I’m sure if you’ve ever attempted to lose weight at any point the first thing you’ll go straight to cardio. Machines like treadmills and cross trainers are among the most commonly used pieces of equipment.
What is cardio?
So cardiovascular exercise is any exercise that gets your heart rate up and gets you sweating. You’ll typically find yourself breathing heavier. It can be anything from running to cycling and rowing. Many group exercise classes come under cardio exercise. Which will see you strengthen your heart and lungs, which may see you feel “fitter”.
The benefits
- Easy to start
- May improve mental health
- Less out of breathe
- Reduces stress
- Helps to clear your head
- Improves circulation and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
- Makes day to day life easier – going up and down stairs, walking to shops
- Improves thinking and memory
- Improves confidence and less self-conscious
- Helps to reduce the risk of 35 chronic diseases including cancer and type 2 diabetes
- Improves fitness to help you keep up with your friends and if you have any kids
Is cardio needed?
Generally, people believe they need to do cardio because it burns calories whilst doing the type of exercise. Therefore you may think it will burn body fat. But in reality, the body is always burning calories throughout the day. We know that you can increase the number of calories going out by general movement, and planned exercise. It’s just that we often overestimate the number of calories we are burning. So the short of it is that we don’t have to do cardio if we want to lose weight.
What if you don’t enjoy cardio? I’ve had clients some who liked certain types of cardio like running and others who just didn’t enjoy it. Who found they would get bored and that it was too repetitive for them. Although it was something they were able to get started with as it is novice-friendly. The reason being is that it doesn’t require learning new skills to be able to start yourself.
Some alternatives
What you can do instead. You could find options that you do enjoy which could be the prowler sled, or certain kettlebell exercises. Bodyweight exercises to increase heart rate. Alternatively, if you really don’t like doing cardio exercise, you could do other forms of exercise. For example one of my favourite types of exercise that many people don’t necessarily think of as exercise is walking. Because walking can be as beneficial where you can get out in nature. Spend as little or as much time as you want which depends on the amount of available time you have. Perhaps going exploring to places you haven’t been before, or take different routes to locations you have been before.
If you’re not already I would highly recommend doing some resistance training or lifting weights. Whether you have access to a gym or you have limited or no equipment at home. See the blog here for the benefits of lifting weights if you’re wanting to lose weight.
So in short although cardio does get you moving and there are many benefits to your health. Some people may not enjoy this type of exercise. So if you don’t like something you’re less likely to do it. So take into account the forms of exercise you like, along with the benefits. Because it’s less likely to benefit you if you’re not able to commit to it to see long-term change and benefits.
