Cardiovascular activity is one of the top things you can do to promote good health, the Harvard School of Public Health explains. Cardiovascular exercise can lower your risk of developing a chronic disease, most notably heart disease, can lower blood pressure, helps you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, alleviates stress and can boost your energy and your mood. That said, some cardiovascular exercises are better than others, depending upon your goals.
Expert Insight
While high-impact and vigorous cardiovascular exercise burns calories at a faster clip, Harvard experts argue that the best cardiovascular exercise is the type you enjoy. Pick an activity that fits into your lifestyle, perhaps one you can do with a friend or at a convenient local spot, and you will have an easier time sticking to your exercise routine.
Time Frame
The American Heart Association recommends that healthy adults integrate 150 minutes of moderate cardiovascular activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, into their weekly schedule. Do a prolonged workout or split it up into several mini-sessions --- as long as you raise your heart rate and break into a sweat.
Identification
A Mayo Clinic fact sheet on calories burned during exercise identifies some great cardiovascular exercises for weight loss. Running emerges as a clear winner, with a 160-pound person burning more than 900 calories in an hour. Other top activities include rollerblading, at 913 calories burned, jumping rope and tae kwon do, at 730 calories burned, jogging and singles tennis at 584 calories burned, and doing a stair treadmill, at 657 calories burned.
Expert Insight
Bob Greene, the designer of Oprah Winfrey's boot-camp training program, advises dedicating some of your workout time to exercises that blend cardiovascular work with strengthening. For example, intense exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, squats and lunges raise your heart rate while targeting key muscle groups.
Warning
As you gain fitness, your great cardiovascular workout only delivers average benefits. Up the ante by making your workout more challenging. Add hand weights to a cardiovascular routine, or work out at an incline. Interval training, in which you exercise at a vigorous pace and then do 30-second sprints every few minutes, delivers powerful fitness benefits.
