Keep Your Heart Healthy With These Cardio Workouts

With Valentine’s Day coming up, we’re focusing on a very important part of the body: your heart!

In order to maintain a healthy heart, it’s crucial to incorporate cardio, or aerobic, exercise into your fitness routine. Cardio workouts have shown to strengthen your heart, improve circulation, and reduce health risks, including heart disease.

Here are five cardio workouts that are perfect for improving heart health:

HIIT training

HIIT (high-intensity interval training) classes consist of short intervals that require you to give it your all, followed by periods of active recovery. The tough intervals really get your heart pumping, while the recovery time gets you ready to do it all over again. It’s safe to say that during an effective HIIT class, you’ll never get bored. 

Boxing

With its many cardio and strength benefits, it’s no surprise boxing is such a popular form of fitness. Classes vary, so you could be doing drills on a punching bag or hitting an imaginary opponent. If you’ve booked a kickboxing class, make sure you’re ready to work your legs. Some classes also include cardio exercises like burpees and jumping rope (a common conditioning tool for boxing devotees). Whatever the class entails, there’s no doubt you’re going to get a solid workout in.

Trampoline classes

Speaking of jumping, trampoline classes are guaranteed to increase your heart rate and strengthen your heart. A good trampoline class will be a combination of low impact and high intensity. Don’t know what to expect? You’ll have your own mini trampoline, coordinate your movements with the rest of the class (and likely to music), and of course do a whole lot of jumping.

Cycling

Whether you bike to work or have a favorite indoor cycling studio, cycling is a good way to fill that cardio requirement in your fitness routine. You may think it’s all about working your legs, but when done right, cycling indoors or outdoors targets your core, too.

Walking/running

Looking for a no-frills cardio workout? Keep it simple by incorporating more walking or running into your fitness routine. You can get a cardio workout in by taking a brisk walk around your neighborhood, running through a local park, or booking a treadmill class.

Keep your heart healthy with help from the many gyms and studios in the Wellhub network! If your company offers Wellhub, sign up for free to try out awesome workouts near you.