Benefits Of Doing Low-Intensity Cardio Exercises To Lose Weight

Due to the consistency and commitment it requires, only a few people are successful with their attempts to lose weight. Most of them stick to a well-balanced diet and strive to remain physically active for weeks, then go back to their old, unhealthy lifestyles after.

If you see yourself go through the same cycle, and not see any changes in the weighing scale, consider doing low-intensity cardio exercises as often as possible. As the name suggests, low-intensity cardio workouts are routines that don’t raise your heart rate very high.

These exercises are at 50 to 70% of your maximum heart rate and last for about ten minutes to one hour.

Low-intensity cardio exercises don’t only aid your weight loss journey, but it can also provide the following benefits:

1. Better Insulin Sensitivity

group-exercise
Workout; image source: pexels.com

Insulin is vital for your body to convert fats into energy. The more sensitive your body is to insulin, the faster it can convert fats from food molecules into energy.

However, for people with diabetes, their bodies don’t work this way. The insulin from the foods they consume will be dumped into their fat cells instead of being absorbed by their muscles for energy.

Thankfully, regularly doing low-intensity cardio exercises can improve your body’s insulin sensitivity. This means that whenever you engage in these types of activities, your muscles’ ability to absorb insulin from food molecules is enhanced.

Aside from turning food to energy, this process can also help you gain lean muscles faster.

2. Better Balance And Stability For Seniors

senior on a bike
Image source: pixabay.com

Your bodily functions will degrade once you start to age. As a senior, you won’t have the same vigor and energy when you were still a teen.

In addition to following your doctor’s orders on taking the right medication, low-intensity cardio exercises can also help you age easier as these exercises can improve your balance and mobility when you start to age.

According to studies, low-intensity cardio exercises can improve your balance and decrease your susceptibility to falls and other mobility-related accidents. Falls are one of the major causes of bone fractures, injuries, and mortality. By regularly doing some low-intensity cardio exercises, you can keep yourself safe from these dangers.

3. Decreased Waist Circumference

losing-weight
Measuring waist size; image source: pexels.com

Achieving a small waist circumference isn’t an easy task, which is why people will always be proud whenever they attain this goal. Having a small waist circumference requires very specific workout routines, such as low-intensity cardio exercises.

Similar to high-intensity exercises, low-intensity cardio exercises can also help you lose some inches in your waist. These claims have been supported by countless studies wherein the participants lost an average of about four centimeters from their waist after engaging in low-intensity cardio exercises for thirty minutes in one month.

4. Easier On Your Joints

Girl with sore foot on gray background
Image source: pexels.com

If you want to sweat and lose weight, you can always enroll in your local gym and utilize different gym equipment. More often than not, there will be specific equipment to enhance certain body parts.

Although using gym equipment can be very good for your heart health, it might be harmful to your joints, especially to your knees. Working out through the Smith machine squat, for example, can put a lot of pressure on your shoulders and knees. Instead of losing weight, the inappropriate weight and use of this equipment can lead to severe injuries.

You won’t have this dilemma when you choose to do low-intensity cardio exercises. These exercises are controlled, which means that you can always adjust the intensity and pace of your workouts. Low-intensity cardio exercises can also be done without equipment, decreasing your susceptibility to injuries and accidents.

5. More Enjoyment When Exercising

yoga
Image source: pexels.com

One of the most obvious reasons why people fail to lose weight is because they lose the motivation to continue with their efforts in the long-term. Usually, health-conscious or overweight individuals will be pumped to exercise for a week and lose interest after a few months. As a result, they end up gaining weight instead of losing it.

If you’re looking for an efficient workout that you can enjoy doing long-term, low-intensity cardio exercises can be the answer. These workouts are getting more and more popular because these take less time and effort to complete. These routines also don’t require a specific skill set or experience, making it very suitable for every individual who wants to lose weight fast.

It’s Easy When You Know How

Contrary to popular belief, losing weight is actually a very achievable goal. Aside from having a healthy diet and getting more exercise every day, you can lose weight faster by swapping your sugary drinks with fruit juices. Eating your food slowly and skipping processed foods off your list can also help, as well.

The more effort you put into losing weight, the faster you can see results!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here