13 Essential Cardio Benefits For People Who LOVE Being Healthy

Do you LOVE being healthy and want to know all about cardio benefits? This post is all about cardio benefits for people who value their health. 

Cardio: You rather love it or hate it! After hearing about all of these cardio benefits, you might change your mind about it! 

Growing up, I always played sports (soccer, basketball, track). After graduating from college, I was no longer an athlete, and I ~quickly~ learned that cardio isn’t as fun as sports. 

However, after experimenting A LOT I learned what type of cardio I like the best, because they truth is there are SOO many types of cardio. 

Some examples of cardio are: running, zumba, hiking, biking, rowing, HIIT, swimming, and so much more! Once you find the cardio that YOU love, you might just become OBSESSED. 

This post is all about the BEST cardio benefits for people who are obsessed with being healthy. 

Best Cardio Benefits For Everyone

1. Good Sleep

Do you have trouble sleeping? I use to have SO MUCH trouble sleeping, and I finally realized that when I workout, my sleep is SO MUCH BETTER!

The physical demand of cardio, causes your body to get more tired at night.  This tiredness allows you to fall asleep easily and have a GREAT sleep! 

I put this first, because I’ve experienced this SO MANY times. On days I workout, I fall asleep quicker and have an AMAZING sleep. On days I skip my workout, it takes me FOREVER to fall asleep and I am tossing and turning all night long. 

It’s important to note that you should do cardio at least 1 to 2 hours before bed. Doing cardio before bed, can keep you up at night and have the opposite impact. (It’s happened to be MANY times!)

2. Heart Health

For those who are OBSESSED with longevity (like me), this cardio benefit will hit home for you! Cardio is ESSENTIAL for heart health and longevity. 

Your heart is a muscle, a regular cardio strengthens your heart. The heart is very important because it pumps blood to the rest of your body, circulating blood flow. 

Any type of cardio will help your heart health and improve your longevity. If you are just starting out, make sure you don’t overdo it! Start off easy and work your way up!

3. Improved Mood

“Exercise is the most underused antidepressant” – Dr. James DiNicolantonio. Add cardio into the mix, and it’s really the most underrated mood enhancer! If you want to be in a better mood, get moving! 

Exercise, especially cardio makes you happy because of the physical chemical it releases in your brain. It leaves you feeling happy, less anxious, and a WHOLE LOT happier!

Besides the chemical releases, cardio makes you feel SO MUCH better about your appearance, as you become stronger and fitter, boosting your confidence and self-esteem! 

4. Strength 

We all know that cardio improves endurance, but did you know you cardio can also gain strength? Like any workout, cardio makes you stronger!

Think of all of the movement your body puts into cardio! Runners use their legs, bikers use their legs, rowers use their arms, and the list just goes on!

Besides being physically stronger, you will become mentally stronger as well! Cardio is for the mentally strong people, because it is SO HARD! It really takes determination to push yourself to the next level!

4. Mobility 

As cardio improves your muscle strength, it also improves your mobility. Mobility is ESSENTIAL for a healthy lifestyle and when you grow older. 

Mobility will help you stay balanced and be able to perform basic daily functions. You might take many basic body functions for granted as you are young, but if you start perfecting the daily functions now, then you will be a pro when you get older. 

6. Immune System

Physical activity, particularly cardio, actually helps SO MUCH with your immune system. It helps by flushing bacteria out of your lungs and reducing the risk of the cold, flu, and other sicknesses. 

Cardio boosts blood circulation throughout the body. The enhanced circulation allows immune cells to move more efficiently through the bloodstream, reaching various parts of the body more quickly to detect and fight infections.

Also, cardio improves stress responses which in turn helps the immune system. It’s no secret that your stress levels correlate with health benefits, so the happiness hormones from the immune system 

7. Weight Loss

It’s no secret that cardio correlates to calorie loss. One of the calorie benefits is that you will have a calorie deficit and lose weight and lose fat!

Another secret that leads to weight loss is your increased metabolism! Cardio leads to so many benefits that will make you lose weight. 

It’s important to know that cardio is NOT the only way to lose weight. Believe it or not, much of losing weight is about what you eat. I want to write more about this in the future, but you can’t lose weight without working out and eating healthy. 

8. Skin Health

Another one of the cardio benefits is skin health. Cardio helps with your skin health because it decreases the body’s elevated hormones and response to stress.

With relegated hormones and normal stress levels, your skin will be so much healthier. I’ve spoken a lot about my skin journey, and regulating my hormones and stress levels is a HUGE part of it. 

If you are struggling with hormonal issues such as skin problems or irregular periods, one of the thing you can do is exercise and do lots of cardio!

9. Digestion 

Cardio helps with digestion because of the increase of blood flow and circulation that it offers. When I do cardio, my stomach is always moving. 

I use to have a problem, where I couldn’t even run because my stomach’s digestion would hurt after a few labs of the track! Now, after healthy eating, I’m able to run for longer, but am still working out the issues!

If you have digestive problems, try cardio! The blood circulation aids the digestion system that will allow everything to pass through easier. 

10. Helps Lungs

Cardio has a HUGE benefit to your lungs and breathing. It’s said that the longer you can breath out or hold your breath, the stronger your lungs are.

Besides holding your breath as you go under a tunnel, or the “hold your breath contests” at the pool, developing strong lungs can help immensely in your longevity.

Ensuring you have strong lungs will help your body stay strong when the rest of your body starts to become old. Also, the increased oxygen helps your heart and blood stream health, as oxygen is essential in our lives.

11. Increased Energy 

Another one of the cardio benefits is the INCREASED ENERGY!!!  I ADORE energy, and I can attest that cardio will give you so much energy. This is because of the increased oxygen to your tissues that cardio provides.

I started cycling as my cardio workout, and let me tell you, I am so pumped up after the workout! Yes, I am dreadfully tired, but I can tell that my day will be more energetic from the workout. 

Confession: when I was a college athlete, I was TIRED all of the time. However, I was doing SO MUCH from traveling, practice, school, sports, studying, etc.. that I didn’t really have time to sleep, and sleep is SO IMPORTANT. 

If you are looking to have more energy in your life, then start doing some cardio! It can be as simple as a 30 minute walk, but committing to cardio will give you the energy you need to get through the day!

12. Brain Health (Thinking, Memory, Learning)

Believe it or not, your brain health has a HUGE impact when you do cardio. Many studies show that when humans regularly exercise, they can increase the size of their hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, both of which are susceptible to dementia and Alzheimers.

Cardio can improve memory, your ability to think, learn better, and can decrease anxiety and depression. Exercise literally feeds the brain as it induces good blood flow.

Love it or hate it: you NEED cardio for brain health. 

If you think about it, I remember various athletes who were also SUPER SMART. Perhaps their intense cardio workouts played a roll in their successes in school. 

13. Sexual Function

The last and spiciest of the cardio benefits is that it helps with sexual function. As cardio helps with blood flow the improves the circulatory system, it’s important to know that your circulatory system is key to arousal. 

For both men and women, a strong blood flow system will help you in your sexual function. If you are struggling, consider doing cardio, as it helps more than you might realize! 

Along with the blood circulation, being in better shape will help you with your sexual function. We all know that cardio makes you in better shape, and it will help you in all aspects of life. 

This post was all about 13 Essential Cardio Benefits For People Who LOVE Being Healthy