Best Cardio Exercises for Women
Cardio is a short form of cardiovascular training. The primary purpose of their workout form is to increase your heart rate. Alongside this cardio, release feel-good hormones in your body and alleviate stress levels.
Increased heart rate helps burn calories and keeps your heart healthy, hence WHO recommends engaging in cardiovascular activities for at least 150 minutes a week. Regardless of your gender, you must do cardiovascular activities. But women often get confused as to what exercises are suitable for them. If you are one of those then you have landed on the right page. Below I have mentioned some cardio exercises that will help you manage your weight and keep your heart healthy.
Best Cardio Exercises for Women
Well, women always tend to do more cardio exercises than strength to achieve a leaner appearance. Striking balance between cardio and strength is what you need. For that, you need to know the right exercises that help you burn the maximum calories and keep your full body engaged.
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Burpees
It’s an excellent & classic workout if you want to move your whole body.
How to do burpees?
- Stand up straight and take a high jump. Then drop immediately on the ground, take your feet back and place your hands on the floor in a high plank position.
- Do a push-up and then jump back to stand straight. Repeat.
High Knees
This workout is an alternative to running. Those who do not like to run or do not have an open space to workout can do high knees.
How to do high knees?
- Stand straight, join your knees and hold your arms steady at both sides.
- Lift your one knee up to your chest and take a jump. Start repeating the same with alternative legs.
Butt Kicks
This exercise is very popular with runners and athletes and they like to do it in warm-up. But this exercise can be done in any phase of your workout.
How to do butt kicks?
This is opposite to high knees. Instead of lifting your knee, lift your legs backwards till your butt and repeat the same.
Jumping Jacks
The simplest and classic workout. This is loved by fitness trainers as it makes the heart rate faster.
How to do jumping jacks?
- Stand straight and spread your legs apart.
- Take a high jump spreading your legs and arms first in a flat position and then clap upwards.
- Bring the arms & legs back to the position and repeat.
Squat Jump
Contrary to the traditional way of squats, this workout requires squatting and then jumping instead of standing.
How to do squat jumps?
- To do squat jumps, start in a squat position.
- Then explosively jump up while extending your hips and knees, and land back in a squat position with soft knees to absorb the impact.
Lunge Jump
As squat jump consists of a squat and a jump, lunge jumps comprise of lunges and jumps.
How to do lunge jumps?
- Start with a lunge, swing your arms in front of you and jump.
- Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
Mountain Climbers
Mountain climbers are great for targeting your abdominal muscles, shoulders, arms, chest and thighs. It helps increase core strength, agility and endurance.
How to do mountain climbers?
- Start with a high plank position, your arms and legs should be straight.
- Now move your right leg forwards and outwards, While doing so try to take your knee as close as possible to the right elbow.
- Keep your body straight and return to a high plank position. Repeat the same with your left leg.
Star Jump
It’s a great exercise to pump blood in your muscles. Star jumps help in increasing your stamina and train your body to move oxygen and blood to your muscles more efficiently.
How to do star jumps?
- Start with standing straight while keeping your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Now slightly bend your knees and jump, while jumping create X letter in the air.
- Do a 2-3 set of 10 repetitions.
Benefits of Cardio for Women
Since cardio feels exhausting, many women often feel intimidated doing it. But the benefits that cardio exercise offers will change your mind.
- Cardiovascular exercises prevent bone loss and osteoporosis.
- Keeps weight in check, also helps in shedding weight faster.
- Cardio releases endorphins which makes you feel euphoric for shorter periods of time. This helps alleviate stress and relax your body, as a result, your sleep quality improves.
- Doing cardio also helps in managing mood swings.
- As you train your body to hustle more, you eventually increase your stamina.
- Since blood reaches every vessel in your body. In this process, it carries vital nutrients to skin cells and nourishes them.
- It goes without saying cardio improves your heart rate.
- It strengthens your immune system.
- Cardio exercise makes the muscles around affected joints strong, decreases bone loss and may help control joint swelling and pain.
- It improves your cholesterol levels.
Things to Consider While Doing Cardio Exercises
- Always listen to your body and do those exercise that are safe for you.
- Always keep the intensity of workouts moderate to avoid any injury.
- Wear proper activewear like tights and a sports bra.
- Keep your workout simple.
- Keep yourself hydrated to prevent risk of heat stress and maintain normal body function & performance levels.
Takeaway
So ladies, fret not and embark on the amazing fitness journey with these easy cardio exercises. These exercises can be done at home or gym and don’t require much intervention from experts. But we still recommend beginners to start under expert supervision to avoid any injury. Also before starting the workout do warm-up exercises and post-workout do cool down exercises. This helps alleviate workout pain.
Aparna Pal
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