Common cardio exercises are brisk walking, running, cycling, swimming, rowing, and cross-country skiing. In the gym, cardio machines include the treadmill, elliptical trainer, stationary cycle, stepping machine, rowing machine, and ski trainer. Warming up before the more intense portion of your workout gets the blood flowing to your muscles and loosens you up. This is essential; you should not just start your workout at full effort.

Traditionally, the guidelines were to stretch the primary muscles to be used in the workout during your warm-up. There are several schools of thought on the use and effectiveness of stretching, with some experts advising a dynamic warm-up but not static stretches before cardio exercise. The standard advice