Best Cardio Classes

Cardio boot camp exercises have used military techniques - marching, push-ups, sit-ups, lifting weights and obstacle courses - to get people in shape. Make sure to check with your doctor to see what exercise regimen would be best for you. Start slow, take your time.

Cardio boot camp exercises are not for those with injuries. Always stretch before you get involved in any physical exertion.

Stretch your arms by raising them above your head. Stretch upwards, as far as possible, so you can feel your muscles tense. You will feel a slight “burning” sensation - extend a little farther, then relax. Do not overexert yourself.

To determine your fitness level - beginner, average or advanced - consider if you do push-ups or sit-ups. Do you get tired walking up one flight of stairs?

The “beginner” does little or no exercise, getting tired quickly. The “average” exercises a little and doesn’t get tired during normal activities. The “advanced” does push-ups and sit-ups regularly - even walking or running.

“Beginner” cardio boot camp exercises warm up muscles.

A “beginner” routine starts with stretching and walking in place for seven minutes.

Do the “leg stretch”. Sit on the ground, with back upright and legs extended. Touch your toes. Do ten repetitions.

“Deep knee bends” consist of standing upright, positioning your feet about shoulder-width, bend to touch your toes.

The “wall push-up” is for the novice. Stand about two feet away from a wall. Place your hands on the wall. Lean towards the wall, until your nose touches the wall. Push yourself back to the upright position.

Finish by walking in place for four minutes.

The “average” cardio boot camp exercise begins with stretching and running for ten minutes.

Do 20 “leg stretches” and “deep knee bends.” Perform either 20 “regular or baby sit-ups”. A “baby sit-up” is performed while on your back, legs bent. Place your hands on your ears, elbows protruding forwards. Curl towards your knees, until you feel resistance. Recoil to your original position.

A “full sit-up” involves you touching your chest to your knees.

For a “full push-up” - lay on your stomach, with legs fully extended behind you. Place your hands on the ground, next to your shoulders. Push straight down, until your arms are fully extended. Keep your back straight. Lower your body, until your nose touches the ground. Do 20 push-ups.

If you are out-of-shape, you might want to start with “knee rocker push-ups” - rest on your knees rather than your toes.

Finish by running half a mile

The “advanced” cardio boot camp exercises are for those who have done weight training and running.

Run a mile.

Do the average cardio boot camp exercise with 40 full sit-ups and full push-ups.

Then do 30 “jumping jacks”. Stand with feet together, arms resting at sides. Jump in the air, spreading your legs out to their maximum width. Raise your arms. Clap your hands above your head. Land on feet fully spread. Jump again returning to original position.

Finish by running two miles.

Enjoy exercising. Make your body strong!

A lot of people harm themselves when they go on a diet because they drastically cut their calories and skimp on the exercise. They do not realize that doing exercises such cardio workouts is the best way to get rid of unwanted calories. If you want to lose weight and maintain that weight you lost, then you have to combine exercise with your diet.
You have a lot of options when it comes to cardio workouts so you can’t quit because of boredom. Almost any kind of activity can be turned into cardiovascular workouts. If you do it right, you can even turn your house cleaning sessions into effective weight loss workouts. Keep moving while you clean, and do activities that require vigorous motions, like scrubbing and vacuuming.
You may even include your children in your cardio workouts. I often dance along to Wiggle’s DVDs with my daughter. You can purchase DVDs that have nothing but songs, and these will keep you moving. The dance moves are easy and your children can learn the moves and keep up with you. This is one that is a lot of fun as far as cardio workouts go.
Your television is also a good source of great cardio workouts. In fact, a few stations on cable cater exclusively to exercise and eating right. These stations have a variety of shows that offer great workouts that you can do in your own living room.
Another idea for getting good cardio workouts would be to join a gym. You can choose from simple aerobics, dance, spin, and other activities that are meant to help keep your heart moving for a superb workout. Both beginners and more experienced dieters will benefit from these classes.
You should begin with simple exercises if you have a lot of weight to lose. This is because your body won’t handle extreme cardio workouts very well. The last thing you want is to overdo your workouts and then quit because it is too strenuous. You can begin your workout with walking exercises. Remember to walk at a fast enough pace to get your heart rate slightly elevated.

