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Cardio – Why Exercise?

Updated: Jan 25, 2023




Intro:

Cardio fitness refers to how well your heart, lungs, and organs consume, transport, and use oxygen during workouts. Overall fitness depends on the relationship between the cardiovascular, respiratory, and skeletal systems. When these systems efficiently work together – fitness is increased. The only way to teach these systems to work together is through personal discipline, practice, and working out consistently.


Description:

Cardio fitness measures how well the body performs during moderate and high intensity physical activity, over extended periods of time. While cardio exercise is great for burning calories and losing weight, it also improves your cardiovascular strength. It’s widely known that cardio exercise gets your heart pumping and strengthens the heart muscle. In general, cardio exercise is any activity that gets your blood pumping and the large muscle groups working together. This is known as cardiovascular activity, like walking, swimming, running and cycling but the heart isn't the only part of the body that benefits. Cardiovascular exercise is typically safe and recommended for all age groups even those who are older or who have chronic health problems.

Deeper Dive:

No matter your age, weight or athletic ability, cardio activity is good for you. Cardio activity has many health benefits. The following are highly valued health benefits:


Improves cardiovascular health – cardio exercise strengthens the heart and helps it more efficiently pump blood throughout the body.


Lowers blood pressure – cardiovascular exercise can keep your arteries clear by raising “good” high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and lowering “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in the blood.


Regulates blood sugar – cardio activity helps regulate insulin levels and lower blood sugar, all while keeping body weight in check.


Reduces asthma symptoms – cardio exercise can help people with asthma lessen both the frequency and severity of asthma attacks.


Reduces chronic pain – cardiovascular exercise, specifically low-impact activities like swimming or aqua aerobics, may help muscle function and endurance.


Aids sleep – cardiovascular exercise improves sleep quality and duration, as well as improvements in daytime energy and awareness.


Regulates weight – diet, and exercise are the building blocks to weight loss. But cardio exercise can help lose weight and keep it off.


Strengthens immune system – cardio exercise increases certain antibodies in the blood called immunoglobulins, which ultimately strengthens the immune system.


Improves brain power – cardio exercise may slow brain tissue loss and improve cognitive performance.


Boosts mood – cardio exercise, even for a short period of time, may have a big impact on mood.



Important Keys:

Cardio – aerobic exercise that stimulates and strengthens the heart and lungs


Cardiovascular – relating to the heart and blood vessels


Wrap up:

Cardio exercise is any exercise that raises your heart rate. Cardio keeps the muscles in shape, these exercises make them stronger and stronger for a healthy body. A strong cardio-vascular system means more capillaries delivering more oxygen to the cells. If exercise is present or in your near future – make sure it includes Cardio activity – it could only be good!







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