Three pronged approach
There are three aspects to exercise: (1) aerobics, (2) strength training and (3) stretching. Each is important, but aerobic exercise stands out as it alone provides critical cardiovascular conditioning.
1. Aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise is any activity that involves repetitive movements and raises the persevering heart rate so that you are continually processing oxygen with each movement. Although there are many types of aerobic activity, running, jogging, brisk walking, cycling, aerobic dancing and swimming are the most popular.
A regular, moderate aerobic workout improves self-esteem and elevates mood. It gives you increased energy, stamina and agility. On a metabolic level, it stabilizes your blood sugar levels, reduces cholesterol, and improves fat metabolism. By strengthening the heart and arteries and reducing blood pressure, aerobic exercise dramatically reduces your chances of succumbing to a heart attack. By increasing your overall metabolic rate, aerobics improves the biochemical functioning of the body, making it more resistant to disease. It strengthens the bones and immune system, and assists in weight control by reducing appetite and burning off extra calories.
Because aerobic exercise strengthens your heart muscle, it can pump more blood per beat so that more blood circulates with fewer beats. A rate reduction of only 10 beats per minute – easily attainable on a moderate exercise program – adds up to 14,400 fewer beats per day, or 5,256,000 beats per year. A happy efficient heart will keep ticking a lot longer.
Furthermore, aerobics improves the blood lipid picture by increasing protective HDL-cholesterol level, while decreasing LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides.
AEROBIC CAPACITY
Often referred to as VO2 Max, this can be measured in a gym or a physiological lab using a treadmill or bicycle with a gas analyzer. It measures how much oxygen your body can make use of each minute. Studies have shown that higher VO2 Max correlates with a longer life-expectancy. Aerobic capacity indicates how well your lungs take in air, how much oxygen is coursing from your lungs to the bloodstream, how well your heart is pumping it to the muscles and how well your capillaries are delivering it to your cells. Most people’s VO2 Max declines as they move past 35. This decline is reversible with aerobic workouts. As you reverse it, your body will grow younger and your mind clearer.