Cardio and weight loss seem to go together like milk and cookies. This is not surprising, since cardio is widely accepted as the world’s best way to lose weight and stay thin.
But, if cardio works so well for losing weight, then why do we see the same overweight people at the gym doing the same old cardio exercises and never getting any slimmer?
Maybe cardio just isn’t so great for weight loss after all, or maybe people are just not performing cardio training correctly.
First, cardio is valuable for weight loss as well as for other health benefits. Cardio strengthens the heart muscle, increases muscle mass, reduces the risk of disease, and causes the body to sweat out toxins. Cardio also builds endurance and self-confidence, helps you sleep better, and reduces stress.
The problem is that cardio needs to be done in short, fast bouts to be most effective, and people seem to prefer long, slow cardio workouts. Staying on the treadmill for an hour at a mediocre speed is not going to get you the weight loss results that you crave. Cardio should be done on the stationary bike at full speed for no more than eight minutes at a time. This is high intensity cardio training, and it’s the only cardio training that you should be doing for weight loss.
Start with 3 minutes on the bike, and go as fast as you can go. Do this routine three times a week. Gradually build up to four minutes, and eventually to eight minutes at full speed.

Have you ever stopped to think about WHY you work out the way you do?
If you’re like most people you’ve probably just fallen into the rut of doing the same things from workout to workout with little consideration for WHY you’re doing them. For example; most people are presented with a basic programme when they join a gym and follow it blindly for weeks, months or even years without ever taking the time to think about whether or not the programme is right for their own particular requirements.
No wonder so few people achieve the results they desire from their training… they don’t even know what their exercises are supposed to do!
It’s this simple; exercises are like tools. If you choose the wrong tool to achieve the goals then it’ll take you longer to get there, if you ever get there at all! It’s like trying to drill a hole using a hammer, it just doesn’t make sense… and neither do most peoples workouts.
A prime example of using the wrong tool can be seen if we look at the common approach to cardiovascular training (CVT).
Most women incorporate CVT into their programmes primarily as a method of weight control and body fat reduction. Using all manner of methods from rowers to steppers, treadmills to bikes and cross-trainers to ‘aerobics’ classes, women in gyms up and down the country, and indeed the world, can be found spending a disproportionate amount of their total training time on exercises that… …wait for it… …may actually be making them fatter!
That’s right, it’s not a typo. The much hailed panacea of aerobic training can actually contribute to making women (and men too) proportionately fatter than before they started training.
Talk about using the wrong tool! We’re basically 180 degrees out of phase with our intentions when we train this way.
You see, the way the human body works is paradoxically simple yet complicated at the same time. The simple part of the energy system equation tells us that exercises that are performed at a lower intensity use fat as the primary fuel source and oxygen as a catalyst. Indeed, the very term ‘aerobic’ means ‘with oxygen’. By definition these activities are less taxing and are able to be sustained for longer, almost indefinite periods of time. For example, as you sit there reading this article you’re predominantly using your aerobic system.
