5 Easy and Fun Cardio Activities

One of the most important things you can do to improve your health, overall mood, and longevity is to strengthen your cardiovascular health.

Yoga and weight training are good for your body. However, you still need to include cardiovascular workouts into your normal workout routine to ensure your heart stays healthy.

Important Note

Cardio training will increase your heart rate. You must be mindful of this as a too-little increase will not let you reap the benefits of the training, but if it's too high, it can even be risky.

Each body is different, so you'll have to "feel it out" and once you reach an increased heart rate that still feels ok, stay there for at least 10 minutes to get the most out of your cardio training.

Top Choices for Beginners

Step Aerobics

➜ Average calories burned: 400 to 600 calories per hour

Step aerobics was popular in the 80s but has tapered off a little bit. However, this is one of the best ways for beginners to transition well from couch potatoes to fitness stars at home.

To get hang of different steps you can watch aerobic videos and you can latter improvise to your own steps even when watching TV. Using a stepper is a quiet activity that requires very little room.

Elliptical trainers

➜ Average calories burned: when moving slow 425/hour. Moving fast 600/hour

Elliptical trainers are a good choice for beginners, as it's easy to start slow and work your way up to expert levels using the same machine.

Elliptical trainers are one of the most popular cardio fitness machines at the gym for a good reason. This machine provides a low-impact workout and it can work both your upper and lower body.

Most people who use these machines find them intuitive to use and easy to stay on for longer periods.

Running

➜ Average calories burned: at 5.2 mph you burn 600/hour

Running is one of the most popular cardiovascular exercises for people on a tight budget. If the weather cooperates, you can find interesting courses to run, you can also choose to run on a treadmill at home or your local gym.

Biking

➜ Average calories burned: 500 to 1000/ hour

Biking is also a great workout that you can enjoy during most seasons. The only investment you will need to make when starting is buying a bike and a helmet.

This is a very enjoyable exercise that many people find easy to incorporate bike riding into their day to day life. In addition to exercising, you can save money used on fuel costs.

Jumping Rope

➜ Average calories burned: 660/hour

Jumping rope lets you burn more calories in a short period of time than most cardiovascular activities. Very few people can be able to jump rope for more than 15 minutes at a time, but that's more than enough for a good cardio session.

Plus, jump ropes are very cheap to buy, and they offer an alternative you can fit in between other workouts like crunches and stretching. It’s a great way to increase your heart rate quickly and keep the rate up for a few minutes.

Start Your Work Out Today

For a fuller and longer healthy life, start working out today and maintain your cardio fitness.