Cardiovascular Health Benefits of Exercise

Let's get this out of the way – everyone needs cardio. Lately, it's been kind of the cool thing to complain about cardio or just not do it… don't let that be you! Cardio brings many essential health benefits, so you can't truly be healthy without it!

Plus, it's really not that hard to get done! Exercise and heart health are essential to the quality and longevity of your life. This article will go over the top cardiovascular health benefits to maximize the quality and longevity of your life.

What Is Cardio?

Let's first define what cardio is.

"Cardio" refers to cardiovascular exercise that improves your cardiovascular system.

So, what's your cardiovascular system? It's your body's system that's responsible for transporting oxygen and nutrients in blood. It consists of;

• Heart
• Blood vessels
• Blood

Ultimately, cardiovascular exercise is an exercise that "trains your heart" by placing a greater demand on it. It does so by elevating your heart rate for a sustained period of time, forcing it to work harder.

What Does the Cardiovascular System Do?

So, what does cardio do?

As you can imagine, improving the health and function of your cardiovascular system is important. It serves a ton of functions, including:¹

• Delivers oxygen and nutrients to tissues
• Removes carbon dioxide and waste
• Helps maintain body temperature
• Supports immune function and healing

Therefore, cardiovascular exercise is primarily concerned with improving your heart health as well as your lungs. Collectively, this will improve all of the above functions in your body.

Increased cardio health will more efficiently deliver oxygen and nutrients to your muscles when talking about performance-specific health.

What Is Considered Cardio?

Not all activities are considered cardio, with two primary determinants being;

• Elevating heart rate above a minimum threshold
• Elevated heart rate for a minimal amount of time

There are generally two intensity levels when measuring cardio from a health perspective.²

• Moderate intensity:50–70% of HRmax
• Vigorous intensity:70–85% of HRmax

This shows that 50% of your heart rate max is the minimum threshold for exercise to be considered cardio. In addition, your heart rate must be elevated for at least 10 minutes. Keep in mind that these are the minimum numbers merely to meet the definition.

Even though this definition is subjective. Regardless, most people will usually perform cardio for longer durations. We think 20 minutes is a better minimum with 30 or 40 minutes being ideal. We have a reason for this which we'll get to below.

If you're wondering what your  max heart rate is, this basic equation can give you a rough idea;

• HRmax = 220 − your age

Types Of Cardio Exercise

Regarding acquiring cardio benefits, it doesn't matter what you do as long as you do it. 

Some popular options are;

• Running
• Cycling
• Stair Climber
• Swimming

Remember that the method isn't really important; it's the result! This is why even "fun things" like dancing can count as cardio!³

Is Walking "Cardio"?

It can be if you walk fast enough.

We 100% support increasing physical activity by increasing your steps; however, it may not technically meet the criteria for "cardio." To do so, it must keep your heart rate elevated to at least 50% HRmax.

With that said, walking is capable of providing cardio benefits if it's performed at proper intensity and duration.⁴

Cardiovascular Exercise Benefits

So now, let's get into the benefits of regular cardio. In short, regular cardio improves all facets of your health, from your heart to your brain. Cardio exercise is essential for improved health and performance.

Here are some of the awesome reasons you need to improve cardio in your program.

Strengthens Your Heart (Lowers Blood Pressure)

The most obvious benefit of regular cardio is the strengthening of your heart. This includes all functions such as;

• Lower Heart Rate
• Lower Blood Pressure
• Improved blood flow.

Ultimately, these all help build a stronger heart that's able to eject more blood with less energy. It's similar to how a stronger muscle requires less energy to lift more weight.

In turn, this increase in efficiency leads to less stress placed on the heart. Overtime, this helps mitigate various health conditions, such as:⁵

1. Heart attacks
2. Stroke
3. Coronary arterial disease 

Increase VO2max

VO2 max measures your body's efficiency in absorbing and utilizing oxygen. Every time you breathe, you take in air that's a mix of oxygen, nitrogen, and other trace elements.

Regardless, this air is passed into your lungs, where oxygen is extracted and injected into your blood, with the rest being exhaled. However, your body doesn't uptake all of the oxygen.

Having a higher VO2 max means your body can take out more oxygen and utilize it every breath, especially during intense exercise. Ultimately, this leads to improved work efficiency and function.

More importantly, VO2max is now believed to be the best indicator of health and longevity—the higher the VO2max, the higher the longevity.⁶

Weight Maintenance/Weight Loss

Cardio is going to burn calories. Anything that increases physical activity will result in more calories burned, leading to improved body composition.

The caveat is that it needs to be consistent, just like all these other variables!

While there are plenty of variables to consider, 1 hour of cardio at 70%-80% HRmax will burn anywhere from 500-1,000 calories for most people.

