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The
Cardio
Guide

You one-stop guide to all things cardio.

car·di·o
/ˈkärdēō/

Definition.
Noun. Informal. Short for cardiovascular exercise. Also known as aerobic exercise. Any rhythmic physical activity that challenges your heart and lungs to work harder. Examples include brisk walking, running, and cycling.

Cardiovascular exercise can help you to:

  • Burn fat and calories, making it easier to lose weight.
  • Improve sleep quality, especially if the exercise is moderate to vigorous in intensity.
  • Boost lung capacity, or the amount of air that your lungs can hold.
  • Increase bone density when you do weight-bearing cardio exercises like walking or climbing stairs.
  • Reduce stress.
  • Lower the risk of heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and some forms of cancer.

Types of Cardio

There are different types of cardio. Different cardio workouts give you different results. Cardio workouts can be categorized in two ways:

  1. How hard you’re exercising (intensity). This refers to how intense the workout is, for example low-intensity or high intensity.
  2. Continuous or intervals. Some types of cardio workouts are done at the same pace for the whole workout (e.g. jogging), while others alternate between harder and easier intervals of exercise, such as alternating between walking and sprinting (e.g. HIIT).

Here you’ll find everything about the different types of cardio workouts.

To find out how hard you’re exercising you can use your heart rate. This calculator will determine your heart rate zones based on your age and gender, and give you a easy to understand result.

Walking + Running

Walking is the most foundational type of cardio there is, closely followed by running.

Workouts

Get down to it with these varied cardio workouts. Cardio isn’t just one thing. Switch it up with everything from running workouts to jump rope, stair climbing and circuit workouts.

Weight Loss

Diet is the #1 method to lose weight. However, research shows that people who lose weight and keep it off long term also regularly do cardiovascular exercise.

Cardio Machines

Take your cardio workout indoors.

Beginner

If you’re just starting out, remember to pace yourself. Being motivated is great – and you’ll want to stay that way. So challenge yourself, but don’t push too hard. Workouts shouldn’t be painful or agonizing.

Body Type

Knowing your body type can help you find exercises you might enjoy more or help you tailor your workouts to your specific needs.

All Cardio

Everything else cardio.