For women’s health, one of the best ways to start working out is by doing cardio exercises. The objective is to get your heart rate up and keep it up for more than 20 minutes. This will encourage your body to burn fat better.

Initially, it may be difficult to get your heart rate up to an ideal rate. Typically, the maximum heart needed for maximum results is 220 minus your age. The best way to go about this is to start off slow.

A good example is by starting off walking at a slow to normal pace. Once you feel comfortable, you can slowly, but steadily increase the pace. You can achieve this by following a routine similar to this:

Week 1: Walk 20-30 minutes at a pace of 3.0-3.5 mph

Week 2: Keep the same time, but increase pace anywhere between 0.1-0.5 mph, or more depending on your comfort zone

Week 3: Either increase your time to 45-60 minutes or increase your speed to a light jog

Week4: If you increased your time previously, but kept your pace, try walking on an incline. If you increased your speed previously, try increasing your time

NOTE: You can try the increased intensity for as long as you can and then go back to the previous week's pace if you feel too exerted. Also, know your limits and don't push yourself too hard.

By steadily increasing your intensity you are slowly improving your heart rate and you are becoming your own motiviation by pushing yourself to slowly progress.

Cardio exercises are best when you do them 3-4 times a week for a minimum of 20-30 minutes during each workout.

Other examples of cardio workouts are:
• Walking
• Running/Jogging
• Dance/Step class
• Cycling
• Swimming