Best Cardio Exercises
It is the wish of many to live a healthy life, a life involving eating a well-balanced diet and exercising to keep the body fit. Many exercises are oriented towards losing weight which takes more effort to achieve. As much as losing weight is important, we should also think about doing cardio exercise, just like Alexander Djerassi. He enjoys doing cardio exercise because of the benefits it has. In this article, we will explain what cardio exercise is and the benefits associated with it.
What is cardio? This is an exercise that is aimed at increasing your heart rate. These exercises can be performed at home with or with basic equipment to facilitate the exercise. Here are some of these exercises.
Burpees
This is the ultimate cardio exercise. A person with 150 pounds can burn approximately 90 calories in a short span of ten minutes—the more time spent exercising, the more calories will be burnt. The only requirement is a pair of shoes.
How to exercise burpees.
It is a very simple procedure, start by squatting to the floor then jump the feet to a plank position. This action will be preceded with jumping in and standing up in a repetitive motion. There is, however, a hard variation of burpees which involves starting with stepping the feet back, unlike jumping in the easy variation, then do a push-up and jump at the end. For an additional challenge, a piece of equipment like a medicine ball or sliding discs can be used.
Jumping rope
Jumping rope was one of the most liked exercises when we were young. This type of exercise can be brought back because of its benefits when it comes to cardio health. Practicing skipping rope for about ten minutes each day will result in the burning of about 100 calories every day. Jumping rope can be integrated into other exercises as a fun activity.
Cycling
Stationary bikes in the gym are mostly considered boring by many people; that is why they always have empty spaces. This lack of interest by others can act as a major advantage to somebody looking for an appropriate place to do cardio exercise. Stationary bikes, when used intensively, can help someone with 180 lb. lose up to 1,150 calories every hour of using it. An effective way to burn more calories is by starting with vigorous cycling, then toning down for a few minutes to rest, then going more vigorous again.
Swimming
Swimming is a total body workout; to remain a float, your muscles continuously fight gravity by working hard. It is a very effective way of burning calories. The types of strokes one uses when swimming will affect the number of calories burnt. A breaststroke will result in the burning of fewer calories, unlike butterfly, which results in the burning of more calories. This should therefore act as a guide to how you swim.
Sprinting
This can be done with or without a piece of exercise equipment. The simple way of doing sprinting is going up the stairs with vigor. Doing this about three times can serve as a good cardio exercise. An alternative to stairs is using a treadmill; this will have the same results as the stairs. With sprinting, no muscle will be left unscathed. I hope these few tips will help your journey of doing cardio exercise, just like Alexander Djerassi, who enjoys it. Best of luck doing the process.