Cardio exercise it as necessary for overall health and fitness as anaerobic exercise (lifting weights) is. When you do cardio, you get your heart rate going and increase blood circulation throughout your body.

Basically cardiovascular exercise is something for the entire body in that you should work up a sweat, breathe a bit harder and get your heart rate jumping all at the same time, at least ideally.

One of the best benefits of cardiovascular exercise is that it exercises the most important muscle in your body, your heart. By getting your pulse rate up and keeping it there at a sustained rate for a period of time, you increase your overall fitness level and therefore your overall health.

It cannot be stressed enough that before you begin an exercise program you should see the doctor. Your physician can check to make sure there are no medical reasons why you cannot begin a rigorous fitness regimen.

However, one of the most commonly noted and popular benefits of doing cardiovascular exercise is that it burns off excess calories and can help you lose weight. It'll also give you an overall "toning" for your entire body.

The benefits of a cardio routine do not stop there! Not only will you burn extra calories during your workout but also you will continue to burn more calories when at rest. Recent studies suggest that this added burn can continue for up to 18 hours after you complete your routine.

In the course of becoming fit and toning your body, it will begin to burn calories faster as a natural reaction. This is because when your body is getting fit you lose weight, more importantly fat and gain muscle tissue. Muscles are scientifically proven to burn more calories even when you are asleep!

Are you feeling a little down in the dumps? Cardiovascular exercise can help with that too. Cardio gets the heart pumping and stimulates the production and release of endorphins, the feel good hormones. Everyone has endorphins; they are the body�s natural painkillers and can alleviate many symptoms of depression.

If you have done little more than walk to the dinner table for some time do not suddenly go full bore. All you will accomplish are injuries that must have time to heal, thereby putting your fitness routine on the back burner and setting you back.

Be sure that you visit your physician before you start a routine to be sure you are ready for vigorous activities. Even once you receive a green light from your doctor, you should not barge into a full-blown hour workout. The best thing you can do is start slow and small by taking a brisk ten-minute walk every day. Do not get discouraged if ten minutes is a bit much, five minutes is a good starting place as well. The main idea is to get moving and increase your exercise as you go.

After about two weeks, you're going to notice something funny happening here. You're going to notice that you have more energy, that you sleep better, that you have fewer cravings for "bad" foods, and that you just in general feel better. Most of all, perhaps, you are going to notice that your mood is a lot more positive. That's great; keep going.

As you progress toward your fitness goals, you are going to have to increase your challenges to keep moving forward. Remember when you do a cardio workout you should always break a sweat and be breathing harder by the time it is over. Go for around 20 minutes per day at least five days per week.

Of course, once you embark on a good cardio program, you're only going to help yourself if you change your diet to so that you eat right, get enough sleep, drink enough water, and all those other good health changes, too. After all, once you start with cardio, you'll never want to look back.