Cardio or weight-bearing, which type of exercise is for you? Since exercise offers a range of benefits for controlling weight, preventing certain diseases and health conditions, and maintaining good skin (see: “Why exercise is important for healthier, younger-looking skin.” ), you’ll want to understand the different benefits derived from the different workouts to decide which best meets your needs and enthusiasm.
Why weight-bearing exercises?
When it comes to healthy bones, think weight-bearing exercises. These kinds of exercises force you to work against gravity to build bone density and strength, which generally decline as you age. The bone grows when stress is put on it. Weight-bearing exercises put stress on the bones, which stimulate bone cells to produce collagen, beginning the process of new bone formation.
Among common weight-bearing exercises are weight training, walking, hiking, dancing, and tennis. WebMD recommends others that you might not have considered, including:
Tai Chi: Tai Chi builds both coordination and strong bones. According to WebMD, one study of postmenopausal women who did Tai Chi 45 minutes a day, five days a week for a year, enjoyed a bone loss rate up to 3 ½ times slower than participants in the non Tai Chi group.
Yoga: Yoga can build bone health in the hips, spine, and wrists, the bones most vulnerable to fracture.
Golf: Golf has several benefits for weight-bearing when it comes to exercise. For starters, shouldering a golf bag and swinging clubs are great for an upper-body workout. And your spine and hips get a good workout walking the course.
What do cardio exercises do for your health?
Any movement that gets your heart rate up and increases circulation is cardio, short for cardiovascular. Such exercises improve the condition of your heart. And by speeding up heart rate, cardio exercises also boost your metabolism, which burns calories. So weight loss, in addition to improving the condition of your heart, is a top benefit of cardio exercises, which include running, swimming, cycling, and rowing, naming a few. Here are some other cardio workouts to consider from Popsugar in “18 Great Cardio Workouts that Don’t Require Running.”
Beach volleyball: It takes a lot of energy to move around on the sand. Another benefit is that the sand is unstable, so it helps to strengthen the legs and ankles.
Boxing: May not sound cardio, but when boxing involves constantly shuffling and twisting and keeping your arms up at a high level, not to mention using a lot of speed and coordination to punch.
Jumping jacks: You can do them anywhere with your arms overhead, or to improve shoulder flexibility, cross your arms over your chest.
These are just some weight-bearing and cardio exercises to consider. Spend time online to find a workout that appeals to you.
Collagen not only for bones
When it comes to collagen, retinol products, such as True Results Retinol Active Skincare, also encourage production. Retinols achieve their anti-aging results by protecting skin from free radicals and prompting surface skin cells to turn over and die rapidly so that new skin cells can grow. Retinols also slow down the breakdown of collagen.