Cardio Exercises to Lose Weight: Home Machines Provide Variety
Exercise is good for what ails you and doing cardio exercises to lose weight will also give you the added benefit of making your heart stronger and increasing your lung capacity.
Need more reasons? The health benefits of cardio exercise are phenomenal: besides losing weight you can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol as well as improve your immune system and reduce the risks of diabetes and heart disease.
Best of all, you don’t have to go outside in bad weather and jog several miles. Stay home and get in shape! There is a variety of cardio exercise equipment, some as inexpensive as $150, available to help you get fit and lose weight by burning the calories without ever having to leave the house.
Working out at Home
The best advice for people who wish to do cardio exercises to lose weight is to do something you enjoy doing several times a week for 30 to 60 minutes each session. There is no single best cardio workout program; that is, there isn’t one activity that is better than anything else. These five fun and challenging home cardio machines listed below are not in any particular order. It is best for you to pick something that you will look forward to doing on a regular basis.
1. The treadmill is the king of cardio machines. This is an easy way for walkers and runners to get their weekly cardio requirement without having to worry about going out in bad weather. When you need to get into the target heart rate zone – just pick up the pace! Treadmills priced at $1000 or less now have improved construction and computer programming so you can add incline, resistance, and speed, as well as select from a variety of terrain programs at the push of a button.
2. A glideboard trainer provides intense cardio workouts for weight loss as well as effectively toning muscles and strengthening the heart and lungs. An example of this all-around functional home gym is the Total Gym. You can kneel, sit, or lie down on the glideboard, grab the handles, and use your own body as the resistance weight as you perform a up to 80 different exercises that hit most every muscle group. The Total Gym and other similar glideboard trainers cost between $150 and $1000.
3. The elliptical trainer has become one of the most popular machines for cardio exercises to lose weight. The elliptical is easier on the joints and offers a more intensive cardio workout than the treadmill. Choose a home machine with features such as a Strides per Minute monitoring as well as Heart Rate Control to ensure max results when trying to reach your target HR zone. Ellipticals now come with moving handlebars so that you can work the back, shoulders, and arms in addition to your core and lower body.
4. A stationary bike provides easy-to-do cardio workouts that burn fat. If you only have 20 minutes in the morning, jump on a stationary cycle and put in a good effort. Cycling indoors can burn up to 500 calories an hour and doesn’t have to be boring. You can change the resistance and intensity by adding sprints and hill climbs, or go for the long distance burn. If you are overweight and uncomfortable on a stationary bike, recumbent cycles will help you get the cardio exercise you need.
5. Circuit Strength training involves lifting weights 2 to 3 times a week. It isn’t a pure cardio workout program per se, but when you do a series of sets within a 30-minute time limit, going from one exercise to the next (a “circuit”), it gets the heart rate up and you will lose weight by burning a ton of calories. It also increases your metabolism and endurance while building muscle fiber. For variety right at home, get a multi-station home gym or a cable functional trainer, or you can buy a set of free weights, or design a compact home gym using jump ropes, elastic bands, an exercise ball and more, for less than $200. In addition to performing other cardio exercises to lose weight, following a strength training program twice a week will give the best fat-burning results.
Home Gym Workouts: Tips for Your Training Regime
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