Well, to begin with, cardiovascular exercise entirely involves any of the movements that are regularly implemented towards getting the heart rate high and implement and increase in blood circulation. Cardio, for quite some people, is a much-dreaded word and maybe for some few others, it is a passion considered never to be left out when talking about body fitness. For some individuals, especially those who are just getting started, most are advised to just focus on the different activities (or rather identifying such activities) that get them moving and increase their heart rate. Well, this is the basic and first key guide to cardio.
Cardiovascular exercise tends to use large muscle groups over a relatively extended period of time. The heart is also a muscle which gets strengthened by working it, and this makes the cells of the heart healthy enough to burn fat during exercises and even during the periods of inactivity. Such tasks include; jogging, swimming, running, walking, staircase climbing, dancing and even cycling. This exercise improves overall fitness, and therefore people who get regular cardiovascular fitness exercises as recommended can reduce the risk of diseases such as stroke, depression, colon and breast cancer, dementia, heart disease and diabetes.
Before I discovered this fitness exercise and its associated benefits, I struggled with weight issues. I was undoubtedly overweight, and this worked negatively for me as my participation in any activity that needed energy was restricted. I got so tired easily after walking short distances or from performing simple house chores before starting on the cardio routine. My self-esteem at that point was way too low considering my physical appearance was far from appealing and this, in turn, became a major stress on my part. Furthermore, I was at a very high risk of cardiovascular diseases because of my weight. After learning about physical exercise, and specifically cardiovascular fitness of the upper and lower body, my life was revolutionized. My primary goal right now is to use these activities to cut down the excess weight and revert to a much healthier life that protects my heart.
Physical exercise has been associated with very many benefits to every individual regardless of their ages, gender or physical ability. So I believe making this change to start regular exercising will benefit me in a big way. It will help control my weight, by burning the excess calories. The same tasks will help in containing diseases and various health conditions, along with that, I believe my self-esteem and confidence will get a boost as I hope to get a healthier, physically attractive body.
Currently, am building my routine by adding new physical activities. These are dancing and jogging. At the start, I could only manage slightly long walks and 15 minutes swimming per day, but due to my improved flexibility, I plan to increase my swimming time by 20 minutes and also increased my walking distance by a kilometer. I also have taken up jogging every morning for a few miles, which I believe will help tone my muscles better while contributing to the reduction of calories. Even though these activities are demanding in terms of time and energy, I feel the benefits one reaps from them are worth the sacrifice. In contrast to the previous belief that cardiovascular fitness was not beneficial to children, pieces of evidence clearly show that the risk factors for heart disease begin early in life and therefore the youth`s fitness need to be given priority. (Simon et al., 1987) The article correctly recognizes physical education as an important tool for promoting physical activity among children.
Everyone should make choices about their lives that comprise a healthy diet, regular exercises as recommended and maintaining normal weight so as to enjoy a long and healthy life. With the age of the internet, however, many people tend to be inactive for long periods every day, and this combination of inactivity and wrong dieting majorly contributes to preventable causes of death. Research done on the benefits of physical activity mostly focuses on the protection of the heart, and these exercises offer significant protection to people at high risks for heart diseases. Various studies have related cardiovascular fitness to lower prevalence of cardio-metabolic diseases (Peterson et al., 2014, Cohen et al., 2014)
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, irrefutable shreds of evidence confirm the effectiveness of regular physical activities. Many more benefits are associated with cardiovascular fitness, and these include: protection from heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. The exercise helps in building endurance as it involves the strengthening of the muscles. Also, these activities play a significant role in keeping the heart pumping at a steady and high rate for quite a long time while controlling the blood pressure. Cardiovascular fitness exercises help one to monitor and maintain healthy body weight by burning the excess calories. One`s sense of well-being is also significantly improved due to the great physical shape attained from regular exercising. Most importantly these exercises tend to build muscle strength while burning fats. (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016)
Summing it up in straight points, cardio exercise has proven to have enough specific-driven advantages:
Improved heart health: improvement on the performance of the heart (as a muscle) makes it much stronger.
Increased Metabolism: a free package that comes with improved heart performance.
Improvement on the hormonal profile: there is a substantial release of hormones linked to adequate blood circulation.
Increased recovery ability: a package that is activated by reduced calories linked with sufficient flow of blood.
It is needless also to point out that it is an exercise that overly helps the individuals with diabetes. Perfect health is quite a hustle to achieve, but cardio exercises immensely help us in beating our bodies to the exact direction and shape we need them to take.
Works Cited
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016): The benefits of physical activity
http:www.cdc.gov.physical activity/everyone health
Cohen D.D., Gomez- Arbelaez D., Camacho P.A. Low Muscle Strength is associated with Metabolic Risk Factors in Children; the ACFIES study. PLos One. 2014; 9
Peterson M.D., Saltavelli W.A., Visich P.S., Gordon P.M Strength Capacity and Cardio-metabolic Risk Clustering in Adolescents.Rediatrics.2014
Simon Morton, O`Hara, Parcel-Children and Fitness; A Public Health Perspective: 1987
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