Cardio exercises or cardiovascular exercises are so called as they increase the heart rate and keep it elevated during the course of the work out and thus help in burning calories, improving metabolism and enhancing the capacity of lungs. These are often an integral part of weight loss and weight maintenance regimens and help a person achieve a toned look in a matter of few weeks. Some of the most popular cardio exercises that you can include in your daily work out regimen are running, bicycling, cross-country skiing, swimming, step aerobics, rowing, elliptical training, walking, rock climbing and playing handball.

You can choose any of the above mentioned activity that you enjoy and burn off those stubborn fat cells while having fun. However, it is important to do a 10 to 15 minutes warm up before doing cardio exercises so that the heart rate increases gradually. Similarly, you should wrap up your cardio exercise session with light cardio and stretch exercises.