10 Benefits of Cardio Exercise, Not Just for Heart Health

You must be familiar with cardio exercise. Sports such as running, swimming, and cycling are included. Although it is commonly done, many people do not know what cardio is and what are the actual benefits of cardio for the body. Check out the meaning of cardio exercise and its health benefits below!

What is Cardio Exercise?

Cardio is any type of exercise that can increase your heart rate. Cardio training is basically an abbreviation of cardiovascular exercise. The purpose of cardio training is to train the heart and circulatory system.

An exercise is considered a cardio workout if it's done for at least 10 minutes and can increase your heart rate by 50-75% of your maximum heart rate. When you move and find that your heart is beating fast and hard, it's a sign you're doing cardio.

Benefits of Cardio Exercise

There are many types of cardio including running, swimming, cycling, climbing stairs, soccer and many other sports. Cardio exercise is useful for maintaining overall body health. What are the other benefits of cardio exercise?

1. Heart Health New Beginning

You probably already know that cardio, or "aerobic," -- the kind that gets your heart pumping -- is good for your heart. This lowers your resting pulse rate and strengthens your heart muscle. That's why, when you slowly lengthen your cardio workout, you can cover longer times and distances. But your heart isn't the only part of your body that benefits.

2. Improve heart health

Aerobic exercise is recommended by the American Heart Association and by most doctors for people with, or at risk for, heart disease. That's because exercise strengthens your heart and helps it pump blood more efficiently throughout the body.

Cardiovascular exercise can also help lower blood pressure, and keep arteries clean by increasing “good” high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and lowering blood levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

If you specifically want to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, do 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise between 3 and 4 times each week.

3. Help lose weight

The benefits of cardio exercise are that it can help burn calories, increase metabolism, and lose weight.

When you exercise, your body needs energy that is burned from the calories you consume. If the body does not provide sufficient calorie intake from food, the body will burn fat reserves as an alternative fuel for energy.

Exercising on an empty or near-empty stomach can directly contribute to weight loss, but how many calories you burn and how much weight you lose depends on the intensity of your cardio workout.

Cardio exercise is also known to increase your metabolism, meaning your body burns more calories and fat than usual. The increased metabolism also allows the body to continue burning fat even when you're not exercising.

4. Aids sleep

If you're having trouble sleeping at night, try cardiovascular exercise during your waking hours. A study on individuals with chronic sleep issues revealed that a regular exercise program combined with sleep hygiene education is an effective treatment for insomnia.

Participants engaged in aerobic activity for 16 weeks and then completed questionnaires about their sleep and general mood. The activity group reported better sleep quality and duration, as well as improvements in their daytime wakefulness and vitality.

Exercising too close to bedtime may make it more difficult to sleep, however. Try to finish your workout at least two hours before bedtime.

5. Reduce stress and make you happier

If you are experiencing stress, depression, or anxiety, cardio exercise can be one solution to overcome it. As previously mentioned, the benefits of cardio exercise are that it can stimulate the release of various chemical compounds in the brain. Among some of these chemical compounds, there are dopamine and serotonin, these two compounds can affect a person's feelings of happiness.

6. Reduce asthma symptoms

Aerobic exercise can help people with asthma reduce the frequency and severity of asthma attacks. You should still talk to your doctor before starting a new exercise routine if you have asthma. They may recommend specific activities or precautions to help you stay safe while exercising.

7. Lower Your Blood Sugar

Cardio exercise helps lower blood sugar (glucose) levels and improve insulin resistance if you have diabetes. Resistance training, like weightlifting, is also good. A combination of the two seems to help the most. Talk to your doctor before you start a new fitness routine if you have diabetes, especially if you take insulin or other meds.

8. Helps Relieve Arthritis Pain

As you age, your knees and other joints can develop osteoarthritis. Aerobic exercise, such as jogging or cycling, is one of the most effective ways to relieve pain and inflammation. And whether you walk, swim, or row a boat, your heart gets fitter, which makes it easier to stay active. When you combine physical activity with a healthy diet, you can lose extra weight, which reduces the stress on your knees.

9. Strengthen the immune system

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University studied active, sedentary women and the impact of exercise on their immune systems.

one group exercising on a treadmill for 30 minutes
another group did a burst of intense activity for 30 seconds
the last group does not exercise

All women were blood drawn before, after, and at different intervals on the days and weeks following this training session.

The results showed that regular and moderate aerobic exercise increased certain antibodies in the blood called immunoglobulins. Which ultimately strengthens the immune system. The sedentary group of women saw no improvement in immune system function and their cortisol levels were much higher than the active group.

10. Increase self-confidence

Many believe that cardio can help you feel more confident.

This is of course true. When you are healthy and fit, your self-confidence will also increase. In addition, you also have more confidence in your ability to do cardio exercises regularly to achieve the level of fitness you want.

When you do cardio regularly and get the ideal body shape you want, of course this will also increase your confidence.

Those are the various benefits of cardio exercise for body health. So what are you waiting for? Let's start a healthy life with regular cardio exercise starting today !