What Is Cardio

When you hear someone say I am doing Cardio or even if you are doing cardio yourself, what do you think  A fast paced workout with lots of sweating? I was asked today what I did as a workout and when I gave my answer people got a little confused. Cardio, always has to be done standing or does it? What does that statement mean? I probably just lost everyone, reading this but just let me explain.

Using an elliptical, or exercise bike is a version of cardio. Skipping and dancing are also versions of cardio, there is one that I am going to focus on more so.  We will discuss other cardio things in later posts. Along with how much cardio Zumba has and so on. That is what Cardio actually is, so what is Cardio exactly?  Cardio is short for, cardiovascular which has to do with the circulatory system which also consists of the heart and blood vessels in your body.

If you do any movement that gets your heart rate up to about 50- 75% of your maximum heart rate, can be classified as cardio. You can do exercises you love. For example swinging on a swing, biking, skipping dancing running, anything that gets your heart rate up! Is considered cardio and who doesn’t like getting there heart rate up during a workout?

It’s not a workout if you don’t get your heart rate up even a little bit in my opinion. Always remember that the more you move the more you get your heart rate up. Or better yet the faster you move the faster your heart rate is. Cardio is a fast paced workout that can be done anywhere by doing almost anything.

Cardio that I love to do and do it as often as I can is swinging on a swing. I have always loved swinging getting up so high that the wind is blowing in your hair, at an alarmingly fast pace. I still do it to this day. I did it earlier today actually and had fun even though it was raining which made it a little bit more difficult than normal.  When you swing in the rain you are going to the rain and the wind that comes with the motion of moving back and forth pushing your arms on the straps of the swing and pumping your legs in and out to keep yourself moving.  If it is raining hard and you are swinging you have to push your arms extra hard and pump your legs extra hard to keep moving and the more you push your arms and legs the more muscles you will have.  The faster you do it the higher you will get on the swing and the more fun you will have, and cardio is supposed to be fun isn’t it?  That is why in my opinion swinging is cardio.

When people think of cardio they sometimes think that you have to sweat profusely. That is not always the case,   you don’t need to sweat at all doing cardio.  Not everyone sweats. Sure if you exert yourself, a lot you might but you might not always sweat during a workout depending on the workout and the way your body reacts to it.

Most cardio exercises yes you will sweat, but  it depends on the exercise for example if you are swinging on a swing sometimes you won’t depending on how hard you push yourself.  If you are doing running or Jimmy Jumps, or butt kicks that type of thing, those are fast so yes you will sweat.

I love cardio workouts and would rather do them over anything else. Why you ask because I love things that are fast paced when working out I feel as though I am getting somewhere, with it. Since cardio is fast paced and you can burn a lot more calories with it then doing any other workout why wouldn’t you do that? I love the feeling I get when my heart is pumping fast.  It is very exhilarating. I also love cardio because there are so many different cardio workouts out there that you can never get bored.

If you are into cardio why not blare fast paced music and do your workout the music for a cardio workout is best in my opinion. So if you are new to cardio why not give music a try and if you have done cardio for a while why not try something new like swinging if you haven’t done it before.

Cardio can make you feel great so why not give it a try.   Cardio is a fast paced workout that gets your heart pumping quickly and who doesn’t like that?  Also, you can do cardio anywhere at any time which is cool too isn’t it?   Running or walking briskly, bike riding or shopping can be considered cardio.  Anything that is done quickly can be considered cardio in terms of working out. I will go deeper into how shopping can be considered cardio in another post though.  These are just a few examples of what cardio can be.  Cardio is a great to fit into your life, if you are always on the run, you can treat your running from place to place as a cardio workout.

Cardio is anything fast paced, like running, jumping, skipping, swimming if you are swimming fast or swinging on the swing if you are doing that fast too which can be done anywhere.  Which means cardio is great to fit into your life if you want to get a fast workout in.  If you suggest a fast workout most people think of running or using an illiputical. I have something that I use for cardio, its this stepper thing that counts my steps and I love doing it fast because I burn more calories that way.  In terms of cardio depending on what you are doing and depending on your weight depends on how many calories you burn according to healthharvard.edu  if you do elliptical training general if you are 125 you can burn 270 calories by using the elliptical for 30 minutes. If you want to know how many calories you can burn doing other cardio actives, other than the elliptical check out healthhavard.edu.com.

Depending on what type of cardio you are doing and your weight depends on how many calories you burn.  Check out the list and you will notice that anything can be considered fitness or cardio that can be fitted into your life.  Since Cardio is so fast and fun and you can do almost anything in your life and it can be considered cardio why wouldn’t you give it a try?