Planning to Skip Cardio? Here’s Why You Shouldn’t

Posted by Editor in Uncategorized on May 14th, 2019 | Comments Off on Planning to Skip Cardio? Here’s Why You Shouldn’t

Every once in a while, you’ll see a hulking Singaporean bodybuilder casually walking down the streets. If there was a scenario where he was made to climb up the stairs to the fourth floor of a building, he would easily get tired. This is just an example, of course. We’re not taking shots at all the mass monsters out there! In fact, there are also a lot of bodybuilders who can run for hours and not get tired.

The above example is just a small picture of how different you will feel if you do cardio or not. This is the issue though; some people just seem to not like cardio at all. Whatever their reason is, they might not understand the importance of cardio overall. So here it is:

To have a stronger heart

The number one and most important reason why we need to do cardiovascular exercises is to have a strong and healthy heart. Always remember that the heart is also a muscle, and it’s the most hard-working one! Doing cardio regularly can help keep the heart in great shape. You’ll be able to perform different activities without easily losing your breath.

It can serve as a warm-up

Warming up and cooling down is important in any form of exercise. So, you can use light cardio as your warm-up. Start slow and gradually increase the intensity, only to a point where you’re not too tired to do your actual workout. When you warm up with light cardio exercises, you’re simultaneously preparing your heart to be able to pump out blood effectively during the workout while also heating up your muscles so that they become more flexible.

You’ll be able to do more overall

As stated earlier, when your heart is healthy and strong, you can perform a lot more and a lot better. This is simply because your heart is able to pump out blood more efficiently throughout the body. Because of this, oxygen and other nutrients are delivered to muscle tissues through the blood. This enables muscles to work at a higher capacity and also recover faster.   

Better control of blood sugar

Outside of working out, doing cardio exercises also have great benefits for our health. Sugar (glucose) is the body’s main source of fuel. When you exercise, your body will be better at utilizing glucose for fuel and energy. This will also significantly help you fight against spikes in blood sugar and even blood pressure.

Again, cardio is important, but you should also learn to strike a balance. If you push yourself too much during cardio exercises, you might be too exhausted to do your workouts. Your heart will get strained and your body, overall, will have difficulty keeping up with your demands.