In fitness, “cardio” refers to exercises that can basically raise your heart rate within your target heart rate zone and to the extent that your body can continue its functionality normally. Besides the fact that cardio helps reducing the risk of heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, it also helps you reduce your stress and makes you feel good. Most importantly, it can help you burn calories and lose weight.

Cardio can be achieved through many methods, including walking, running, cycling, hiking and/or stationary machines, such as treadmills, bikes, stairmaster, elliptical and rowing machines. Regular sporting activities, such as swimming, volleyball, soccer, basketball and football can also contribute to a good cardio result. Aerobics activities, such as kick boxing can also produce great cardio result.

All of these cardio activities can burn calories and result in losing weight. However, depending on how much weight you want to lose, you need to put in a reasonable effort and be consistent. You may choose one method or a combination of many methods to do cardio.

To get the best result in cardio, you should stay in your “Target Heart Zone”. There are three elements in a cardio workout that determine how many calories you can burn. These elements are: time, intensity and type of cardio which should be considered based on you age, goal and prior cardio experiences.

Experience shows that it takes about 12 minutes to get to the fat burning zone.

When you do cardio, you burn a certain amount of calories. These calories are not all coming from your body fat. You might burn some fiber in your muscles to use for energy needed on the cardio machine. If you know your Target Heart Zone and stay in that zone, you would burn more body fat than muscles.