Cardiovascular exercise is a great way to give you a healthy heart, but it’s about more than just your heart – it involves your entire vascular system and your lungs. It’s also good for your overall endurance and helps you walk up a flight of stairs without panting and lug the midget all over the mall, the store or the theme park – wherever you happen to be. But cardio is funny, in its own way. Because if it doesn’t get your heart pounding , it doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to. So here are some fun things to think about the next time you are doing your cardio:
- Laughing and coughing charge up your heart and get it racing, so just because you’re sick or having a good time doesn’t mean you aren’t getting a workout
- Running up hill may be a great way to get your heart going, but it’s also a great way to get hot and sweaty, so don’t do it unless you want B to follow A
- Christmas shopping is a cardiovascular activity, just ask any mom who’s tried to find the latest hot toy or game
- Toddlers are a cardiovascular workout in and of themselves – whether you work with kids, raise kids or are just around them – get ready for the workout
- Got a dog? Let them be your guide to getting plenty of cardio workouts – throwing the ball, the Frisbee, running on the beach or in the park or just plain having fun
- Sports, by their nature can be a cardio workout because they involve vigorous activity
- Dancing every Friday night is a great cardio workout, but drinking alcohol when you’re doing that pretty much eliminates that possibility
What do you enjoy most about cardio?
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