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Cardiovascular exercise
8-minute read
Key facts
- Cardiovascular exercise helps keep your heart and lungs strong.
- It is sometimes called aerobic exercise.
- Regular cardio is good for your overall health and can help with weight loss and reduce stress levels.
- Most people can safely do moderate physical activity.
- You should start slowly and build up your level of exercise to avoid injuries.
What is cardiovascular exercise?
Cardiovascular exercise is regular exercise that helps your heart and blood vessels.
It is sometimes called aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise is any activity that increases your heart rate, breathing, sweating and overall blood flow. Some examples include:
What are the health benefits of cardiovascular exercise?
Cardiovascular exercise has many health benefits, such as:
- improves mood and reduces stress levels
- strengthens your heart and helps your blood vessels work well
- strengthens your bones, muscles and joints
- helps reduce your risk of heart disease and helps lower or manage your blood pressure and cholesterol levels
- helps manage your weight, which also lowers your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer
- increases your energy levels and helps you sleep better
- lowers your risk of dementia later in life
Is cardiovascular exercise right for me and how often should I do it?
Doing regular physical activity is important for your health and wellbeing.
Australian guidelines recommend that adults are active on most days of the week. Aim for 2 hours 30 minutes to 5 hours of moderate activity each week, or 1 hour 15 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes of intense activity.
- Moderate activity includes exercise that makes your heart rate go up but does not make you feel breathless.
- Intense activity is vigorous (high energy and effort) exercise that makes your heart rate go up and will make you breathe heavily.
Doing cardiovascular exercise in several short bursts of physical activity a few times a day can help you reach your exercise goals.
There are different guidelines for some people, for example people in certain age groups, people who are pregnant, have a disability or have a chronic condition.
Any exercise is better than none, and light or moderate exercise is safe for most people. If you have a health condition or have not been active for a while, speak with your doctor before you start.
Remember to start slowly and build up the intensity over time to reach your recommended level of physical activity.
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How do I start doing cardiovascular exercise in a safe way?
If you are new to exercise or want to build up your physical activity, you should speak with your doctor, especially if you have a pre-existing health condition. Your doctor may refer you to an exercise physiologist who can help design a safe and effective exercise program if you have a medical condition, an injury or disability.
Here are some tips to start doing cardio vascular exercise:
- Make time to exercise — Schedule it as you would an appointment.
- Set small goals — Walk around the block or choose to take the stairs, and as you start to feel fitter, you can increase your effort.
- Make it fun — Try an exercise that you enjoy such as tai chi, dancing or swimming.
- Listen to your body — Make sure you are safe and know your limits. If you feel any pain or tightness in your chest, shortness of breath or dizziness, stop exercising and rest. Get help if you need it.
If you have heart disease or another medical condition, monitor your symptoms and always keep your medicines with you.
Chest pain can be a symptom of a heart attack. If your chest pain is severe, gets worse or lasts longer than 10 minutes, call triple zero (000) and ask for an ambulance.
How do I avoid injury while doing cardiovascular exercise?
Before you start a new exercise program, get advice from your doctor or a health professional. They can check if your exercise plan is right for you, which can help you avoid injury.
If you don't usually do much physical activity, start exercising slowly. You can build up from there. Setting short-term and long-term goals can help you stay motivated.
Try to warm up for at least 5 minutes before you exercise. This allows your heart to gently move into the exercise. You should also cool down for at least 5 minutes after you exercise. This will gently slow your heart rate back to its regular pace.
If an exercise hurts, stop straight away. It's best to rest and speak to an exercise professional or doctor to make sure you don't hurt yourself.
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How do I stay motivated while doing cardiovascular exercise?
Staying motivated can be challenging when starting something new. It takes around 2 to 5 months to form a healthy habit.
There are many ways to stay motivated. Try some of these tips:
- Set small and realistic goals.
- Work out with family or friends.
- Make exercise fun and choose activities you enjoy.
- Listen to upbeat music while you exercise.
- Build up the intensity slowly.
- Tell yourself why you are exercising — being aware of why you want to exercise can help motivate you into action.
Resources and support
There are many great resources online to help you start doing cardiovascular exercise. Here are a few:
- The Heart Foundation has resources on physical activity and how to introduce it into your life. You can also make a physical activity action plan on their website.
- Heart Research Australia has resources including exercise guidelines.
- You can find your recommended amount of physical activity in the Australian Government physical activity and exercise guidelines.
- AUSactive provides exercise guidelines for healthy adults.
- Transhub NSW has resources about sport and physical activity for trans and gender diverse people.
Information for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples
- The Heart Foundation has heart health resources including how to keep your heart strong for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- St Vincent's Hospital heart health has heart health information and where to find your nearest cardiac rehab program for a healthy heart.
- Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet has more information about cardiovascular health.
Languages other than English
- The NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service has tips to get active each day — available in many community languages.
- The NSW Government has published a physical activity manual and log book, translated in several languages. The manual includes instructions and images, showing how to do each exercise safely.