4 Reasons Why You Should Do Low Intensity Cardio Exercises In Your Home

Many people think that if you do high intensity interval training (HIIT), you can get excellent results from the workout. But, don’t forsake good, old-fashioned low intensity cardio just because high-intensity exercises seem to be the fad these days. Low intensity cardiovascular exercises actually have unique benefits that might be challenging to achieve with HIIT.

Continue reading to know four reasons you should start doing low intensity cardio at home.

1. Maintaining Muscle

Low intensity cardio helps you maximize the potential of weight training exercises. Doing HIIT may hinder muscle growth because of the severe level of stress you put on your muscles and joints. Implement low intensity activities to your regular exercise routine to burn that extra layer of fat in your body.

Low intensity exercises, like jogging and step aerobics, along with a caloric deficit and weight training, can help maintain your body’s normal rhythm of staying in shape. Focusing too much on a particular training routine, like lifting weights or high intensity cardio, can slow down progress.

So, it’s essential to introduce low intensity cardiovascular exercises to your regular workout regimen to help you maintain muscle and burn extra fat. Otherwise, you may find it more challenging than average to lose that annoying flab in your midsection.

2. Muscle And Joint Recovery

HIIT exercises put a tremendous strain on your muscles and joints. Continue this workout routine, and you’re bound to put yourself at a high risk of gaining injuries.

It can be easy to fall into the temptation of reaching your fitness goals at a fast pace. But, refusing to take the necessary precautions, like adding low intensity cardio to your workout routine, can become detrimental to achieving your objectives.

Moreover, low intensity exercises can help maintain an ideal level of fitness after an accident or injury. Exercises like planking or shadow boxing are slower and more controlled in comparison with HIITs.

Protect your muscles and joints by lowering the intensity of your workout regimen when necessary. Furthermore, you can do many low intensity cardio routines at home and without any special equipment. Thus, you shouldn’t have too many excuses not to do these exercises when you’re taking a break from the gym.

3. Improve Heart Efficiency

One of the primary focuses of doing exercises is to increase your heart rate. The more the heart pumps blood to your body, the more you’ll gain essential health benefits from your workout.

An average 35-year-old adult should have a heart rate of about 185 beats per minute (BPM) from doing HIIT. But, low intensity workouts should offer about 120 to 150 BPM. Now, it doesn’t mean that the lower heart rate amounts to lesser benefits.

Instead, introducing low intensity cardio to your workout routine allows more blood to push through your heart. Presenting your heart with more blood allows its walls to stretch. Over time, this phenomenon creates an adaptation wherein the organ stretches and becomes bigger or broader than before.

In time, your heart becomes more efficient at maintaining proper health, thanks to low intensity cardio. With your heart larger than before, you can go back to doing HIIT without the organ beating too fast. This scenario helps increase your overall endurance, so you don’t feel winded after a few minutes of intense exercises.

4. Recovery Between Exercises

Many fitness enthusiasts like to go to their training sessions with significant amounts of effort. But, you might feel glycolytic over time.

Glycolysis is a process that allows the body to break down glucose to enzymes. Then, the body gains adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to fuel the body for muscular contraction. But, this process is anaerobic, which means there’s not enough oxygen breakdown to help the body deliver better results.

Albeit that shouldn’t pose much of a problem at first, but you might find it more challenging than usual to produce excellent results from your workout. You can help eliminate this scenario by implementing a low intensity workout routine.

One of the effects of glycolysis is running out of oxygen during exercises. However, low intensity cardiovascular exercises promote long-term effects for endurance. This “rest” between several HIITs presents you with longer anaerobic endurance that can aid in building better muscle and stamina for the long-term.

Conclusion

Low- intensity cardio might seem like a step down from your usual HIIT. But, the low intensity of specific workouts presents unique benefits for improved fitness. Start introducing workouts like jogging, swimming, and shadow boxing to your regular exercise routine to experience advantages, like better muscle growth and heightened endurance. Indulge yourself in these exercises, and you may find yourself enjoying your fitness journey more than before.