Cardio Exercise Accelerates Weight Loss

Some sort of cardio exercise is a must if you want to lose weight with exercise. Cardio exercise involves running, jumping, even dancing. In other words, any exercise that gets your heart pumping.

Many people take aerobics classes to get some cardio fitness in. Aerobics involve usually exercising to music in a coordinated fashion, almost like dancing. Aerobics became popular in the 1980s and was developed to make cardio exercise more fun.

In addition to aerobics, you can also do other exercises such as bike riding, running, or stair climbing. Most of the health clubs today have a vast array of cardio exercise equipment such as mechanical stair climbers, bicycles, rowing machines, and treadmills.

Cardio exercise burns calories and also gives your metabolism a bit of a boost. This is the reason why people are advised not to exercise before bed. While some forms of exercise, such as yoga and toning exercises are okay to do before going to sleep and may even enhance sleep, cardio exercise is best done in the morning, before you go to work or start your day.

Any exercise that increases your heart rate will most likely cause you to sweat when you really start working out. When doing any cardio exercise, you should make sure that you keep yourself hydrated by drinking plenty of water.

Cardio exercise combined with a low calorie diet is the most effective way to lose weight. Although low impact exercises can tone your muscles and eliminate fat, cardio exercise will burn calories. However, you should try to incorporate both types of exercises - both cardio exercise and toning exercises, into your routine. Some personal trainers feel that doing cardio exercise every other day and low impact training or toning on the other days is a good way to both lose calories and tone your muscles.

You should start slow when beginning a cardio exercise routine and check with your physician prior to beginning to make sure that it is safe for your heart. If you feel short of breath or dizzy when performing any cardio exercise, stop immediately. This can sometimes happen if you start off too fast. If you continue with the exercise program, you will gradually build yourself up to the point where you can do more each time. Never continue to exercise through pain or discomfort, especially if you get dizzy.

You do not need to have a fancy gym membership to incorporate cardio exercise into your life, although gyms do have a variety of equipment that makes this exercise easier. However, if you do not have the money for a gym membership, you can do the following:

* Jogging -Start off slow and stop if you get a cramp in your side. Breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose and eat a banana a day to get potassium which can sometimes cause the stitches one experiences in the side when running.

* Jumping jacks - Remember these? These were what we all learned in high school and are still a good way to get your ticker pumping;

* Running in place - This will also get your heart pumping and is a good way to get cardio exercise l at home.

Cardio exercise when combined with a healthy diet is one way to make sure that you take off those extra pounds that have accumulated during the winter months.