Top 10 Cardio Programs for Active Adults

It's never too late to start a cardio exercise program, and the earlier you start the better chance you'll have of continuing it as you get older when it becomes more important. Becoming more alert, reducing your cholesterol level, reducing your weight, lessening stress and improving digestion are some of the benefits of cardio exercising. When you were younger, you likely got plenty of exercise either on your job or in your recreational pursuits. As you get older, you may get promoted out of your calorie burning job, or maybe an injury of some sort curtails your activities and of course, age just naturally slows you down. No matter your age or condition, you can find a beneficial cardio exercise.

The great thing about cardio exercise is the number of diverse programs that will accomplish your objectives. Many of these can be done at home although joining a gym will give you access to a greater variety of ways to workout as well as reduce distractions.

Running - If your knees are in good condition running is a great cardio exercise you can do anywhere. All the equipment you need is a pair of quality running shoes. Find some hills and do some sprinting and you'll burn a lot of calories. A downside to running on a hard surface is it's hard on your joints.

Walking - Brisk walking is not as strenuous as running but still is a good cardio exercise. It's a good way of breaking up your running, warming up for running or if your knees start giving you trouble. As I've gotten older and my knees are giving out I find that walking still burns up the calories. Although not as prevalent as running injuries you still need to be careful when walking..

Tread Mill-A tread mill at home is especially good if you live where weather is a factor in outdoor exercise. You can walk or run and use it to warm up for other exercises. I like the tread mill as I can read or watch TV. Because you are walking or running you can get hurt here also.

Bicycling-Outdoors or indoors, cycling is good cardio exercise. Cycling outdoors is especially good because the changing scenery can keep you from getting bored although you need to be more alert when riding outdoors. Riding my stationary bike allows me to watch TV, listen to music or work on my laptop.

Swimming - Swimming is one of the best cardio exercises because you get a full body workout. The older you get the more you should think about swimming as the water supports your body and joints so you don't have to worry about high -impact injuries. The only drawback about swimming is you need a pool.

Step Aerobics - Women appear to prefer aerobics for cardio exercising. Because there are so many forms of step aerobics you'll find some you can do at home as well as in classes. Aerobics may appear complicated but is fairly easy to learn if join a beginner's class or learn from a video. Focusing on what you're doing should keep you from falling or twisting an ankle.

Cross-Country Skiing - Doing it in indoors on a machine or outdoors on snow, either way will give you a great cardio workout. It works your upper and lower body, which takes little time to shoot your heart rate up. It is hard work so slowly ease into it.

Elliptical Trainer -This is an excellent cardio exercise and a great way to build endurance. It's a good exercise if you have knee or joint problems because it's very low impact and has no real downside. Whenever I find one of these I use it extensively. It would be a great machine to have at home.

Tennis, Racquetball and Handball- These activities have a lot of sprinting which will rapidly increase your heart rate while strengthening your legs. There is a lot of stopping and starting where you could pull a muscle if you don't warm up first, especially as you get older. Tennis is still one my favorite cardio workouts in short sessions.

Rowing - Energetic rowing will not only increase your heart rate but will give your arms and shoulder a good workout. Because you probably don't do it very often, you'll likely burn extra calories. You can get hurt with improper use of the machine.

As you can see there are many different ways to get a good cardio workout which gets more important the older you get. Check out the sources for more information on cardio exercising.

Sources:

about.com http://exercise.about.com/od/cardioworkouts/tp/cardioexercise.htm

ShapeFit http://www.shapefit.com/cardio-exercises.html

AskMen http://www.askmen.com/top_10/fitness/8_fitness_list.html

Fitness Magazine http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/cardio/