Overview

Cardio exercises can offer a number of health benefits, especially when performed regularly.

In reality, the specific exercises that you are performing are not as important as consistency. Therefore, make sure that you are enjoying the type of exercises you’re doing to lower the chances of quitting.

In this article, we will cover the health benefits of cardio exercises to demonstrate how valuable it is to move your body.

The health benefits of cardio exercises

Weight loss

In a 2012 study, researchers compared several exercise routines to see which one yields the best results when it comes to weight loss.

The main two forms of exercise were:

Cardiovascular exercise 

Strength training

They concluded that cardio exercises are more effective in burning fat and lower the risk of diseases.

Physical strength

While a lot of people believe that strength is only synonymous with lifting weights, cardio training can boost your physical strength by improving endurance, regulating metabolism, and increasing VO2 max.

Furthermore, cardio exercise can drastically improve the flexibility of your joints, which lowers the risk of sprains and other injuries.

Muscle growth

Another common misconception about cardio exercises is their lack of effectiveness when it comes to muscle hypertrophy. Several studies debunked this myth.

Clearly, the effects of cardio exercises on muscle growth are not as prominent as strength training. However, they are still there.

Mental health improvement

In a study published by the Frontiers in Psychiatry in 2018, scientists inspected the effects of exercise on major depressive disorder (MDD).

The study found that cardio exercise is very beneficial in controlling the symptoms of depression, as well as other psychiatric disorders.

Boosted metabolism

Consistent cardio training can increase your basal metabolic rate (BMR).
BMR is a parameter that depends on several elements, including age, gender, body type, height, weight, physical activity, diet, genetics, and others.

As you can probably deduce, the only way to boost BMR is by focusing on the modifiable elements. In other words, you cannot change your age, gender, body type, or height. However, you can act on physical activity and diet.

Interestingly, following a calorie-deficit diet can be counterproductive. Your body will interpret this as a sign of starvation. As a result, it will slow down metabolism to preserve your fatty stores.

This leaves physical exercise as the primary element to boost BMR effectively.
When this parameter is higher, your body will burn more fat than it usually does without any extra effort from your part.

Takeaway message

Cardio exercises can optimize your health in a variety of ways, including the benefits we listed above. Make sure to start a workout routine that you actually enjoy in order to avoid burnout.

We hope that this article helped you appreciate the role of cardiovascular training and how it can improve the function of your organs.