If weight loss is your primary objective, then remember that you can lose weight quickly, without investing in any costly equipment, weight loss pills or highly publicized weight loss programs. All you need to do is spend about 20 to 50 minutes per day on doing cardio exercises. You can select any form of cardio exercise – brisk walking, jogging, running, stepping, aerobics and dancing, swimming, stationary biking or cycling – which interests you and you can even consider using a combination of 2-3 different cardio activities per day or altering the activities chosen by you everyday to eliminate the boredom factor.
Cardiovascular exercises are good for people of all age groups. Different people may need to perform different types of cardio exercises, for optimum results, depending on their body type and genetic constitution. Therefore, even if two people perform the same cardio exercise for the same duration and with the same intensity and frequency, they might not obtain the same degree of results.
The best results for anyone can be obtained only if you maintain the optimum heart rate. The target heart rate can be calculated by subtracting your age from a constant figure of 220. For instance if you are 50 years old, your maximum target heart rate is 220 – 50 = 170.
Many people are under the misconception that working out at 100% of maximum target heart rate is best for maximizing the fat burning process. But exercising at 90 – 100% of your heart rate can be fatal. In this case, 90% of the energy derived is from carbohydrates while a maximum of 10% fat calories and 1% proteins are burnt to fuel your workouts.
However, if you are working out at 80 – 90% of your maximum target heart rate, then about 85% of the energy is derived from the burning of carbohydrates while only about 15% of fats and 1% of proteins are burnt to derive the rest of the energy.
In case you are working out at 70 – 80% of your maximum target heart rate, then about 50 % of the energy for your workouts is derived from carbohydrates burning, while the rest of the 50% energy requirements are met the burning of fats. However, if you workout at this heart rate, your endurance levels increase manifold and the functional capacity of the heart and other body organs is greatly improved. Even the blood circulation increases due to an increase in the number and size of the blood vessels.
The optimum heart rate to be maintained is 60 – 80% of maximum target heart rate. If you are working out at 60 – 80% of your maximum target heart rate, then about 85% of the energy derived is from the burning of excess fat stored in your body, while a maximum of 5% proteins and 10% are carbohydrates are burnt to fuel your workouts.