Cardiovascular exercises are those exercises that are focused on making your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. It usually involves an increase in the heart rate of the exerciser for specific periods of time.

Aside from strengthening and improving the process of your cardiovascular system, cardio exercises are also expected to help eliminate excess body fat, increase your blood flow, and promote better mental and emotional health.

Because it has a lot to do with your heart rate, one very important thing to remember when doing cardio exercises is NOT to overdo it. You should first find out how much cardio exercises you need to do and how long you should do it per session. You should also learn what your ideal heart rate is during cardio exercises, especially if you’re a beginner.

Beginner cardio requires that you take cues from your body. If you feel that you can only handle ten minutes of cardio exercises on your first try then by all means stop at ten minutes. You can work your way gradually up to longer sessions as you get used to the exercises. Following are some additional guidelines for getting into a beginner cardio exercise routine.

Never perform beginner cardio exercises without doing stretching exercises first. Be sure to stretch your muscles slowly and to hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds. After stretching, you also need to warm up and allow your body to adjust to the activity before jumping into your beginner cardio routine.

As you begin the exercises, remember that proper breathing techniques are very important in beginner cardio. It may be best for you to enrol in a yoga class in order to learn the best breathing techniques.

Swimming may be the best beginner cardio exercise for you to start with. It does not only work your cardiovascular system, but also tones all of your muscles. What’s best is that it is a very low-impact exercise, which involves very little risk of injury. Another good choice of beginner cardio exercise is spinning because it is also a bit low-impact and helps you burn a significant amount of calories.

As you go through your beginner cardio routine, it is very important that you keep your heart rate at the advisable level, which is 65%-85% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate can be computed by deducting your age from 220. For example, if you are 25 years old then your maximum heart rate is computed, thus: 220-25=195. For health purposes, you should NEVER reach this maximum heart rate.

Cooling down after performing beginner cardio exercises is just as important as warming up beforehand. Allow your heart rate to drop gradually before you do your final stretching exercises. Cool down exercises should take about five minutes. Most importantly, avoid dehydration by drinking plenty of water throughout your workout session. This is one thing that you should never take for granted. Water is essential in making your workout sessions deliver the kind of results that you expect. Water, above all, keeps your body working in perfect condition.