Before starting any cardio exercise its very important for you to learn to basic components of cardiovascular program. Any cardio exercise program should have
- Warm up and cool down.
- Primary cardiorespiratory activity, for instance, any one of the above mentioned exercise
- Progression plan.
Warm up and cool down: There is no doubt that time spent on warming up and cooling down will improve your performance and accelerate the recovery process needed before and after training. So don’t even think of skipping either of them. Here are a few advantages of warm up and cool down.
Warm up
- Psychologically prepares your body for a higher level of activities.
- Increases the elasticity of connective tissue and other muscle components and helps reduce muscle stiffness.
- Gradually increases the muscle temperature in turn increasing core body temperature which will avoid muscle injuries.
Cool down
- Prevents post exercise blood pooling and rapid drop in blood pressure thereby reducing the likelihood of post exercise lightheadedness or fainting.
- Reduces the immediate post exercise tendency for muscle spasm or cramping.
Primary cardiorespiratory activity
Depending on your interest, time availability, equipment and facilities and personal goal you can choose any of the physical activity.
Cardio Progression plan
A well-planned progression is very crucial for any physical activity. This plan must provide details for a gradual progression in frequency, during and intensity of exercise. Depending on your individual fitness level, age, health status, social and family support and access to appropriate facilities and equipments, plan it in such a way that you don’t injure yourself in the hurry to reaching your goal. It is also equally important to change your primary activity to over come the plateau your body reaches.
Finally, with all this knowledge and your logic applied you will be able to plan a good cardiorespiratory exercise. But still if you are totally new to fitness routine and if any confusion about any of the above components of cardiorespiratory fitness, please consult a certified trainer before starting an exercise program.