So, that was the easy bit. Aerobic = low intensity fat burning. Sounds ok doesn’t it?
Well, consider this (This is the complex, sciency bit, but bear with it, it’s important).
The longer we engage in higher level aerobic activities such as those typically included in a workout, the more we secrete a nasty little group of hormones called ‘glucocorticoids’, with the stress hormone ‘cortisol’ chief amongst them. One of the lesser known qualities of cortisol is that it is catabolic in nature, meaning that it breaks down muscle tissue along with fat in order to metabolise this stored energy for immediate fuel.
Why is this bad?
Well, it’s our muscles that give shape and definition to our bodies. If we lose muscle faster than we lose fat then proportionately we’re fatter… even if the scales tell us we’re several pounds lighter! In a society that places a higher priority on what we weigh, this is a difficult concept to grasp but nevertheless it’s true just the same.
Total weight is no indicator of how fat you are just as total weight lost during a diet is no indicator of the effectiveness of the diet. They are merely measurements of total mass regardless of what that mass is made from.
Another point to bear in mind is that it is primarily our lean tissues, our muscles, that burn the fuel that we eat in order to create movement. Therefore, any loss of muscle tissue means that our metabolism will slow down. The exact opposite of what we need if we’re trying to lose body-fat!
So what’s the answer? Am I saying that CV exercise is ‘Bad’?
No, far from it!
Cardiovascular training is extremely beneficial in maintaining a healthy heart, preventing disease and keeping surplus body-fat at bay, but considering many of the drawbacks of the current over-emphasis on aerobic training, I’d strongly recommend giving ‘anaerobics’ a try.
What are anaerobics?
Basically, the opposite of aerobics, these are activities that are carried out ‘without oxygen’ [Note: we’re never truly without oxygen, just that oxygen cannot meet the demand of the activity] and involve higher intensity, shorter duration bursts of activity to produce the training effect.
The benefits of this type of training include: Higher calorie consumption Anabolic in nature - Meaning that it promotes lean tissue. Increases metabolism Shorter, more effective workouts
You can incorporate anaerobic activities into your workout simply enough just by increasing your intensity during your training. Instead of 15 minutes of steady-paced (and mind-numbing) aerobic work, try the following:
5 bursts of high level (80% or more of your top effort) for 2-3 minutes duration.
Rest completely between each effort.
40/20 splits.
Go all out for 20 seconds and then recover for 40 secs. Repeat 5 times.
Sprints.
Go as far and as fast as you can for 1 minute. Rest totally in between sets and then repeat sprints 5 times.
As you can see, anaerobic training is characterised by a high intensity of effort. If you can hold a conversation during or immediately after the activity then you didn’t come out of your aerobic zone and may need to put forward a little more effort.
There you have it. Probably the most effective, yet least utilised, fat loss method there is. Give anaerobics a try, I mean a fair try and you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve in a relatively short period of time. The results of training this way can be quite spectacular.
You’re thinking it sounds hard aren’t you?
Well, you’re right. It is hard. I never said it’d be easy did I? But if you want the results…

