Cardio is an important part of your workout routine, but not everyone does their cardio the same way or for the same reasons. Aerobic exercise shifts your respiration and circulation into high gear to achieve greater work, and doing regular cardio can increase your endurance and help regulate your body in many ways.

For each person, it's important to ask where cardio fits into your wellness habits and exercise plan.

 The Role of Cardio: Aerobic Exercise in Daily Life

• Build Endurance
• Lower Blood Pressure
• Regulating Mood and Mental Focus
• Increase Respiratory Function
• Regulate Metabolism and Weight
• Increase Mental / Productive Performance
• Increase Stability and Balance

Cardio has a great many benefits. Cardio helps with endurance, stability, metabolism, and even mood and mental focus. Cardio plays an important role for many based on their primary health and lifestyle concerns. If you are trying to build a healthy lifestyle of mental and physical wellness, daily cardio is advisable, but how much depends on your goals. 

What Are You Exercising For?

What are your exercise goals? How does this fit into your current routine?

The amount of cardio – and when to do it – depends on what you are exercising for. Athletes do cardio to increase their endurance and performance threshold. Seniors do cardio to increase their stability and endurance for daily activities. Many professionals value cardio most for it's mind-sharpening benefits and mood stabilization. 

Determine your current lifestyle and exercise goals. Consider how much you need the benefits of pushing yourself with bursts of aerobic cardio versus the muscle-building approach of anaerobic exercises with longer rest periods.

Routine Cardio vs Training Goals

Are you doing cardio to improve or maintain? Those looking to achieve a comfortable active lifestyle with cardio may enjoy a brisk walk several times a day. Athletes and those who enjoy ambitious personal goals should find longer periods for cardio and push themselves to longer and harder sessions over time to increase endurance and performance capacity.

Cardio Only Takes a Few Minutes

One of the most important things to know about cardio is that a healthy amount doesn't take long. Doing 15 minutes of moderate cardio 4 days a week is good for any healthy, body-maintenance lifestyle. Those looking to find their physical peak may consider scheduling 30-120 minutes of cardio 4-6 days a week.  However, even five minutes of cardio snuck in here and there during the week can have an immediately noticeable positive effect.

Find Opportunities to Achieve Cardio

Look for opportunities to raise your heart rate. Take the stairs, and try to go up at a challenging yet steady temp. Jog instead of walking across a large parking lot.  Drop a set of squats in your office when you start feeling the 2pm drowse. A little cardio can go a long way.

Choose a Convenient Time to Sweat and Shower

If you want a good cardio session on the treadmill or practicing your aerobic HIIT moves, pick a time when you're already about to shower. Simply book 5-30 minutes before your next shower to work up a serious sweat, then shower as you were going to and put on fresh clothes.

If you come in sweaty from gardening or a hot commute, hit the treadmill or your weights bench before hitting the showers. One of the best times for cardio is when you're transitioning between morning and afternoon – or afternoon and evening – events. If you were already going to swing by home to shower and change, simply get your sweatiest exercise in right before that shower and head to your next event flush and refreshed.

Incorporating Specific Exercises Into Cardio

Another reason to outline your workout goals is in how you achieve cardio. Seniors exercising for stability should choose walking and light running. Slow walks can also be combined with specific stability exercises like foot placement and knee lifts while moving at a steady pace. Athletes may choose to do their cardio with a specific exercise routine that works out targeted muscle groups or a scientifically balanced routine.

Balancing Aerobic vs Anaerobic Exercise

One important question is when to choose aerobic vs anaerobic exercises. An anaerobic routine often involves three parts resting to one part highly intense exercises. Anaerobic workouts typically involve weights or machines and allow more time for muscles to grow large through rest periods. Aerobic or cardio workouts focus on routine and endurance, tending toward leaner muscle building and less recovery time overall.

Fitting Cardio Into your Wellness Habits and Exercise Plan

How does cardio fit into your wellness plan? For some, you will want to make time for cardio for several 30+ minute periods throughout the week. For others, you may simply want to reach cardio a few times each week to make sure your system can still reach that higher gear. For a balanced workout routine, we advise about 15-30 minute sessions of cardio 4-6 days a week. If your schedule is really packed, catching just a few minutes will go a long way.

Here at Landice, we, think a lot about cardio exercise because we specialize in some of the industry's best indoor cardio machines from treadmills to ellipticals and bikes. For more useful information on , cardio exercise equipment and building a modern workout routine, explore our online resources at your leisure.