10 steps to getting healthy and losing weight. #5, cardio.

One of my readers asked for a list of 10 steps to good health. I provided it, but now I want to break each of these items down and give you more useful details. So here’s step 5, cardio.

Almost everyone who’s trying to get healthy and lose a bit of weight will eventually take a look at cardio activity, and if they don’t they’re making a mistake. Cardio is an essential component of every healthy lifestyle. It promotes weight loss, increases cardio vascular health and improves your stamina.

Personally, I started doing true cardio about a year into my health recovery. By then, I had lost enough weight that running no longer hurt and I understood fitness and health enough to know that small failures are just temporary setbacks. So I was ok with being unable to run fast or far. Instead, I simply started running and slowly improved.

Benefits of cardio

Weight loss - Cardio burns a lot of calories. During an average cardio training session, I can burn upwards of 700 to 800 calories. However, cardio also elevates the metabolism causing your calorie burning to continue throughout the day.

Cardio vascular health – Most people don’t think of this, but your heart is just one more muscle. Like any other muscle, it could use a workout to get healthier. A cardio workout is sort of like a weight workout for your heart. You’re putting additional strain on it temporarily to strengthen and condition it. That way, your normal heart rate will be lower. That’s a bit of an oversimplification, but in general, cardio training really benefits your cardiovascular system.

How to start

Here’s something you can learn from my experience, jogging is not the only cardio alternative out there. For some reason, many people are familiar only with jogging and so that’s what they think of when you tell them about cardio. Actually, there are a number of cardio alternatives out there and I’ve discussed several of them in this previous post. So pick the activity you like and don’t be afraid to change things around later.

Now start slow. Don’t push yourself to failure the first day. That’s bad for your body and it’s bad for your soul. That first day failure almost made me quit. It’s much better if you slowly and gradually work your way up. So yes, you’ll start out that first day at a slow pace, but who cares? At least you’re doing something!