About the Author

Dax Moy is a performance enhancement specialist and master personal trainer with studios in and around London. Voted one of the UK’s leading fitness experts, Dax is a regular guest on TV, radio and print publications on the subject of health, fitness and the performance mindset. To learn more about Dax’s unique training style visit http://www.lookgreatnakedchallenge.com

Author Dax Moy

If you’ve considered taking up a more active lifestyle, you’ve most definitely heard of "cardio activities". Cardio plays an important role in many fitness routines, and performing cardio exercise is a great way to keep your heart and body healthy. The best thing about cardio activities is that people at all fitness levels can perform them.
Aerobic or cardiovascular exercise is defined as any type of physical exercise, performed at moderate but increasing levels of intensity, over extended periods of time. The word "aerobic" means "with oxygen"; therefore, aerobic exercise refers to the body’s use of oxygen throughout the activity. Cardio exercises are aimed at increasing your heart rate, and can help you to effectively burn calories.
Most people immediately think of weight loss when considering cardio activities. While it is true that cardio and aerobic exercise will increase metabolism, and result in a loss of fat mass, there are other very important health benefits to consider. Taking part in cardio activities goes way beyond the average weight loss program.
Cardio activities and aerobic exercise can help to:
1. Tone muscles throughout the body, resulting in improved blood circulation and reduced blood pressure
2. Strengthen cardiovascular muscles to increase the pumping efficiency of the heart
3. Strengthen respiratory muscles to promote smoother, unlabored breathing
4. Increase the number of red blood cells, resulting in improved transport of oxygen throughout the body
Regular and disciplined aerobic exercise can help to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Taking part in an active cardio exercise program also helps lower the risk of other health problems including respiratory disease and osteoporosis.
Cardio activities are not limited to members of expensive fitness clubs. Some of the most common cardio exercises are:
1. Walking: This is one cardio activity that you’re already doing, everyday! Walking is a very beneficial, low-impact exercise that can be done virtually everywhere. It is one of a few aerobics exercises that can be incorporated into any type of lifestyle, and best of all it’s free! A 15-30 minute walk around the mall will allow your body to lose as many calories as you would on a treadmill. You can increase your caloric and fat loss by increasing the pace and rhythm of your walks.
2. Running and Jogging: Like walking, jogging and running can be done in many places. Plan a route through your neighbourhood, run around the park, jog along the boardwalk at the beach, or take to a track. Running and jogging are accessible, easy and free cardio activities. Before you begin, make sure that you’re body is ready. Beginners should begin with speed walking, and then gradually work up to a jogging or running routine. Running is a very natural activity for your body and you can easily work it into your regular exercise routine.
3. Aerobic Dancing: In the 1970’s there was an explosion in aerobic activity through the Jazzercise program. The 1980s brought exercise gurus like Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons into the spotlight, and even brought exercise attire like headbands and legwarmers to the fashion runways. In the 1990s, aerobics lessons were led by supermodels and sold everywhere on video. The new millennium brought cardio activities like pilates and yoga. Over the past thirty decades aerobics dance exercises may have changed, but the excitement has not faded. People still love to work out to a hot beat, and aerobic dance moves are fun and effective ways to keep weight off and maintain a trim, toned body.
Contrary to what many people believe, aerobic exercise is not limited to the uber-healthy. There are a variety of aerobic dance lesson styles to appeal to people of all fitness levels:
* Low-impact: In low-impact aerobics, the dancer always keeps one foot on the ground. There are no bouncing or jumping movements that can cause joint pain. Low-impact aerobic exercise is ideal for people just starting out, for older people, and for those who cannot or should not move or jump around excessively.
* High-impact: There is a great deal of jumping and complicated body movements in high-impact aerobics. For this reason, those with a little experience and a certain amount of agility and rhythm best perform these cardio activities.
* Water aerobics: Cardio exercises done in the water are known as water aerobics. These are low-impact activities that are usually performed in waist-deep water, so some swimming ability is required.
* Step aerobics: In step aerobics, a raised platform is used with a combination of body movements. "Stepping" movements are often used in both low and high-impact aerobics routines.
Cardio activities are good for maintaining a healthy weight, and essential in keeping a healthy heart. Consider making regular cardio exercise part of your daily routine.
About the Author
Barbara Jones writes for several web sites, on health and wellness topics.
Published At: www.Isnare.com
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Article Tags: aerobic, cardio, exercise Read more articles by: Barbara Jones Article published on September 09, 2006 at Isnare.com

