Carrying too much body fat has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, among other conditions. This is why a healthy amount of body fat is necessary for the proper functioning of the human body as obesity can lead to a number of serious health problems.

Health experts say that staying healthy becomes crucial and one way of ensuring this is engage in cardio exercise. According to Dr Joseph Mucumbitsi, a cardiologist and the president of Rwanda Heart Foundation (RHF), cardio exercise has been proven to reduce total body fat, and subsequently waist and hip circumference, which are important markers of health.

Biologically, he notes that cardio exercise improves the heart’s fitness and its ability to supply oxygen-rich blood to the muscles, allowing them to produce movement.

Understanding cardio exercise

Cardiovascular (cardio) exercise is essentially any movement that increases a person’s heart rate to improve the body’s oxygen flow.

It can be of lower impact or intensity, such as walking, cycling, swimming, or higher impact such as running or skipping. In any case, experts say the importance of cardio exercise cannot be underestimated.

Everiste Ntaganda, the cardiovascular diseases officer at Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) says inactivity can negatively affect one’s body and health. 

He says it slows down the body’s metabolism and affects its ability to regulate blood sugar and break down body fat.

"Inactivity and sedentary behaviour can also lead to reduced blood circulation due to compressed veins, and can affect the body’s blood pressure regulation,” he says.

This, Ntaganda says, can lead to strokes, heart attacks, or irregular heart rhythm.

However, Ntaganda says cardio exercise has been proven to help boost heart health by aiding the body in controlling blood pressure and decreasing the likelihood of heart failure.

Importance

Dr Mucumbitsi says cardio exercise helps to increase HDL (high-density lipoprotein, also known as "good” cholesterol because it helps remove other forms of cholesterol from your bloodstream) and decrease LDL (low-density lipoprotein or "bad” cholesterol.

He explains that bad cholesterol can eventually build up within the walls of your blood vessels, narrowing the passageways and leading to a heart attack or stroke.

Ntaganda says increasing HDL lowers the risk of heart disease, improves blood glucose control, and assists in weight loss.

With cardio activity, he notes that it’s necessary as it helps in improving heart health, and should be added to everyday routine activities.

 "These movements are a great way to get the heart rate up while doing strength training, as this means one is working several muscles at once,” he says.

Cardio exercise also aids in blood pumping and breathing rates, resulting in a great workout for the heart.

Recommendation

According to studies, it is recommended that all healthy adults under the age of 65 either perform moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, such as brisk walking, for a minimum of 30 minutes for five days a week.

Alternatively, vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, such as running or jumping rope, for a minimum of 20 minutes three days a week is important.

For optimum health benefits, combine the recommended cardio exercises with muscle-strengthening activities throughout the week.

Dr Mucumbitsi says despite the tight schedule people have, they should keep in mind that maintaining a reasonable amount of exercise is essential to our health.

 "This can be achieved by simply finding ways to build an exercise regime into your daily life,” he advises.