No matter what type of workout that you have on your agenda to do, chances are it is going to contain some type of cardio exercise. Cardio exercise is a must have for those who are wanting to get healthier, lose weight, or have a well-adjusted workout routine. However, do you know everything that there is to know about cardio days?
What is Cardio Exercise?
Cardio exercise is defined as any rhythmic activity that is meant to raise your heart rate into your target heart rate zone. This zone is where you are going to burn the most fat and calories. The health professionals recommend that you get at least 150 minutes per week to reduce health issues that could arise from living a sedentary life.
Some examples of cardio exercise include walking, running, swimming, biking, hiking, dancing, jump roping, burpees and many more.
The Benefits of Cardio Exercise
There are numerous benefits to cardio exercise, and these benefits are why you will see so many people performing some form of cardio exercise. These benefits include:
- It helps to burn fat and calories which is going to encourage weight loss.
- Helps with the quality of sleep that you are getting every night.
- Helps to expand lung capacity.
- It has been shown to help improve your sex life.
- It increases your bone density which is important as you age.
- Helps to lower your stress levels.
- It gives you that feel-good feeling which helps to provide relief from anxiety and depression.
- You will have more confidence in how you feel and look as you keep doing this.
- It reduces the risk of heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and the like.
- Strengthens the heart.
The benefits of doing cardio are so many, as you can see. And you will find that overtime these benefits become even more pronounced and you will love the way that you feel.
Is it safe to do cardio 7 days a week?
This is really going to depend on the person. Most fitness instructors encourage a day or two of rest when you are doing any type of workout. This is for a good reason. After any workout, your body needs some rest time to regroup and repair any damage that your workout has done. However, for those who are doing light or moderate aerobic activities, they may find that 7 days a week can happen without any dire results. The key to remember is how hard you are doing the workout, how long your aerobic activity is happening and other factors. The best piece of advice that most people listen to is that if they have done cardio for 3 days in a row and are feeling it still, take a day break and get back to it again.
Cardio and leg days: is it better after or on leg day?
If you are doing a full workout in which you are doing both cardio and weight training days, such as leg days, then you may be trying to figure out when the best time is to do your cardio routine. While some people may want to combine and do their cardio on the same day as their leg workout, this is something that you should avoid. You are going to find that your legs will feel like mush and you may not be able to fully give either routine what it needs. Doing cardio the day after your leg day can have the same effect. The best option is to do cardio the day before you have a leg day.
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