Cardio exercises such as swimming, dancing and biking require you to continuously move major muscle groups, leading to an elevated heart beat and increased blood flow throughout the body. If performed on a regular basis, cardio exercises can improve your cardiovascular system and increase your chances of living a longer life. The ideal frequency and duration of your cardio workouts will depend on your goals.
Basic Recommendations
Most healthy adults should aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio five days per week or 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardio three days per week, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. An exercise is classified as moderate-intensity if it causes your heart rate to speed up and leads you to break a sweat but allows you to have a conversation. The exercise likely isn't intense enough if you can still sing lyrics to your favorite song without needing to take a breather. You need not stick to just one intensity level or the other. Alternate between speeds in one session or alternate from one day to the next. If you decide to exercise this way, aim for an average of 25 minutes four days per week.
Cardio for Weight Loss
You may need to put in up to 60 to 90 minutes of cardio per day if you're trying to lose weight. However, the exact figure is variable based on how many calories you eat, how much you weigh and what type of cardio you do. If you are a medium-sized adult, you'd need to walk more than 30 miles to burn the equivalent of about 1 lb. of fat, according to Medline Plus, or one mile per day for a month. To burn off 1 lb. in one week, you need to burn off an extra 500 calories per day without eating any more calories than normal.
To achieve a 500-calorie deficit through exercise alone, you can exercise for hours at a moderate intensity or pick up the pace. For example, if you weigh 200 lbs., 30 minutes of running at 8 mph would burn about 615 calories, whereas jogging at 5 mph would burn 364 calories and walking at a pace of about 2 mph would burn off about 114.
Getting Started
Consult your doctor before you begin a regular cardio regimen, especially if you have a chronic health problem. Begin at a gradual pace. For example, take a 10-minute walk a day or break it up into a five-minute morning walk and a five-minute evening walk. Add about three minutes to each session one week later or pick up the speed. Doing long and infrequent cardio sessions has no direct advantage over frequent, brief exercises of 10 minutes or more, so choose the one that fits best into your schedule, recommends MayoClinic.com. Choose an activity that you find most enjoyable to boost your chances of sticking with it. If necessary, alternate between two favorite activities.
Considerations
For optimum fitness, all adults should supplement cardio with muscle-strengthening exercises at least two days each week. Stronger muscles help keep you stable to reduce your risk of injury during your cardio sessions. Increased lean muscle mass also helps you burn calories at a faster rate. Examples of muscle-strengthening activities include pushups, weightlifting and Pilates.
