Cardiovascular exercise comes in many forms, ranging from a morning stroll to a marathon and has countless positive effects on the human body. This form of exercise called “cardio” , for short is something anyone can do to improve their health and quality of life and is classified as any activity that increases the heart rate and the rate of breathing for a given period of time. Some of the benefits of cardio include potential for weight loss, improved cholesterol levels, reduced stress, lower blood pressure and increased lifespan.
Forms Of Cardio Cardiovascular exercise is a wide range of activities that share one common goal which is to increase heart rate over the duration of the exercise. …show more content…
However, when cholesterol levels become imbalanced due to factors like diet, obesity, and lack of exercise cholesterol can cause harm to the body. “Not being physically active can contribute to higher LDL levels and lower HDL levels” in the body (Goldman 1). LDL, commonly referred to as “bad cholesterol” has an array of negative effects on the body when found in high levels. This cholesterol lines the walls of the arteries causing them to become more narrow and hard and increases the risk for heart attack, stroke and can cause chest pain (Mayo Clinic Staff 1). HDL, or “good cholesterol” has a completely different function from LDL. “Good Cholesterol” carries excess LDL cholesterol back to the liver where it gets broken down and does not allow it to accumulate in the arteries (Sigurdsson 1) . Because of the serious health concerns surrounding the presence of LDL it s important to exercise regularly. To treat high LDL, the recommended amount of cardio is 60 minutes of moderate intensity cardio per day (Goldman …show more content…
According to one study “Meeting or exceeding the World Health Organization's recommended minimum of 150 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity weekly exercise is associated with an increase in life expectancy of roughly 3.4 to 4.5 years, relative to no activity…” (McMullen 1). Cardio improves your lifespan via its many other health risk-reducing properties mentioned above including lowering risk for heart disease also, it is found that there is a correlation between level of fitness and risk of death, See figure 1 (Meyers