The 10 Best Cardio Exercises

With a long lockdown coming to an end and with the gyms re-opening soon, you might be focused on the types of workouts you can be doing back in the gym. But with the warmer weather in sight and summer on the horizon you may also be thinking of the best ways to lose that excess lockdown weight.

Muscle-building exercises are extremely important if you want to build a stronger, muscular physique but if you’re not keen on traditional cardio and you want to get leaner then you'll want to add a few new moves to your workout that can make that happen.

Why would you add cardio exercises to your workouts?

Well you might not like doing cardio and want to focus on exercises you do like but the truth is, if you want to become faster and fitter, then weights alone can only take you so far.

These exercises are considered some of the best ones to add to your workouts to help add a cardio element and help you burn more calories and body fat as you go.

• Skipping
• Burpees
• Bear Crawls
• Kettlebell Swings
• Wall Balls
• Sandbag Squats
• Box Jumps
• Incline Treadmill Sprints
• Battle Ropes
• Medicine Ball Slams

By adding regular cardio exercises to your workouts, you'll be breathing faster and more deeply, increasing the levels of oxygen within your blood. As your heart beats faster, your capillaries, the small blood vessels, begin to widen to deliver additional oxygen to your muscles to remove lactic acid and even make your heart stronger, allowing it to beat slower as you get fitter.

A study published in Neurology found that people who were fit in middle age were 88% less likely to develop dementia. Aerobic exercise has been found to boost 'good' cholesterol (HDL) and, conversely, lower 'bad', cholesterol. During and after exercise, your body will produce feel-good hormones, called endorphins, that act as natural painkillers.

By regularly incorporating cardio exercises to your workouts, you'll begin to notice improvements in your metabolism speed and increases in your metabolic rate. You can improve your recovery, too. After a heavy weights session, you can use a cardio exercise such as a light jog or skipping to flush your legs out and delay onset muscle soreness (DOMS).