Cardio, or aerobic exercise, is ideal for losing weight when combined with a healthy diet. You can choose a form of cardio workout you enjoy and lose weight consistently and in a healthful manner. Plus, cardio has other health benefits. You lower your risk of heart disease. Cardio helps manage or prevent high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and other medical problems.
Types
Cardio exercise is any sustained physical activity that raises your heart rate and respiration for at least several minutes. Walking, aerobic dance classes and cycling are all examples of cardio. Others are jogging, swimming and hiking. Each cardio activity uses muscles differently and tends to use different amounts for energy. For this reason, the amount of cardio for weight loss tends to vary depending on your choice of activity.
It's About Calories
The human body accumulates excess weight by storing calories you don't use as fat. Losing weight means shifting your normal diet and/or physical activity level so you use more calories than you consume. According to MayoClinic.com, 1 lb. is equivalent to 3,500 calories. To get and stay in shape, you should get at least 2.5 hours of cardio exercise each week. For example, you could work out 30 minutes at a time five days a week. However, to lose a significant amount of weight, you probably need more cardio activity. If you're not in shape, start slowly and keep your exercise heart rate between 40 and 50 percent of your maximum heart rate, or MHR. Your MHR is approximately equal to 220 minus your age. Over a period of a few weeks, increase your exercise heart rate to 70 percent of MHR.
Setting Goals
Because the number of calories used determines how much weight loss, it's possible to calculate the amount of cardio required to lose a given number of pounds. Let's say your weight loss goal is 20 lbs. Multiplied by 3,500, that's 70,000 calories. Next, check a calorie-use chart for the number of calories you will burn for your weight, exercise intensity and type of cardio. For example, if you weigh 160 lbs. and jog at 5 mph, you will burn about 584 calories per hour, or 117 calories per mile. Divide the total calories you have to burn by the number of calories burned per mile. In this example, you must jog a total of almost exactly 600 miles. If you jog 15 miles per week, you can lose those 20 lbs. in 40 weeks, or about nine months.
Cardio and Diet
Your weight-loss program will work much better if you combine healthy eating changes to reduce calories with cardio exercise for two reasons. First, if you eat more calories than you consume, no amount of cardio will make you lose weight. Second, by supplementing your cardio program with calorie reduction, you'll lose weight faster. Best Running Tips suggests that you eliminate or reduce your intake of sweets, fast food and alcohol -- all poor sources of nutrition that are loaded with extra calories. Emphasize vegetables and fruits in your daily diet. Finally, keep a diary of your diet and use it to track and identify areas where you can cut out excess calories.
