Five Cardio Exercise Safety Tips
By: Lori Ryan
Cardiovascular exercise isn't just great for the heart; it also energizes you and helps you to burn fat, all the while improving your body's circulation. But just as important as cardio exercise, is cardio exercise safety.
Whether you head out for a bike ride or opt to get your heart rate up at the gym, exercising is always a great idea. But before you run off to the gym and start running on a treadmill, there are some cardio exercise safety tips you need to keep in mind if you want to remain at peak health.
1.)Drink Plenty of water- Constant exercise that causes you to sweat depletes your body of water quickly. It's important that you drink plenty of water before, during and after you exercise.
2.)Stop if You Feel Pain- You shouldn't feel any uncomfortable pain. If your chest begins to hurt, you feel like you're panting too heavily, or you begin to get dizzy, stop your workout immediately and walk around the area slowly until you bring your heart rate down to normal levels. If pain continues, make an appointment with your doctor.
3.)Get to Know the Equipment- If you own the machine, check out the manual; there may be elements to the mechanism that you would never have discovered otherwise. If it's not something you own, play around with the buttons and read all the imformation on it before you get started.
4.)Figure Out Your Heart Rate- There is such thing as overexertion and you don't want to go there. You might think that working really hard is great, but if you maintain your maximum heart rate for an extended period of time, your body will nto be able to circulate oxygen throughout your body quickly enough and you may begin to feel like you're not getting any air. You should purchase a heart rate monitor so that you always know how elevated your heart rate is.
5.)Don't Eat Right Before- Eating a snack 30 minutes before you begin a cardio program is fine, but eating a full meal beforehand is not recommended because most of your oxygen and blood stores will end up working on digesting the food you ate.
