Feel the benefits of cardio training - improve fitness, heart health and strengthen your immune system.
23rd January 2023
At Fresh Air Fitness, we have been designing, manufacturing and installing state of the art outdoor gym equipment since 2007.
Free to use in your local park or green space, our award-winning outdoor gyms offer all aspects of fitness from endurance, strength and balance to flexibility and cardiovascular.
To stay healthy, the UK Chief Medical Officers' Physical Activity Guidelines, on GOV.UK, state that adults should try to be active every day and aim to do at least 150 minutes of physical activity over a week, through a variety of activities.
Today, we explore the body benefits of Cardio Training and why it is so important to make moderate to vigorous exercise a regular feature in your daily exercise routine.
Cardio training in exercise is anything that elevates your heart rate.
More specifically, it is any rhythmic activity that increases your heart rate into your target heart rate zone, which is the pace at which you burn the most calories and fat.
A collaborative study published in October 2022 supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, the MRC Epidemiology Unit, UK Biobank, and NIHR Applied Research Collaborations East Midlands, found after recording the intensity and duration of movement for 90,000 individuals, that the more ‘moderate to vigorous’ activity you factor into your daily routine, the stronger the reduction in cardiovascular risk.
In fact, it showed that if 20% of your total exercise content was moderate-vigorous, cardiovascular disease rates were 14% lower. Amazing!
Obesity, physical inactivity and ageing all create immune dysfunction and a reduction in our viral defences says a recent review published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science.
Moreover, it also went on to state that when exercising on a regular basis and when combined with a healthy lifestyle, our immune system’s surveillance activity increases.
So, with regular exercise, your immune system gets busy with its really important job of allowing your immune cells to get active in your bloodstream and search for infection to ward off and keep you healthy.
Getting moving makes you feel better. You can start small, you don’t have to run marathons. Try a short walk or take a visit to your local outdoor gym and get some fresh air. Be kind to yourself throughout the process and remember everyday activities count too.
Physical activity is amazing for helping you clear your head because it takes your mind off your worries. And don’t forget to celebrate your achievements and give yourself a reward whenever you’re pleased with your progress!
There may also be factors which determine how much activity is safe for you to do, such as medication you might be taking, anxiety, OCD, or a physical health condition.
At Fresh Air Fitness, we have over 21 pieces of outdoor gym equipment designed to offer a fantastic cardiovascular workout.
We work with councils, green spaces and parks to install our outdoor gym equipment up and down the country and every gym, once installed, is completely free for the public to use.
Our range of cardio outdoor gym equipment includes fun pieces such as the Air Skier through to pieces you might recognise from a regular, indoor gym such as The Bicycle or Elliptical Cross Trainer. We also offer our Resistance Range where you can adjust the resistance to create a more challenging workout!
Finding an outdoor gym near me
If you would like to find out more about an outdoor gym in your local park, school, or green space, check out our outdoor gym locator for a Fresh Air Fitness outdoor gym near you.
We also have a raft of videos on our YouTube channel showing you how to use the equipment and giving some workout suggestions.
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