Turn up the pace for high energy workouts and you might be surprised by how it benefits you.
How much opportunity to move do you have in your day to day life? For those of us doing office jobs or work from home, it can be easy to go a whole day without moving a significant amount without even really noticing. Or maybe you’re already committed to a regular workout, but tend to air on the side of a slow-paced yoga, perfect for stretching and strengthening, but not one that gets your blood pumping quite as much. There’s different benefits to different workouts, but if you’re interested in spending some time focusing on your cardio, you might want to consider trying some high energy workouts.
The Benefits of Cardio Workouts
There’s a lot of reasons to love cardio workouts. Performing cardio is good for your heart. As WebMD explains, doing cardio “lowers your resting pulse and strengthens your heart muscle”, which in turn leads to you being able to do more cardio. So, by spending some time getting your blood flowing and body moving, you’ll be doing a lot of good for your body.
If you’re already tired from your day to day schedule, it can be tempting to choose a workout that feels like it requires a little less movement. And while you always have to do what’s right for your body and your health, there are a lot of benefits that come with cardio workouts beside strengthening your heart. Cardio can help your brain, your joints, your skin, and your muscles. Three types of cardio workouts we love at Oxygen are dance workouts, boxing workouts, and HIIT workouts, each of which are great for their own reasons.
Try a Dance Workout
Are you someone who likes to have some fun while you get your workout in? If so, a dance style workout like Zumba might be just the class for you. Dance workouts are often based in moving to the music, which has been suggested to help improve your stamina as you workout. You’ll also get the opportunity to work on your coordination and memory as you learn routines throughout the class. All of these benefits work alongside with the health benefits cardio brings to give you a class filled with fun, fast movements as you learn a new skill.
Try a Boxing Workout
If you’ve ever wished you had a healthy way to get out some anger, committing to punch out these feelings at boxing might be just the thing. Why not try a boxing workout class, like our 02 Box Fusion. Boxing can help you work on your balance and coordination, while building your overall body strength. As in dance workouts, you can box along to music, and you’ll likely get cardio benefits from the workout as well.
Try a HIIT Workout
If dance or boxing style cardio workouts aren’t quite your jam, maybe HIIT workouts will be the perfect thing for you. HIIT, or high energy interval training, like our 02 HIIT class, is a specific kind of workout where you exert most of your energy in more intense intervals meant to use “at least 80 percent of your maximum effort”, and then take a shorter rest period between the intervals. These workouts are thought to be great for burning calories, as well as providing an effective workout in a shorter period of time.
If you’re interested in trying out a new cardio workout, feel free to check our schedule for the full list of options available near you, or feel free to check in with your studio teachers to see what they’d recommend to meet your goals.