Enough excercise?

It’s summer, and everyone’s going outdoors and doing all sorts of physical things to enjoy the sun and good weather. It should also be the perfect time to go out and do some cardiovascular (cardio) exercises.

The health benefits you get from cardio exercise cannot be overstated. It strengthens your heart and lungs, helps you get rid of excess calories and body fat, increases your bone density and improves muscle tone. It even cheers you up, and doctors have advised cardio exercise to help their patients fight depression.

You should spend between 20 to 60 minutes for cardio exercise, and most people actually do about 40 minutes. Experts advise that you do it at least three days a week but no more than six a week; the best results come from four to five days of exercise.

But if you are trying to lose some fat, then doing it five to seven days a week will be fine. And don’t worry you won’t lose muscle mass, only excess fat. The point is you should not allow more than two days of rest between exercise sessions in order not to lose the benefits derived from the previous session. Cardio exercise benefits are cumulative, and too much rest in between does not really do anything for you.

What exercises can you do? Just about everything that gives you aerobic training: swimming, biking, running, walking; you might want some aerobic dancing or plain step aerobics. If you’re already outdoors, you can do some rowing perhaps, or even jumping rope.

All you really have to fight is inertia. Once you start, you will get hooked. Regular exercisers know this, that shortly after you begin training, your body responds by producing more endorphins and hormones that enhance your mood and stimulates the pleasure centers in the brain. You will actually feel very good doing the exercises, and your body will want more.

So go ahead, get going! Cardio exercises every day keep heart disease away.