How much cardio is really good for heart health?

It’s never too late to start incorporating regular aerobic exercise (Cardio) into your routine. Aerobic exercise can help middle-aged people (ref. link) reverse the detrimental effects of a lifetime of sedentary living. According to research published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation (ref. link), 45-64 year old adults that exercised 4-5 times per week for 2 years saw improvements in their body’s ability to use oxygen, as well as reductions in the stiffness that comes with sedentary ageing in their hearts. We’ll briefly discuss the value of cardio and outline how much of it is best for your heart health.

What is Cardio Exercise?

Cardiovascular exercise, often known as aerobic or endurance exercise, is any exercise that involves the aerobic system. Your heart rate rises to maximise the amount of oxygen in your blood, and you breathe more deeply to aid more effective oxygen usage. As a result, you burn more fat and calories. 

Cardio exercise is any strenuous activity that works for the body’s big muscle groups repeatedly and rhythmically while raising heart rate, breathing, oxygen, and blood flow levels. Such exercise gradually strengthens your most important internal organs. 

Cardiovascular exercises or aerobic exercises raise your heart rate into your target heart rate zone (ref. link). This is where you burn most fat and calories and start to lose weight. Heart health, mental health, mood, sleep, weight management, and metabolism are just a few health-related factors that exercise improves.

How Much is Cardio Really Good for Heart Health?

According to health authorities (ref. link), adults should engage in 150 minutes of cardio exercise per week. Cardio has the advantage of being extremely effective with little effort – even 10-minute workouts add to your weekly cardiac activity requirements! Determine how much time you can devote to cardio per day in a week and schedule it accordingly. 

Breaking up your sessions into 10- to 15-minute segments may feel less intimidating if you are just getting started. When the activity becomes low effort, extend your time by five minutes, and soon you’ll  be hitting 30 to 60 minutes sessions. 

If you want to lower your blood pressure or LDL cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol), the American Heart Association (ref. link) (AHA) recommends engaging in 40 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise 3-5 times per week. As always, it’s vital to consult your doctor to develop an exercise regimen tailored to your requirements and general health, particularly if you are taking care of chronic disease.

Major Categories of Cardio Exercise

• High Impact Cardio
  High-impact cardio refers to exercises that require you to lift both feet off the ground at some stage. This exercise is also known as a weight-bearing exercise because you are using your limbs to maintain body weight against the pull of gravity. Some high impact cardio exercises are jumping rope, running, squat jumps, burpees, and mountain climbers.
• Low Impact Exercise
  Any cardiovascular exercise carried out while keeping one foot firmly planted on the ground is called low-impact exercise. But as many low-impact activities are high-intensity, low-impact cardio should not be mistaken for low-intensity cardio. Low-impact cardio is beneficial for keeping strong bones and strengthening the heart and lungs and is still a weight-bearing workout.
• No Impact Cardio
  Because being submerged in water lessens the force of gravity on the body, cardiovascular exercise done in water is categorised as a no-impact workout. Swimming and water aerobics are low-impact cardio exercises. Riding a water bike is also a no-impact aerobic activity because most of the body weight is supported by the water bike’s tires and frame.

Benefits of Cardio Exercise

Doing cardio exercises helps your body and heart in several ways. It improves the body and the psyche, making you feel energised and elated. Here are a few of its advantages: 

• It Strengthens Your Heart Health
  Cardiovascular exercise improves heart health and improves blood circulation throughout the body. Monitoring your resting heart rate, or the number of times your heart beats per minute, will allow you to determine how cardio has affected the health of your heart.
  The typical rate range is 60 to 100 beats per minute. Cardio can help lower your resting heart rate –  because a stronger heart can pump blood faster throughout the body, which means fewer heartbeats are required to do the same task. Naturally, improved blood flow also lowers the risk of heart attacks.
• Improve Your Mental Health (ref. link)
  Cardiovascular exercise has mental health benefits and physical health advantages. When your workout is over, you often feel great. This is because exercise or physical activity causes your body to release feel-good endorphins.
  It’s a useful tool to help you find some relief from certain negative emotions. Your mood is lifted and your self esteem raised. Additionally, it aids in lowering stress levels, which in turn results in increased levels of happiness.
• Increase Your Metabolism
  onitorMuch like your heart rate, your Metabolic Rate is increased by cardiovascular exercise. In general, more vigorous exercise workouts will result in a higher metabolic rate boost. Sprints with short, sharp intervals, generally referred to as HIIT, boost metabolism, with EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) providing the biggest rise. A faster metabolism makes it simpler to maintain your weight.
• Weight Regulation
  Cardio helps to burn extra calories and manage weight by raising the heart rate into the target heart rate zone, which is the zone where the body burns most calories. Activities like walking, swimming, and running do burn calories, but over a longer period of time. Conversely, moderate to high-intensity cardio exercises burn many calories every single workout. Jumping rope, running stairs, rowing, cycling, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) are some examples of cardio workouts that are very good for losing weight.

To reach your healthy heart goals, you should perform as much cardio as you need but pay attention to how  your body reacts and makes any necessary adjustments. You are most likely doing too much if you notice that you are feeling excess fatigue from cardio. Include rest days, slow down your speed, or change some workout days to include strength training in this case. Stay safe, and get healthier!

Finally, enhance your journey with Cardio and heart health by purchasing the revolutionary Frontier X2 ECG Fitness Tracking device.

Frequently Asked Questions on Cardio Exercise For Heart Health :

Is cardio really good for your heart?

Frequent cardio-based physical activity helps the heart to attain improved blood flow in the small vessels near it, where blockages of fatty deposits can create over time. This leads to better circulation in these areas which may prevent heart attacks.

How much cardio is enough for heart health?

As per the Physical Activity Guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend, at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity is good for heart health.

Can cardio exercise reverse heart disease?

According to a new study by cardiologists at UT Southwestern and Texas Health Resources, exercise can reverse damage to sedentary, ageing hearts and aid in preventing risk of future heart failure.

How do I strengthen my heart?

Below activities can help in strengthening one’s heart:

1. Exercise
2. Lose weight
3. Add heart-healthy foods
4. Avoid overeat
5. Don’t stress

How long does it take to strengthen your heart?

Having regular exercise, it may take about 8 to 12 weeks to increase your aerobic capacity, which means that your heart and lungs are able to shuttle oxygen to your muscles better.

Other Heart Health Topics To Explore:

Resting Heart Rate | Heart Attack Symptoms | Atrial Fibrillation Heart Rate | Cardiovascular Disease | Heart Rate During Exercise | Best ECG Monitor | Heart Healthy Tips | Arrhythmia Causes | Heart Palpitations After Eating | Heart Rate Zones

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