Cardiovascular Exercise

The best cardiovascular exercises are the ones that get your heart moving. Make sure it is something that you like doing, because you will be doing a lot of it in order to keep your heart rate up. Speed walking, jogging, running, and swimming are all cardio exercises.

Walking or swimming are good ones to start out with if you do not exercise regularly. Choose a time of the day that you think will work best for you. Early morning before the heat or mid day in winter for the heat are good times. You need to do these exercises for two or three days a week, with rests in between days. The thing you want to remember is to make a schedule and stick to it. Yes, you are going to be sore for a few days at first, but do it anyway. When you can walk or swim the distance you choose without your heart rate increasing, then you need to increase the distance or the speed that you move at. Make sure you do a warm up before and a cool down after any exercise to help prevent injury.

You want to start working out for 5 to 15 minutes at first. As your body gets accustomed to the increased heart rate, it will not beat as fast. That is when you need to step up the game a little. Move on to 20 to 30 minutes a session. When that gets to be easier, increase the days from 2 or 3 to 4 or 5. Try changing the routine to keep it interesting. Walk a different route or swim the butterfly instead of the breast stroke. Just increasing your heart rate with a 20 minute fast walk can help you lose up to 180 calories. This can lead to weight loss.