How important is Cardio Exercise?

Cardio Exercise is extremely important to us all.
Rush, rush, rush…. It sounds like a typical day for most of us. Rush to get kids ready, rush to get ready for work, then rush home to cook dinner and make the gym. With all this rushing we may find ourselves asking how important is cardio really? Operating on tight schedules gives many of us limited gym time and many skipping out on the cardio portion due to “time constraints”. It is that little voice convincing us that we can make up the half hour tomorrow on the treadmill, knowing full well that we did not have time today so we most likely won’t tomorrow. The fact of the matter is that whether you are looking to lose weight, get fit or build muscle, cardiovascular training is an important part of your regime.

Cardio exercise or cardio for short is, in its broadest sense any training that causes your heart to beat at an elevated pace for a length of time. The more common cardio exercise machines being used in gyms today include rowing machines, exercise bikes, treadmills, cross trainers or ellipticals. The more muscle groups being engaged the harder the heart and respiratory systems work to supply vital organs with blood and oxygen. It is this conditioning that improves our fitness levels and allows for muscle development by increasing the blood flow directly to our muscles. The heart is a muscle like any other and needs to be exercised.

The most common and highly sought-after benefit of cardio exercise is weight loss and burning calories is how this is achieved.

The benefits of cardio exercise also include but are not limited to an increased metabolism which allows your body to process fuel faster helping to maintain target body weights and decreases the chance of disease. Conditioning your body and keeping excess weight off helps you in the fight against obesity, diabetes, heart attack and stroke to name a few.
With the benefits of cardio exercise being so high how can you afford to miss it?
The answer is “you can’t”.

It is important to diet and eat correctly but at the end of the day you can diet as much as you like but you will not make those weight loss gains without spending at least a half hour to an hour a day on cardiovascular exercises. With the pressures and time constraints of modern life ever present, we have seen a shift in the way people attack their cardio exercise with the most popular being a workout at home mentality.

Integrating a treadmill, elliptical, cross trainer, rowing machine, upright or recumbent bike into your home will allow you to save time at the gym and in general without having to sacrifice your precious cardiovascular training. If you have the space, try using a couple of machines for variety to avoid boredom and to keep your body guessing. Monotony is a killer of workouts so try to keep it fresh by adding an incline to your treadmill or by doing a reverse motion on your elliptical or if you want the latest and greatest innovation in cardio training try the CardioGym CG6. The Cardio Gym was developed because of a growing need by consumers to find a space saving, total body workout and one that they can importantly enjoy. A true total body workout combining a recumbent cycle and a functional cable system delivers a workout satisfying all goals, all muscle groups and all fitness levels efficiently and effectively.

The benefits of cardio are far too high to simply be shrugged off or dismissed due to time constraints. If you are serious about your training, then you cannot neglect cardiovascular training and with a great line of equipment now available for your home there are no excuses. Reach those goals and be on the road to happy, healthier you, through cardio. Do not delay start today and reap the benefits.