Cardio Exercise Machines – Common Cardio Workout Mistakes
Cardio exercise machine workouts are great and fun for burning excess body fat and building good cardiovascular health. These exercises not only help to burn body fat fast it will also strengthen your heart and lungs and thus reducing your chances of getting high blood pressure, stroke and heart diseases. Regular cardio exercises can also reduce bad cholesterol and raise the level of good cholesterol.
However, are you getting the most out of your cardio machine workouts? Are you using the cardio workout machines efficiently to gain maximum benefits of the exercises?
Well, you probably are not if you are an average gym user without any personal trainers to guide you because you will probably commit common cardio machine mistakes when exercising.
We shall now examine the more popular cardio workout machines and the common mistakes people commit when using these machines for their workouts.
Common mistakes when using cardio workout machines are :-
• Step up stair climber – This is perhaps the most common mistake for not getting the most out of the step up stair climber machine. Almost invariably, everyone when exercising with this machine will rest their arms on the railing. By doing so, the railing now becomes sort of like a crutch as it will now support some of your body weight making the exercise less intensive.
• Treadmill – The treadmill is perhaps the most popular cardio workout machine in the gym. A careful observation will show that many treadmill users run with too much up and downs. This mistake will wear out the person’s ankle and knee joints over time. The correct method is to take long, smooth and purposeful strides during the exercise.
• Stationery Bike – When exercising on the stationery bike, do adjust the height of the seat to a comfortable level. I really don’t understand why many stationery bike users adjust their seats to be either too high or too low. I mean, why be uncomfortable when exercising when you can be comfortable.
When the seat is too low, it adds strain to your knees and spine. When too high, your will butt will rock from side to side. So besides not getting the best from your cardio workout on the stationery bike because your body weight will be involved when you peddle, you will also look weird. It is such a silly workout mistake right?
Another common mistake is that I often see stationery bikers reading a book when exercising. That means that they exercise at a very low intensity level. Hey, how can low intensity cardio exercises work your heart and lung effectively?
• Elliptical Trainer – This is also another bewildering common cardio workout mistake. You use the elliptical trainer to tone your body and to exercise for your cardiovascular fitness right? Then why is it I often see people who use the elliptical trainer exercising at a high speed? So what is the mistake? The mistake is that they have set the resistant level too low.
You see, if you do not puff, pant and breakout in sweat, you are not getting the best out of your cardio exercises. Is it any wonder then that people are not losing weight and not improving on their cardiovascular health even when they are doing their cardio exercises regularly?
Now that you know how to avoid these common cardio machine exercise workout mistakes, you can now head for the gym and get the best out of these exercises. In a very short time, you will see your body toning up nicely, improvement on your cardio health being felt and visibly losing excess body fat.
About the Author
Chris Chew fitness personal trainer of actors, male pageant winners, models and celebrities. See his websites Free Fitness Tips and Be A Certified Personal Trainer
Published At: www.Isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=43955&ca=Wellness%2C+Fitness+and+Diet

Article Tags: cardio, common, workout Read more articles by: Chris Chew Article published on April 02, 2006 at Isnare.com

People are confused more than ever. They are confused about the best way to go about achieving the body they want. They are confused about what works and what doesn’t, and the reasons why. There are countless individuals slaving away in gyms and fitness centers around the country right now. They are working tirelessly, almost every day, on the treadmill, stair-climber, elliptical, etc. to burn those calories and fat. They also might be lifting weights several times a week for hours at a time to build some strength and muscle. They might even join a few aerobics or spinning classes too. … They are probably also trying one of the latest diet strategies that promises miracle weight loss. They could also be spending a lot of money on the latest and greatest miracle pill that will aid in weight loss. They are also carefully watching the scale as their main judge of progress. If it goes up a pound or two, they may behave rashly and maybe even charge up their entire workout or diet program! And of course there are others doing variations on that same theme. After all, this is the kind of stuff that many of the popular fitness and diet gurus typically recommend. With so many different strategies and plans being pushed as the be all and end all, what happens is we tend to go overboard. When that happens, we lose sight of what really matters in achieving lifelong fitness and health principles that many people don’t know about, most people have forgotten, and only a select few put to use to achieve lifelong health and fitness. These are the same principles I used to drop over 40 pounds of unwanted body fat, keep it off, and revitalize my life! When you think about how little time you have to spend compared to the typically recommended methods to get these best fat burning and health creating results, it’s almost magical. Learn how to ignite you’re own fat burning furnace without cardio workouts or fad diets. Learn more about it now. http://bobs-cardioworkout.blogspot.com/

About the Author

Cardio Workout: Most people are confused more than ever. They are confused about the best way to go about achieving the body they want. They are confused about what works and what doesn’t, and the reasons why. There are countless individuals slaving away in gyms and fitness centers around the country right now. Forget what you thought you knew about fat loss and fitness, start off with the right approach. http://bobs-cardioworkout.blogspot.com/

