RANKED: Top 5 Most Common Cardio Exercises

It is quite widely accepted that cardio exercises are necessary for keeping the body fit, healthy and in shape. Cardio (short for cardiovascular) is any type of exercise that will get your heart rate up and your blood pumping.


Cardio improves our endurance and increases both our heart rate and breathing rate which helps prevent heart disease. The other added benefit of cardio is it burns calories which speed up our metabolism resulting in weight loss.


Let's rank the top 5 most common forms of exercises used for weight loss

5. Walking

           

Although great for beginners, those with injury or who are obese, walking probably is not the best form of exercise for losing weight and achieving fitness compared to other methods. Walking burns approximately 300 to 400 calories per hour.

4. Running


This is a higher intensity method compared to walking.  Running (not sprinting) is an efficient, although high impact way to lose body fat and improve cardiorespiratory fitness. Running burns on average 600 calories per hour

3. Cycling


Cycling involves the same muscles as does running, but has the added advantage of being lower impact.  Cycling burns 600 to 700calories (or more) per hour easily.

2. Rowing


Rowing on a machine is actually a great total body workout. It’s also a great high-intensity way to strip away unwanted body fat. It could be considered the perfect exercise as it works all the main muscles of the body, is of higher intensity than walking and of lower impact than running, and burns more calories per hour than any other commonly used cardio exercise Rowing burns around 800 calories per hour.

1. HIIT(High Intensity Interval Training)

           

HIIT is a new and popular form of exercise that gives an intensive aerobic option, which is shorter to complete than the traditional cardio training. When you’re just doing aerobic exercise, your body will adjust to the speed of the workout, conserving some calories. HIIT eliminates this steady-state pace. HIIT can be performed with various other exercise methods including cycling and sprinting. Performing HIIT would look something like 30to 60sec sprints.