat is certainly cycling. It activates the same muscles as running does, except the fact that it is of lower impact, so it is a perfect activity for weight loss that literally anyone can do. It also burns around 600 calories per hour. Cycling can be done in two ways: indoors or outdoors. If you wish to exercise in the comfort of your home, then an ideal option for you would be to get an exercise bike and start burning those calories! And if you’re more of an outdoor type of person, then a regular city bike or perhaps a mountain bike for those who are more adventurous would be a good option. Besides the fact that cycling is a fun activity, it is also an activity that helps you burn that extra weight, while not being so demanding physically at the same time. To buy an exercise bike check on Relifesports.
3. Jumping rope
Jumping rope is one of the most effective ways to burn calories: it burns lots of calories, over 1000 per hour, it’s easy to do it and it increases your foot speed. Besides using the feet, jumping rope also activates shoulders, enhances coordination and stimulates sprinting. However, don’t be fooled with the apparent simplicity of this cardio workout. It is in fact one of the hardest aerobic exercises to be done correctly as it involves not only skill but also patience, concentration and strength. When it comes to frequency of jump rope exercises, it’s best used for shorter periods in order to avoid potential injuries. It is in the category of plyometric exercises, which means that both our feet are off the ground. It is an effective way to get your heart pumping and calories burning. Some other plyometric exercises include jumping jacks, split jumps and box jumps.
4. Swimming
Swimming is characterized as a total body workout, burning up to 600 calories per hour. Since swimming is done in a special weightless environment ie water, it is considered as low impact. Additionally, there is little or no risk of injury. It would be a good idea to combine different swimming styles in order to employ different muscle groups. It is a great cardio activity as it uses all the body’s main muscles, improves fitness performance and aids with weight loss.
5. Rowing
Similarly as with swimming, rowing on a machine also imposes a great total body workout that enables you to burn around 800 to 900 calories per hour. Many people consider rowing to be the perfect aerobic activity as it uses all the main muscles and it is a lower impact activity than running. Plus, it burns more calories than any other aerobic exercise often practiced for the aim of losing weight. It is a really good way to keep fit.
In order to achieve certain body goals, you need to know exactly what to do in order to be able to reach that goal. If your goal is to define your muscles, you should focus on strength workouts. On the other hand, if you wish to lose weight, you have to incorporate some cardio exercises in your regular workout routine. However, not all these exercises work for everybody. In order to endure in achieving your goal, make sure to choose an activity that you enjoy and that will help you lose calories at the same time. It will make the whole process much easier and less stressful.