Now, that assumes you perform cardio for an hour! However, if you're able to, and can do it regularly, that can burn up a large chunk of calories! Even if you can't do a full hour, any cardio that is done consistently can make a big impact and help burn fat and maintain weight.

Improves Mental Health

One aspect that's not spoken about enough is the positive effect on one's mental health.  Regular exercise does a ton to keep your mental wellness in check, primarily from the release of various hormones such as dopamine.

Professionals label this the "Mind-Heart-Body" connection – a happy heart means a happy life! When the body functions at optimal levels, it has a cascading effect that affects all other areas of your life.

If you want an extra boost, do it in the sun and nature! This provides many benefits, primarily soaking up vitamin D from the sun.

Decrease Risk Of Non-Communicable Disease (NCD)

We should reiterate that even though it's called "cardiovascular exercise," cardio will actually improve the function of your entire cardiorespiratory system—your lungs and heart.

We're talking about full-body optimization, which has a huge effect on one's health.

We then combine this with things such as a decrease in obesity and improved metabolic function. As a result, consistent cardio results in a decrease in numerous Non-Communicable Disease.

In fact, we believe that cardio performed at a consistent basis is one of the easiest ways to mitigate your risk of these NCD which results in a significant improvement in the quality and longevity of your life.

How Much Cardio Should You Do?

So, how much cardio should you do?

The answer really is broad and includes a wide range. However, the minimum numbers are;

• 150 minutes of moderate-intensity OR,
• 75-90 minutes of vigorous-intensity OR,
• Combination of both.

This is why we said each of your sessions should be longer, with 30-40 minutes being ideal. This makes it easier to hit your minimum goals.

Further, this should be spread out across the week, i.e.

• 30 minutes X 5 sessions
• 50 Minutes X 3 sessions

However, this is the minimum. The upper limit can depend on the person's fitness levels and goals. With that in mind, there's evidence of a dose-response of up to 300 minutes of moderate exercise weekly.

Further, we believe that including both intensities is ideal. Again, don't do this so you can do "less" exercise. Be honest with yourself, and if you can do more, do more.

We believe that you should include some form of cardio every day. This doesn't mean running 10k daily, but even on your recovery or rest days, you should still get in at least 30 minutes of brisk walking.

Can Walking Increase Cardiovascular Health?

Walking has become very popular over the last decade. We're sure you've heard of the 10,000 steps.

We strongly recommend you include this in your overall training program. However, one question is whether it's considered "cardio" .⁴

Your answer will depend on who you ask. However, consider this: ⁴

• Cardio is generally regarded as an exercise that elevates the heart rate to 50% HRmax.
• Studies show that 8000-10,000 daily steps provide significant health benefits such as reduction of cardiovascular disease.
• Walking at faster paces, in addition to performing more steps, results in increased health benefits.

Therefore, increasing your steps can provide cardiovascular health benefits. However, you should make a point to perform brisk walking.

Further, even if you were to get 10,000 steps of walking, we still think you should include some cardio at the 70-80% HR max.

Cardiovascular Exercise Means A Healthier Life

Get your cardio in! Even if you're hitting the gym on a regular basis, including cardio is still going to improve your health and even your training. Cardio has certain qualities and benefits that you can not get from other forms of training.

Going to the gym or doing some cardio should not be seen as an either/or situation. They complement each other beautifully and should be included in everyone's regime.

References

1. Abdellatif, M., Rainer, P.P., Sedej, S. et al. Hallmarks of cardiovascular ageing. Nat Rev Cardiol 20, 754–777 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-023-00881-3
2. American Heart Association. Target Heart Rates Chart. American Heart Association. Published March 9, 2021. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/target-heart-rates
3. Fong Yan, A., Cobley, S., Chan, C. et al. The Effectiveness of Dance Interventions on Physical Health Outcomes Compared to Other Forms of Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med 48, 933–951 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0853-5
4. Ungvari, Z., Fazekas-Pongor, V., Csiszar, A. et al. The multifaceted benefits of walking for healthy aging: from Blue Zones to molecular mechanisms. GeroScience 45, 3211–3239 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00873-8
5. Olvera Lopez E, Ballard BD, Jan A. Cardiovascular Disease. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; August 22, 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30571040/
6. Solomon A, Borodulin K, Ngandu T, Kivipelto M, Laatikainen T, Kulmala J. Self-rated physical fitness and estimated maximal oxygen uptake in relation to all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2018;28(2):532-540. doi:10.1111/sms.12924 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28543703/
7. Boehm JK, Kubzansky LD. The heart's content: the association between positive psychological well-being and cardiovascular health. Psychol Bull. 2012;138(4):655-691. doi:10.1037/a0027448 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22506752/