Author Robert McClure

Cardiovascular activity is difficult to enjoy and it is even tougher when you do the same exercises every day. This article is going to give you an insight of the most popular methods of cardio available. You are going to learn all about walking, jogging, sprinting, dancing, cycling, swimming, and rollerblading. My goal is to make a long article seem short and not bore you with unnessecary details that won`t help you achieve results quickly.
The first method of cardio that I am going to explain is walking. Walking is the most common form of cardio exercise, and some people don`t even realize that they are doing cardiovascular activity just by walking around the house. Walking is a very low-impact exercise, and is one of the few cardio exercises that can be incorporated into your own lifestyle. Another form of walking that can be used is power walking. Power walking at the gym is easy because you can just hop on a treadmill and take off. You should choose a walking routine that emphasizes incline movements and you should alternate paces to shock your muscles into new growth.
Jogging is the most common exercise known to the public. Most jogging program`s paces are determined on one`s physical conditioning. Beginner joggers should practice speed walking before they progress to a jogging routine. Jogging is not for everyone because it can be hard on your knees and is simply not an option when it is zero degrees outside. Jogging is a very good cardiovascular exercise because it burns twice as many calories per hour than that of walking, and it should be used by individuals wanting fast weight loss results.
Sprinting is running as fast as you can until you cannot run any further. This method of cardio is more suited towards HIIT and should not be used by beginners. Sprinting is the quickest form of cardio that can be performed to burn calories because it only takes five to ten minutes to get an effective workout. However, sprinting can be dangerous to your body if proper warm-up isn`t in place. Make sure that you stretch thoroughly prior to sprinting because the quick movements may shock your muscles into an injury.
Dance is another popular method of cardio and is actually one of the few cardio exercises that are fun. Everywhere you look, it is almost certain that you can find a dance class to join. There are so many different dance styles available that it would be impossible to list all of them. If joining a dance class doesn`t appeal to you, but you still want to learn how to dance, then these DVD videos are the perfect investment:
1) Tae-Bo
2) Carmen Electra’s The Lap Dance & Hip Hop
3) Darrin’s Dance Grooves
4) You Got Served - Take It to the Streets (Dance Instructional)
Indoor cycling, also known as spinning, is a new health club craze. This intense workout targets the lower body, giving the quads, glutes, and hamstrings a good workout. Using stationary bikes that aim at increasing endurance, classes using the spinning exercise is a perfect way of getting a hardcore workout and motivational boost at the same time. Almost every health club has a cycling class that you can join and the application process is easy. Each forty-five minute session that you perform will burn 500-700 calories, who wouldnt want to indoor cycle?
The best part about swimming is that it is not stressful on your body. Water aerobics offer the same support as swimming, but instead of propelling your body from one end of the pool to the other, you use the water as resistance to burn calories and build muscle. Both methods are refreshing alternatives to boring cardio and will give you a good workout without getting sweaty. Another reason swimming is a good exercise is that the water decreases the stress on your joints, and it helps people with joint problems incorporate exercise into their lifestyle.
For people who live in cold areas, ice skating is the preferred method over rollerblading. However both methods serve the same purpose and that is to get you active. These exercises are fun to do and are great for the lower body. If you want a more challenging exercise you can simply rollerblad uphill, but be careful when you are going back down because the excess speed may cause you to crash. Which brings me to the downside of rollerblading. It is a very dangerous exercise and you must wear protective equipment at all times. You also might try to show off when your ability levels are not so great and you could injure yourself if you are not careful.
Cardiovacular exercise wouldn`t be fun without the different methods that are available. Try them all out and determine which ones that you like best. If you`re a beginner, I suggest that you start out by going on a walk or a harmless swim. But once you get more advanced, then start incorporating more of the techniques that I explained above. Cardio doesn`t always have to be hard, it can actually be fun if you approach it properly. Until next time, later.
About the Author
MY SITE: http://www.mightybody.com
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Article Tags: dance, exercise, walking Read more articles by: Zach Bashore Article published on June 06, 2006 at Isnare.com