If you're trying to lose weight, cardio exercise is just one of the things you need in your weight loss toolbox. The trouble is figuring out how much you need, how hard to work and the best cardio exercises. Your first step in setting up an effective cardio program is to learn just what it can do for your body.
How Cardio Helps You Lose Weight
You already know that you lose weight when you burn more calories than you eat. The best way to do that is with a combination of cardio, strength training and a healthy diet. But, the cornerstone of most weight loss programs is cardio, cardio, cardio. Just some of the reasons it's important are:
* It helps you burn more calories in one sitting. Getting your heart rate up means your blood is pumping, you're breathing hard, you're sweating and burning calories.
* With many cardio exercises, you can burn 100 to 500 calories depending on how hard you work, how long you exercise and how much you weigh.
* Burning calories with exercise means you don't have to cut as many calories from your diet.
* You can do cardio exercise most days of the week without worrying about injury or overtraining.
The Best Cardio Exercises
You know cardio is important for weight loss, but which exercises are best and how much do you really need for weight loss?
The truth is, there really is no best cardio exercise. The best activity is the one you'll do on a regular basis. So, finding something you like is critical to reaching your weight loss goals. That said, some exercises offer more intensity than others.
* Impact activities: Exercises that involve some impact, like walking, will usually boost your heart rate quicker than no-impact activities like swimming or cycling.
* High impact activities: High impact, or exercises that involve running or jumping, will often burn more calories than lower impact things like walking.
* Whole body activities: When you involve both the upper and lower body, as in cross-country skiing, it's often easier to get the heart rate up and burn more calories.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't bother with low impact exercise. Both types of activities offer opportunities to burn calories and doing both gives you a well-rounded program. To get an idea of just how much cardio can do for you, check out the following list of common exercises. Below is the number of calories burned for a 150-pound person in 30 minutes:
* Step aerobics: 340 calories
* Stationary bike: 238 calories
* Swimming: 270 calories
* Walking 4 mph: 170 calories
* Running 5 mph: 270 calories
* Mowing the lawn with a push mower: 200 calories
As you can see, everything from walking to cutting the grass can burn a significant number of calories, which is one reason cardio is so important for losing weight.
How Much Cardio Do You Need?
It's tough to know exactly how much cardio we need for weight loss. The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association recommend about 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity on most days of the week. But, the truth is, how much cardio you need varies from person to person and depends factors such as:
* How many calories you eat
* How hard you exercise
* Your metabolism, age and gender
* Your fitness level
* Your body fat percentage and weight
* Your exercise schedule
That said, there are some tips for setting up an effective cardio program:
* If you're a beginner, start with 3 to 4 days of the cardio exercise of your choice, working at a level you can handle.
* Add time each week to work your way up to 30 to 45 minutes of continuous exercise.
* As you get stronger, try interval training once a week to help boost endurance and burn more calories.
* Work your way up to 5 to 6 days of cardio and try to vary what you do and how hard you work.
You can learn more about different levels of intensity in Burn More Fat with Cardio Exercise. These sample cardio schedules will help you set up your own program.
